Go to any Sports bar on any given Sunday in the city and people in there will be yelling about one thing and one thing alone: football.
Well, in general, I mean if you drop a chair on somebody’s foot I would assume that they would yell about that, but at that point were really just dealing with semantics at that point.
Football this time of here is huge, like in the rest of the country the game invented in Canton, Ohio has become a routine for so many.
Because of that this area has had its share of professional football teams, most notably the Louisville Brecks. However, I’ve told the tale of the Brecks, I’ve even told the tale of their stadium.
Instead I’d like to take a look at the lesser known pro/semi-pro teams in the city of Louisville.
Beginning with the Louisville Tanks, editorilization aside a truly amazing name; the Tanks began life in 1935, nine years after the last incarnation of the Brecks- the Louisville Colonels. The minor league team bounced around in several of the upstart football leagues of the time these included the Midwest Football League and the American Football League.
The Tanks were a powerhouse in their respective leagues winning a number of championships prior to their eventual abandonment in 1940.
Bridging the gap between the Brecks and Tanks were the Louisville Bourbons, a team that was a part of the American Football League of 1934, a league that today stands merely as a footnote.
After the Tanks left the Derby City professional/semi-professional football left the city for some time, it was no coincidence that during this time college football gained more traction in the area.
In 1960 though, the minor league United Football League came to the city of Louisville- the result of this meeting was the Louisville Raiders.
The league itself seemed to have a strong backbone, a minor-league cozier answer to the American Football League and National Football League located in the mid-west where football had already become a major tradition. Despite the stats in their favor both the team and eventually the league was forced to call it quits a few years later.
Semi-pro football was vacant then for many years then in the city of Louisville, that is until the arena football team, Louisville Fire started up in 2001, although several years later in 2008 they famously were forced to disband.
All though, years prior to the Fire taking the field the semi-pro Louisville Bulls began their play in 1988, the Bulls still suit up in fact in the mid-continental football league.
Sources
