The Canton Legends was a professional indoor football team based out of Canton, Ohio. They were a charter member of the

American Indoor Football Association American Indoor Football (AIF) was a professional indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America. The AIFL began as a regional league with six franchises on the East Coast of the United ...

, which played their first season under the name Atlantic Indoor Football League, and their second season as the American Indoor Football League. They played their home games at Canton Memorial Civic Center. The team name is in reference to the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...

, since Canton is where the building is located. During their inaugural season, the Legends ended up at a mediocre 3–7, just beating the Raleigh Rebels for 4th Place in the league. Since the league only had six teams, everyone (including the Legends) made the playoffs. They won the opening round against the Rebels, but their season ended when they lost to the

Erie Freeze The Erie Freeze was an American indoor football team based in Erie, Pennsylvania. They were an original member of the American Indoor Football League in 2005, and advanced to the first AIFL Championship Game. When the league was reorganized into ...

in the semifinals. On Saturday, May 6, 2006, the Legends won 54–41 against the

Huntington Heroes The Huntington Heroes were a professional indoor football franchise and member of the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA). The Heroes played their home games during their inaugural 2006 season at the Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse in Hunti ...

on the road, but not without controversy. The Legends were in violation for having an illegal roster, for they added some players to their rosters illegally. At first the AIFL awarded the win to Huntington; later Canton got the win, but had to pay an $800 fine for its action

Despite that little controversy, the Legends eventually managed to win the AIFL's ultimate title for 2006, beating the

Rome Renegades The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, ...

61–40. The legends also held an AIFA record for longest winning streak (12 games), beginning on May 6, 2006, against the Huntington Heroes (the same Heroes game mentioned above) at Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse, and ending on March 11, 2007, with a 39–36 loss to the

Lakeland Thunderbolts The Lakeland Thunderbolts were a professional indoor football team. They were a member of the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA). They played their home games at the Lakeland Center. History The Lakeland Thunderbolts began in 2005 as ...

at the Lakeland Center. (The Baltimore Mariners later broke this record in 2010.) The Legends are also the last of the six charter AIFL teams to fold, ceasing operations only four seasons after its debut. (Johnstown and Erie folded in 2007 and the other three teams folded in 2006.)

Season-by-season

, - , colspan="6" align="center" , Canton Legends (AIFL) , - , 2005 , , 3 , , 7 , , 0 , , 4th League , , Won Round 1 (

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

)
Lost League Semifinals (

Erie Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

) , - , 2006 , , 10 , , 4 , , 0 , , 2nd Northern , , Won Round 1 (

)
Won Northern Division Championship (

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

)
Won American Bowl II (

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

) , - , colspan="6" align="center" , Canton Legends (AIFA) , - , 2007 , , 10 , , 4 , , 0 , , 2nd Northern , , Won Round 1 ( Huntington)
Lost NC Championship (

) , - , 2008 , , 3 , , 11 , , 0 , , 4th EC Northern , , , - !Totals , , 31 , , 28 , , 0 , colspan="2", (including playoffs)

Entire 2006 Season Schedule

2007 Season Schedule

2008 Season Schedule

External links

Official Site of the Canton Legends

Canton Leatherheads(Legends fan club) website

Around the Turf, a Canton Legends fan blog

Legends' 2005 Stats

Legends' 2006 Season & Results

Legends' 2007 Season

Legends' 2008 Season
{dead link, date=November 2016 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes American Indoor Football Association teams American Indoor Football League teams Sports in Canton, Ohio 2005 establishments in Ohio 2008 disestablishments in Ohio American football teams established in 2005 Defunct American football teams in Ohio American football teams disestablished in 2008 American football teams in Ohio