The Central Penn Capitals (formerly the York Capitals) were a professional indoor football team based in

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

. The Capitals played as members of

American Indoor Football 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 ...

(AIF) from 2013 to 2016. The club was established in 2012 as an

expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

for the 2013 season when Jim Morris secured the rights to an AIF franchise in

York, Pennsylvania York ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Yarrick''), known as the White Rose City (after the symbol of the House of York), is the county seat of York County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the south-central region of the state. The populati ...

at the York City Ice Arena. The team relocated to Harrisburg for the 2016 season with home games played at the

Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center, formerly known as State Farm Show Arena, is a large exhibition center and indoor arena in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It is primarily used for concerts, agricultural exhibitions, the Pennsylvania Far ...

. The AIF ceased operations after the 2016 season and the Capitals did not join another league. The Capitals were York's first indoor/arena football team. They were Harrisburg's second such team, the first being the

Harrisburg Stampede The Harrisburg Stampede were a professional indoor football team based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The Stampede participated in several different leagues over their history: the American Indoor Football Association in 2009 and 2010, the Southern ...

, which played in the AIF (and its predecessors the AIFA and SIFL) from

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

until

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

before moving to Hershey and the

Professional Indoor Football League The Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) was a professional indoor football league that played four seasons from 2012 to 2015. Like the Lone Star Football League, the PIFL was mainly composed of teams formerly part of Southern Indoor Foot ...

the following season.

Franchise history

In October 2012, it was announced that

had been awarded an expansion franchise of

(AIF). The franchise announced the following week that they would be holding a name-the-team contest open to York fans. The finalist of the team names came out to "Capitals", "Patriots", "Renegades", "Independence" and "Colonials", with Capitals gaining 49.2% of the votes to be the official nickname. The team's name refers to the city's colonial heritage, with the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

having completed the final draft of the

Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was an agreement among the 13 Colonies of the United States of America that served as its first frame of government. It was approved after much debate (between July 1776 and November 1777) by ...

while it met in York during ten months of the Revolutionary War. York is thus considered one of the first capitals of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The team introduced its first four players during a news conference on December 5, 2012: Rafael Cooper (running back), Thomas Potts (linebacker), Archie Smith (defensive back/wide receiver), and Keith Stokes (wide receiver). After the Capitals opened play with a 32–25 victory over the Washington Eagles, York battled to a 5–4 regular season record, securing a playoff spot. The Capitals faced in-state rival, the

, with a chance to advance to the AIF Championship Game. The Stampede rallied in the 4th quarter with 17 points to win 51–41, ending the Capitals season. For the 2014 season, the Capitals announced that Matt Steeple would coach the team. On July 15, 2014, it was announced that Isaac Carn had purchased the Capitals from Jim Morris. Carn promptly named Eric Dorsey II the team's new coach, though Rick Marsilio was named the head coach before the season started. Marsilio was an assistant for the now defunct

, and recruited multiple Stampede players to the Capitals. The recruiting helped, as the Capitals finished the regular season 8–0, clinching the 1 seed in the 2015 AIF Playoffs. The Capitals defeated the

ASI Panthers The AllStarInc Panthers were a professional indoor football team based in Reading, Pennsylvania. They were members of American Indoor Football (AIF) for the 2015 season. The Panthers played their home games at Santander Arena in Reading. Histor ...

68–58 to clinch a berth in the 2015 AIF Championship Game against the

Chicago Blitz The Chicago Blitz was a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League in the mid-1980s. They played at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. Team history The Blitz were one of the twelve charter franchis ...

. The Capitals defeated the Blitz 58–30, capturing their first-ever championship. On October 14, 2015, it was announced that the Capitals were moving to Harrisburg and renaming themselves the Central Penn Capitals. The Capitals would finish fourth in the Northern Division after the regular season due to the folding of the

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. In addition to being Philadelphia's second are ...

, thereby qualifying for a playoff spot. However, after being announced as playing the

West Michigan Ironmen The West Michigan Ironmen are a professional indoor football team based in Muskegon, Michigan (and representing the larger region which also includes Grand Rapids and Holland), the Ironmen play their home games at Mercy Health Arena. The team jo ...

in the division semifinals, they were removed from the schedule and replaced with the Southern Division's third place team, the

Myrtle Beach Freedom The Myrtle Beach Freedom were a professional indoor football team based in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and played their home games at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. They were a member of American Indoor Football for one season until the le ...

. No statements from the team or league were made addressing the removal of the Capitals. At the conclusion of the 2016 season, the AIF ceased operations. The Capitals website was taken down during the summer of 2016 indicating they had ceased operations as well.

Final roster

Awards and honors

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

All-League players

The following Capitals players have been named to All-League Teams: * QB E. J. Nemeth (1) * FB Sarron Anderson (1) * WR

Julius Gregory Julius Gregory (born May 18, 1988) is an American football wide receiver for the Carolina Cobras of the National Arena League (NAL). He played college football at Shaw University. College career Gregory played college football at Shaw Univers ...

(1), Rob Jones (1), Rob Wright (1) * OL Steven Brazzle (1), Jason Townsend (1), Victor Sesay (1) * LB Chindy Agugua (1), Michael Woodhouse (1), Jermaine Thaxton (1), Bryant Lewis (1), Will Hines (1) * DB Archie Smith (1), Armar Watson (1), James Pitts (1), Travis Proctor (1)

Coaches of note

Head coaches

Coaching staff

Season-by-season results

References

External links

* {{AIF 2012 establishments in Pennsylvania 2016 disestablishments in Pennsylvania