Philadelphia Yellow Jackets
The Philadelphia Yellow Jackets were a professional indoor football team and a member of the American Indoor Football league that played half a season in 2016 before folding due to financial issues.
| Philadelphia Yellow Jackets | ||
|---|---|---|
| Established 2015 Folded 2016 Played in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania philadelphiayellowjackets.com | ||
| ||
| League/conference affiliations | ||
American Indoor Football (2016)
| ||
| Team colors | Sky blue, gold, white | |
| Personnel | ||
| Owner(s) | Joe Krause | |
| Head coach | Mike Brown | |
| Team history | ||
| ||
| Championships | ||
| League championships (0) | ||
| Conference championships (0) | ||
| Division championships (0) | ||
| Home arena(s) | ||
| Class of 1923 Arena (2016) | ||
In addition to being Philadelphia's second arena/indoor team (after the Philadelphia Soul currently playing in the Arena Football League), the Yellow Jackets were named in honor of (and their visual identity is designed after) Philadelphia's first National Football League team, the Frankford Yellow Jackets. The original Yellow Jackets played in the NFL from 1924 until 1931 (and notably won the 1926 NFL championship).
History
On June 11, 2015, the AIF announced the Yellow Jackets would be joining for the 2016 season. The "P-Y-J" are owned by Joe Krause, owner of the Indoor Gridiron League.[1] The Yellow Jackets played their home games at the Class of 1923 Arena on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania the majority of their first season until May 11, 2016, when the university voided their contract for lack of payment leading to cancelling their last three games. Owner Joe Krause released a statement on the team's Facebook account accusing the university of breach of contract while he was dealing with his wife's recovery from a stroke.[2]
They did re-schedule their last "home" game to be at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, however, this game was also never played. The team was removed from the AIF after the 2016 season.
2016 season
Season record
| Season | League | Division | Regular season | Postseason results | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Wins | Losses | Ties | ||||
| 2016 | AIF | Northern | folded | 4 | 1 | 0 | |
Key: Win Tie Loss Bye
Preseason
All start times were local to home team
| Week | Day | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Results | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score | Record | ||||||
| 1 | Saturday | March 5 | 7:05pm | at Lehigh Valley Steelhawks | L 28-41[3] | 0-1 | PPL Center |
Regular season
All start times were local to home team
| Week | Day | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Results | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score | Record | ||||||
| 1 | BYE | ||||||
| 2 | BYE | ||||||
| 3 | BYE | ||||||
| 4 | BYE | ||||||
| 5 | Saturday | March 26 | 7:05pm | at Winston Wildcats | W 55–9[4] | 1–0 | LJVM Coliseum Annex |
| 6 | Saturday | April 2 | 7:05pm | at Central Penn Capitals | W 40–36 | 2–0 | Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center |
| 7 | BYE | ||||||
| 8 | Saturday | April 16 | 7:05pm | Central Penn Capitals | W 79–26 | 3–0 | Class of 1923 Arena |
| 9 | Saturday | April 23 | 7:05pm | at Lehigh Valley Steelhawks | L 33–52[5] | 3–1 | PPL Center |
| Rescheduled for May 28 | |||||||
| 11 | Saturday | May 8 | 4:05pm | at Triangle Torch | W 59–42 | 4–1 | Dorton Arena |
| 12 | Saturday | May 14 | 7:05pm | Maryland Eagles | Cancelled[lower-alpha 1] | ||
| 12 | Saturday | May 14 | 7:05pm | at Winston Wildcats | L 0–2[lower-alpha 2] | 4–2 | |
| 13 | Saturday | May 21 | 7:05pm | Winston Wildcats | L 0–2[lower-alpha 1] | 4–3 | |
| Cancelled | Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center | ||||||
- Game canceled or forfeited due to the Yellow Jackets loss of a home arena.
- Game was never scheduled to be played but was credited as forfeit loss to the Wildcats one week after the non-played game with the Eagles with no explanation given by the AIF.
Standings
2016 AIF Northern standings | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | PF (Avg.) | PA (Avg.) | STK | ||
| West Michigan Ironmen | 6 | 1 | 0 | .857 | 471 | 224 | 67.3 | 32.0 | W6 | ||
| River City Raiders | 6 | 1 | 0 | .857 | 398 | 235 | 56.9 | 33.6 | W3 | ||
| Lehigh Valley Steelhawks | 6 | 2 | 0 | .750 | 430 | 237 | 53.8 | 29.6 | L1 | ||
| Philadelphia Yellow Jackets | 4 | 3 | 0 | .571 | 266 | 169 | 38.0 | 24.0 | L2 | ||
| Central Penn Capitals | 4 | 4 | 0 | .500 | 373 | 338 | 46.6 | 42.3 | W3 | ||
| Chicago Blitz | 3 | 3 | 0 | .500 | 237 | 170 | 39.5 | 28.3 | L1 | ||
| Triangle Torch | 3 | 4 | 0 | .429 | 292 | 359 | 41.7 | 51.3 | L2 | ||
| Winston Wildcats | 3 | 5 | 0 | .375 | 139 | 300 | 17.4 | 37.5 | W3 | ||
| Maryland Eagles | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 19 | 116 | 9.5 | 58.0 | L2 | ||
| Northern Kentucky Nightmare | 0 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 116 | 236 | 23.2 | 47.2 | L5 | ||
References
- "AIF Comes to Philadelphia". American Indoor Football. June 11, 2015. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
- "Krause's Facebook statement". Philadelphia Yellow Jackets Official Facebook. May 12, 2016.
- "Steelhawks Open with Home Win in AIF Debut". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. March 6, 2016. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
- "Winston-Salem Wildcats Play First Home Game Of Inaugural Season". www.wfmynews2.com. Tegna. March 26, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
- Keith Groller (April 24, 2016). "Steelhawks stay unbeaten by passing their way past Philadelphia, 52-33". www.mcall.com. Allentown Morning Call. Retrieved April 28, 2016.