Founded 2004 President Jim DePaul Arena Stabler Arena Championships 0 | Colors black, red Head coach Mike DePaul Based in Bethlehem Division titles 1 | |
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League LCFL 2004-2005
GLIFL/CIFL 2006-2008
USIFL 2009 (season not played) Team history Philly Outlawz 2004-2005
Lehigh Valley Outlawz 2006-2008 | ||
Lehigh valley outlawz
The Lehigh Valley Outlawz were a professional indoor football team based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The team began play as a semi-pro team in the Labelle Community Football League as the Philly Outlawz. The team was later a charter member of the Great Lakes Indoor Football League joining the league in 2006 as an expansion team. The Outlawz and the Reading Express were the first professional indoor football team to be based in Lehigh Valley. The Outlawz were owned by Jim DePaul. They played their home games at the Stabler Arena on the campus of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Contents
Lehigh valley outlawz introduction
2004–2005
Prior to joining indoor football, they were a semi-pro team from the Labelle Community Football League known as the Philly Outlawz. They played in the league from 2004-2005.
2006: Turning pro
In 2006, the Outlawz made the jump to professional status when they joined the Great Lakes Indoor Football League. During their inaugural year, the Outlawz hosted the first, and only, GLIFL All-Star Game. They ended their regular season at 5-5 which was good enough to clinch the number 3 playoff spot. In the playoffs, they were eliminated by the second-seeded Rochester Raiders in the semifinals.
2007
In 2007, the Outlawz would finish the season with a 7-5 record which, would again earn them the number 3 seed in the Atlantic Division playoffs. They went on to lose in the semifinal round of the playoffs to the New England Surge.
2008
The Outlawz would finish the 2008 regular season with a 6-5 record and the #2 seed in the Atlantic Division East. The team would take a big step in winning their first playoff game against the New England Surge before being defeated by the Saginaw Sting in the Atlantic Division Championship.
Demise
After the 2008 season the Outlawz, along with the New England Surge left the CIFL and planned to start their own league, the United States Indoor Football League. Later three more teams, the Southland (IL) Chill, the Bridgeview Red Devils, and the Pennsylvania Stillers were announced as participants in the newly formed league. The team had stated that the season would start in March, around the same time that its previous seasons had begun. However, the start was then pushed back to April, then May and a final announcement was made that the 2009 schedule would be out June 1. The schedule never came out and the team and league website stopped being updated. The team shut down their Hellertown, Pennsylvania headquarters. The league website stated that it (the USIFL) was based out of Cape Coral, Florida, however, the USIFL decided it was best to not try and start a new league venture with the US economy in its current condition. Rumors of unpaid player and accounts were never confirmed and a lawsuit brought by a former coach was dismissed without merit.