Lehigh Valley Steelhawks

The Lehigh Valley Steelhawks were a professional indoor football team based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The Steelhawks began play as an expansion team in the Indoor Football League (IFL) in 2011. The Steelhawks moved to the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) in 2013, where they made their only championship game appearance to date, losing PIFL Cup III to the Nashville Venom. The team joined American Indoor Football for the 2016 season after the PIFL folded, which lasted one season before that league also folded. They joined the National Arena League for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. The Steelhawks are the Lehigh Valley's second indoor football team, following the defunct Lehigh Valley Outlawz of the Continental Indoor Football League (2005–2008). Both teams played their home games at Stabler Arena. The Steelhawks played their home games at the PPL Center.

Lehigh Valley Steelhawks
Current season
Established 2010
Play in Allentown, Pennsylvania
at the PPL Center
LVSteelhawks.com
Lehigh Valley Steelhawks logo
League/conference affiliations
Indoor Football League (2011–2012)
  • United Conference (2011–2012)
    • Atlantic Division (2011)

Professional Indoor Football League (2013–2015)

  • National Conference (2014)

American Indoor Football (2016)

  • Northern Division (2016)
National Arena League (2017–2018)
Team colorsBlack, Vegas gold, white
     
MascotTalon
Personnel
Owner(s)Glenn Clark
PresidentGlenn Clark
General managerMichael Clark
Head coachDanton Barto
Team history
  • Lehigh Valley Steelhawks (2011–2018)
Championships
League championships (0)
Conference championships (1)
PIFL: 2014
Division championships (0)
Playoff appearances (6)
IFL: 2012
PIFL: 2013, 2014, 2015
AIF: 2016
NAL: 2017
Home arena(s)

The owner of the Steelhawks was Glenn Clark, but sought to sell the team following the 2018 season. After failing to find new ownership for the Steelhawks, the team suspended operations before the 2019 season.[1]

History

In July 2010, the Indoor Football League (IFL) announced that there would be an expansion franchise placed in Lehigh Valley for the 2011 season.[2] It was also announced that the team would be owned by Glenn W. Clark, a Wilmington, Delaware businessman.[2] Later in July the team announced that they had named Dan Kuhn as the team's general manager and would be holding a "Name The Team" contest was held to choose a name for the organization. Over 700 names were submitted and the top five were chosen by management.[3] These names were Vipers, Ironmen, Blast, Gamblers, and Steelhawks.[3] Fans were then asked to vote on the name they thought would be best for the team with over 70% of the votes being cast for Steelhawks.[4] Brooke Trautwein, the fan who submitted the Steelhawks name, was given a prize package that included season tickets and Steelhawks' merchandise.[4]

In August 2013, Clark announced that the Steelhawks would be leaving the IFL for the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) after two seasons.[5] The Steelhawks finished in second place overall in the 2013 PIFL season, but lost their semifinal playoff game.

The Steelhawks finished the 2014 season with a 6–6 record and second in the National Conference. The Steelhawks defeated the Trenton Freedom by a score of 49–38 in the National Conference championship game to advance to PIFL Cup III.[6] where they were defeated 43–64 by the Nashville Venom.[7]

In the 2015 season, the Steelhawks announced that they would be moving to the newly constructed PPL Center.[8] They finished fourth overall in the PIFL and lost their semifinal playoff game to the Columbus Lions.

Triangle Torch (black jerseys with and red and yellow accents) vs. Lehigh Valley Steelhawks (gold jerseys with black accents) during a game at Dorton Arena, March 25, 2016

With the PIFL not having enough teams to remain viable, the Steelhawks moved to American Indoor Football (AIF) for the 2016 season.[9] The Steelhawks finished third in the North Division and made it to the division championship game before losing to the West Michigan Ironmen. After the season ended, the team announced it would not be returning to the AIF for the 2017 season.[10]

On July 19, 2016, the Steelhawks announced they had joined the Arena Developmental League (which became the National Arena League) as a charter member of the new league.[11] In the NAL's inaugural 2017 season, the Steelhawks finished in second place overall before losing at home to the third place Columbus Lions in the semifinal playoff game.

Following the season, the Steelhawks franchise's only head coach Chris Thompson left the team to take an offensive coordinator position with the Arena Football League's Albany Empire expansion team for the 2018 season. The Steelhawks hired Danton Barto as the new head coach for the 2018 season and the team finished with a 0–15 record. At the end of the season, owner Glenn Clark and president Mike Clark announced the Steelhawks were for sale.[12] The team announced a hiatus prior to the 2019 season while continuing to seek new ownership.

Season-by-season results
League champions Conference champions Division champions Playoff berth League leader
Season Team League Conference Division Regular season Postseason results
FinishWinsLossesTies
2011 2011IFLUnitedAtlantic 2nd4100
2012 2012IFLUnited 4th680Lost United Conference Semi-final 21–79 vs. Sioux Falls
2013 2013PIFL 2nd750Lost PIFL Semi-final 40–44 vs. Richmond
2014 2014PIFLNational 2nd660Won National Conference Championship 49–38 vs. Trenton
Lost PIFL Cup III 43–64 vs. Nashville
2015 2015PIFL 4th650Lost PIFL Semifinal 41–69 vs. Columbus
2016 2016AIFNorthern 3rd620Won Northern Semifinal 54–52 vs. River City
Lost Northern Championship 35–42 vs. West Michigan
2017 2017NAL 2nd910Lost Semifinal 50–52 vs. Columbus
2018 2018NAL 6th0150
Totals 44520All-time regular season record (2011–2018)
26—All-time postseason record (2011–2018)
46580All-time regular season and postseason record (2011–2018)

Current roster

Lehigh Valley Steelhawks roster
Quarterbacks
  •  5 Caleb Walton

Fullbacks

  • Currently vacant

Wide receivers

  •  6 David Lewis
  • 81 Leroy McClain
  • -- Yusef Reddick
  •  4 Franklin Williams
 Offensive linemen
  • 68 Peter Borum
  • -- Shawn Lockett
  • 77 Shaq Wallen
  • 72 Michael Williams
  • -- Reginald White

Defensive linemen

  • 58 Jihad Abdur-Rahman
  • 12 Dante Holmes
  • -- Steve Mercado
 Linebackers
  • -- Dakota Everett
  • -- Tony Patterson

Defensive backs

  •  2 Marquez Gollman
  • 24 Rodney Hall
  • -- Mike McMillan
  • -- Cory Morrow
  •  7 Leroy Neysmith

Special teams

  • 10 Spencer Hotaling
 Reserve lists
  • -- Robert Brown DB (Suspended)
  • -- Justin Broome DB (Suspended)
  • -- Shon Chisom QB (Suspended)
  • -- Tyler Deane OL (Suspended)
  •  6 Brandon Fuentes DB (Suspended)
  • 11 Seth Higgins QB (IR)
  • -- Anthony Kelly WR (Exempt)
  • 13 Bryan Morris QB (IR)
  • -- Brandon Lathrop OL (Did Not Report)
  • -- Jakeem Polk DB (Did Not Report)
  •  1 Brandon Renford WR (Suspended)
  • -- Schnayder Termidor LB (Did Not Report)
  • Rookies in italics
  • Roster updated May 23, 2018
  • 22 Active, 13 Inactive

→ More rosters

Awards and honors

The following is a list of all Steelhawks players who have won league awards:

References
  1. "Lehigh Valley Steelhawks to go on hiatus for 2019 arena football season". The Morning Call. February 14, 2019.
  2. "Indoor Football League set to introduce a Lehigh Valley-based franchise". www.lehighvalleylive.com. PennLive LLC. July 7, 2010. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  3. Keith Groller (July 22, 2010). "New team tabs 'Dynamite' as its GM, but still needs nickname". www.mcall.com. The Morning Call. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  4. Alyssa Young (August 26, 2010). "Lehigh Valley Steelhawks is name of new Indoor Football League team". www.lehighvalleylive.com. PennLive LLC. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  5. "Steelhawks moving for 2013 season". www.mcall.com. The Morning Call. August 8, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  6. Josh Folck (July 5, 2014). "Lehigh Valley Steelhawks advance to Pro Indoor Football League championship game". www.lehighvalleylive.com. PennLive LLC. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  7. Josh Folck (July 12, 2014). "Lehigh Valley Steelhawks lose to Nashville Venom in Pro Indoor Football League championship game". www.lehighvalleylive.com. PennLive LLC. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  8. Greg Joyce (August 21, 2014). "Lehigh Valley Steelhawks announce three-year deal to play at PPL Center in Allentown". www.lehighvalleylive.com. Lehigh Valley Live. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  9. Keith Groller (September 14, 2015). "Steelhawks moving to a new indoor football league for 2016". www.mcall.com. The Morning Call. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  10. "The Lehigh Valley Steelhawks Indoor Football Team Will Not be Returning to the AIF in 2017..." OurSports Central. July 13, 2016.
  11. "Steelhawks announce new league affiliation for 2017". www.mcall.com. The Morning Call. July 19, 2016. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  12. Connor Ferguson (August 22, 2018). "Lehigh Valley Steelhawks up for sale". LastWordOnSports.com.
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