| Milwaukee Mustangs (original) | |
| Founded: | 1994 |
| Folded: | 2001 |
| City: | Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Colors: | Deep purple, teal, white |
| Coach: | Rick Frazier |
| Owner: | Andrew Vallozzi |
| League: | Arena Football League (–)
|
| Team History: |
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| No Conf Champs: | 0 |
| Conf Champs: | Prior to 2005, the AFL did not have conference championship games |
| No Div Champs: | 0 |
| No League Champs: | 0 |
| Playoff Appearances: |
|
| No Playoff Appearances: | 4 |
| Arena Years: |
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The Milwaukee Mustangs were a professional arena football team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The team was a member of the Arena Football League, playing from 1994 to 2001. The owner of the Mustangs was Andrew Vallozzi. The Mustangs played their home games at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The team was founded in August 1993, when Andrew Vallozzi was approved by the league for expansion.[1] The city of Milwaukee became football hungry, after renovations to Lambeau Field led to speculation that the Green Bay Packers would soon stop playing games in Milwaukee, something they'd been doing since 1933. Later that year, the Packers would confirm the rumors and announced that their December 1994 contest at Milwaukee County Stadium would be their last.
For many in the Milwaukee area, the Mustangs helped fill the void left by the Packers. The team never finished lower than eighth in seasonal attendance, regularly drawing in the 14,000's and 15,000's (at a time when average attendance was approx. 8,500). The Mustangs even led the AFL in attendance in 1996.
After the 2001 season, the Mustangs lost their lease at the Bradley Center. When it was unable to find a replacement facility, the league folded the team.[2] Milwaukee was left without an arena football team until 2008, with the formation of the Milwaukee Bonecrushers of the Continental Indoor Football League, who played their home games at the U.S. Cellular Arena. A year later, the Milwaukee Iron began play in the Arena Football 2 League across the street at the Bradley Center. In January 2011, it was announced that the Milwaukee Iron, now of the Arena Football League would be changing its name to the Milwaukee Mustangs.[3]
In 2018, the Milwaukee Mustangs' intellectual properties were acquired by Counterbalance Sports & Entertainment, LLC, the sports-entertainment division of Counterbalance Group Inc. Additionally, Counterbalance Sports began using the Milwaukee Iron / [Second] Milwaukee Mustangs branding in 2021.
See main article: List of Milwaukee Mustangs (1994–2001) seasons.
| Milwaukee Mustangs retired numbers | |||||||||
| width=40px style="background: white; color: #702963" | N° | width=150px style="background: white; color: #702963" | Player | width=40px style="background: white; color: #702963" | Position | width=80px style="background: white; color: #702963" | Seasons | width=50px style="background: white; color: #702963" | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1994–2001 | [4] | |||||||
| 5 | 1994–99 | ||||||||
| 8 | 1994–99 | ||||||||
| Milwaukee Mustangs Hall of Famers | |||||
| width=60px style="background: white; color: #702963" | No. | Name | Year Inducted | Position(s) | Years w/ Mustangs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1998 | 1995 | |||
| ?? | 2000 | 1994 | |||
| Kicker Player of the Year | |||
| Season | Player | Position | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenny Stucker | K | ||
| Don't Blink | Player of the Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Player | Position | ||
| Lamart Cooper | OS | |||
| "Built Ford Tough" Man of the Year | |||
| Season | Player | Position | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gary Compton | WR/LB | ||
The following Mustangs players were named to All-Arena Teams:
The following Mustangs players were named to All-Ironman Teams:
The following Mustangs players were named to All-Rookie Teams:
| Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | Win% | W | L | ||||
| Lou Saban | 1994 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Art Haege | 1994 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Michael Trigg | - | 22 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| Rick Frazier | - | 24 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||