Florence Phantoms Explained

The Florence Phantoms were a professional indoor football team based out of Florence, South Carolina, in the United States. They were an expansion member of the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA) in 2006, and were the AIFA Champions of the 2008 season. They played their home games at Florence Civic Center.

On Saturday, April 8, 2006, after losing their first four games, the Phantoms got their first win in a 54–30 home upset against the Raleigh Rebels.

On Friday, June 23, 2006, the Phantoms announced that they would return for the 2007 season.

2008 was the Phantoms' best season by far: after winning the Eastern Division Championship with a 10–4 record, the Phantoms went on to defeat the Huntington Heroes in the first round of the playoffs, followed by the Reading Express in the Eastern Conference championship, and finally defeating the Wyoming Cavalry 48–12 to win the AIFA Championship Bowl on their home turf.

The Phantoms did not return after the 2009 season.

Season-by-season

|-| colspan="6" align="center" | Florence Phantoms (AIFL)|-|2006 || 4 || 10 || 0 || 7th Southern || --|-| colspan="6" align="center" | Florence Phantoms (AIFA)|-|2007 || 4 || 9 || 0 || 6th Southern || --|-|2008 || 10 || 4 || 0 || 1st EC Eastern || Won ECE Round 1 (Huntington)
Won EC Championship (Reading)
Won AIFA Championship Bowl II (Wyoming)|-|2009 || 6 || 8 || 0 || 5th Southern || --|-!Totals || 27 || 31 || 0|colspan="2"| (including playoffs)

Game Results

2007

DateOpponentHome/AwayResult
February 17Carolina SpeedHomeWon 64-36
February 25Lakeland ThunderboltsAwayLost 25-69
March 3Huntington HeroesHomeLost 40-43
March 17Mississippi MudcatsAwayLost 14-63
March 23Lakeland ThunderboltsHomeLost 18-54
March 31Tallahassee TitansAwayLost 36-41
April 7Montgomery BearsAwayWon 46-40
April 14Pittsburgh RiverRatsAwayLost 60-66
April 21Baltimore BlackbirdsHomeWon 65-33
April 28Tallahassee TitansHomeLost 33-69
May 5Montgomery BearsHomeLost 40-48
May 12Carolina SpeedAwayLost 22-32
May 19Mississippi MudcatsHomeWon 45-44

2008

DateOpponentHome/AwayResult
March 15Baltimore MarinersHomeLost 32-35
March 21Huntington HeroesAwayLost 32-47
March 29Canton LegendsHomeWon 55-39
April 13Fayetteville GuardAwayWon 39-38
April 19Reading ExpressAwayLost 30-66
April 25Huntington HeroesHomeWon 66-12
May 3Mississippi MudcatsAwayLost 39-40
May 10Florida StingraysAwayWon 61-30
May 17Florida StingraysHomeWon 58-13
May 23Erie RiverRatsHomeWon 57-27
May 30Fayetteville GuardHomeWon 50-6
June 6Columbus LionsAwayWon 40-35
June 14Augusta ColtsHomeWon 56-22
June 21Carolina SpeedAwayWon 53-35
July 7Huntington Heroes (Div. Playoffs)HomeWon 55-9
July 12Reading Express (EC Championship)AwayWon 52-37
July 25Wyoming Cavalry (Championship Bowl II)HomeWon 48-12

2009

DateOpponentHome/AwayResult
March 7Carolina SpeedHomeLost 29-37
March 13Harrisburg StampedeHomeWon 19-12
March 28Columbus LionsHomeWon 55-36
April 4Fayetteville GuardHomeWon 50-49
April 11South Carolina ForceAwayWon 63-59
April 18Carolina SpeedAway
April 24Baltimore MarinersAway
May 2Reading ExpressHome
May 16Carolina SpeedHome
May 30Columbus LionsAway
June 6Fayetteville GuardAway
June 13South Carolina ForceHome
June 19Columbus LionsAway
June 27Erie RiverRatsAway

External links