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THE MINOR LEAGUES OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
(Teams with no official or verified league affiliations are included in italics)
1935 Northwest League
League President: Earl Milliken
Lineup: West Seattle, Olympia, Bremerton, Enumclaw, Grays Harbor, Yakima.
Champion: West Seattle Athletic Club Yellowjackets
1935 Seattle Community League
Lineup of Teams: Italian Athletic Club, Brewsters Cigar Store, Uptown Athletic Club, Wisemans University District, New York Bakery.
Champion: Italian Athletic Club
1940 Northwest Amateur League
Renton Rams featured Fullback #46 Don Sprinkle
1941 Northwest League
West Seattle AC Yellowjackets..8 0 0 183 19
Seattle Aero Mechanics.........4 3 0 24 60
Enumclaw Silver Barons.........4 3 0 25 31
Paine Field Flyers.............2 3 1 60 59
Fort Lewis 41st Division.......2 5 1 41 86
Bremerton Red Raiders..........0 6 0 6 65
1940-1945 Pacific Coast Professional Football League (PCPFL)/American Professional Football League (APFL) founded in 1940, enjoyed its greatest success during the war, so much so that in 1944 a rival league appeared on the Coast--probably the only pro football league organized from scratch during the war years. With the coming of major league football to California in 1946, the PCPFL faded in importance, but from 1942 thru 1945 it was arguably second only to the NFL as a vehicle for pro football. In 1944 the American Professional Football League (APFL) was formed by Bill Freelove as a rival to the PCPFL over a dispute. The two leagues would merge in 1945. In 1946, though, the PCPFL was responsible for another interesting bit of football history. For that season, the league expanded to nine teams, including Tacoma, Salt Lake City, and Honolulu, and two divisions, Northern and Southern. The Bulldogs, winners in the South, played San Francisco in the season's last game. A win for the Clippers meant the Northern title, while a loss would give the title to Tacoma.
Northwest Teams and Date of Appearance:
Seattle Bombers, 1944 (5-5-1 in APFL)
Portland Rockets, 1944 (3-6-0 in APFL)
Tacoma Indians, 1946 (7-4-0 in PCPFL - North Division Champions)
Salt Lake City Seagulls 1946-47 (3-9-2 in PCPFL)
1947 160-Pound Football League
Lineup of teams:
Rainier Beach Athletic Club Ramblers (Coach: Ed Lynch)
Enumclaw
Auburn
Kent
Issaquah (1947 Champions)
Stanwood
1948-1949 175-Pound Northwest League
Lineup of teams:
Rainier Beach Ramblers (Champions 1948-49)
Kent (did not play in 1949)
White Center Athletic Club
Issaquah
Enumclaw Silver Barons
Seattle Associated Boys' Club (1949)
**Players would weigh in before each game.
?? IDAHO COYOTES
?? WASHINGTON STATE PEN STEELERS
?? SURREY RAMS
?? OAK BAY DRAKES part of the Victoria Intermediate Canadian Football League 1958
?? CAMP HANFORD ATOMEERS
?? SALT LAKE CITY PARSONS Lost to Carroll College in 1950
?? BUTTE BUZZIES Lost to Carroll College in 1952
1963-1965 North Pacific Football League
Tacoma Tyees 1963
Lake Oswego/Portland Thunderbirds 1963-64
Edmonds Warriors 1963-64
Seattle Ramblers 1963-64
Bellingham Jets 1964 (played 4 games)
British Columbia Millionairs 1964
Spokane Volunteers 1964
Fort Lewis Rangers 1964
Vancouver Kats 1965 (played 6 games)
1965 Pacific Football League
Tacoma Tyees
Edmonds Warriors
Seattle Ramblers
Portland Thunderbirds
Eugene Bombers
Victoria Steelers
1965-1969 Continental Football League
Eugene Bombers 1967
Seattle Rangers 1967-1969
Victoria Steelers 1967
Spokane Shockers 1968-1969
Portland Loggers 1969 (started as the Hawaii Warriors)
1971-1976 Northwest International Football League
British Columbia Chargers 1971-73
Everett Ramblers 1971-73
Kirkland/Eastside Bulldogs 1971-73 ('71 Champions)
Whatcom County Lakers 1971-73
Whidbey Islanders 1971-73
Monroe Reformatory Tigers 1971-73
Seattle Cavaliers 1972-73 ('72 Champions)
Burnaby Barons 1972-73
Pierce County Bengals 1973-76
Skagit Valley Raiders 1973
SeaTac Flyers 1973
Thurston County Vikings 1975-76 (9-8 overall record)
1980 Pacific Northwest Football League
This one-season venture was an attempt to salvage a split of the NIFL teams away from the Pierce County Bengals. The Bengals, Portland Thunderbirds, Spokane Golden Hawks, and Burien Flyers would stick together while the teams of Vancouver, West Seattle, Bremerton and Burlington reorganized into the NFA. The Bengals would shut down prior to the 1981 season.
1980-1987 Northwest Football Alliance
Featured the powerhouse Auburn Panthers (1984-87) which won 54 straight games, winning the AMLFA National Championship.
1988 - Present NORTHWEST FOOTBALL LEAGUE
The NWFL is born in 1988 following a reorganization to oust the unbeatable Auburn Panthers. Ed Bemis uses the gear from the now defunct Panthers who found themselves without a league or willing opponents, and restarts the Pierce County Bengals. Ironically, the Bengals had suffered the same fate as the Panthers years earlier when they were deemed unbeatable and were ousted during a reorganization. Steve Matychowiak, a 21-year old former Panther selected by Bemis to run the team, was not respected at NWFL meetings, so former Bengal Ron Baines was brought in to figurehead the team and was eventually given the title of GM of the Bengals by the NWFL. Baines would later take the reigns of the NWFL as commissioner and Matychowiak would be involved in another start-up involving the South Sound Shockers and the Pacific Northwest Football Conference (a spring conference).
1989-? MINOR LEAGUE FOOTBALL SYSTEM
Tacoma Express, coached by Mike Kuklinski hosted the Soviets Moscow Bears team to a 61-0 drubbing at the Tacoma Dome, capped by a 45-yard dash by Pat Patterson. The MLFS was a national "feeder" system for the NFL
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