The Empire Football League (EFL) is a

semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a consid ...

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

with franchises based primarily in

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

. The league was established in 1969. Many franchises have come and gone including in locations such as

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

, and

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

as well as

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, and

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. In 2018 the league included six teams: the Glens Falls Greenjackets, Hudson Valley Mountaineers, Plattsburgh North Stars, Seaway Valley Venom, Tri City Spartans, and Utica Yard Dogs.

Ray Seals Raymond Bernard Seals (born June 17, 1965) is an American former football defensive end in the NFL. He is famous for not having attended college, a rarity in the NFL. Ray lettered in football at Anthony A. Henninger High School in Syracuse, ...

transitioned from the EFL to the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) in 1989. Several members of the Syracuse 8 that challenged disparities for African Americans at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

's football program played for the Tri City Jets of

Binghamton Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

, New York. The team was a farm team for the New York Jets at the time and some of them went for a tryout with the Jets, but according to one of them they understood they had no chance when Jets coach

Weeb Ewbank Wilbur Charles "Weeb" Ewbank (May 6, 1907 – November 17, 1998) was an American professional football coach. He led the Baltimore Colts to consecutive NFL championships in 1958 and 1959 and the New York Jets to victory in Super Bowl III in Janu ...

identified them as "those boys from Syracuse" during roll call. The league's most dominant team has been the Scranton Eagles who have won a record 11

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

s, 10 of those coming between the years 1982 and 1994.

History

The league was organized during the winter of 1968 and started in 1969. The Hudson Falls Greenjackets were the first champions, after finishing with a 7-1 record. In 1989

transitioned from the EFL's Syracuse Express to the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

in the

(NFL). As a linebacker he blocked the pass from

Brett Favre Brett Lorenzo Favre ( ; born October 10, 1969) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 consecutive starts from 1992 to 20 ...

that Favre caught for his very first completion in the NFL. Due to complications stemming from the

Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) is the implementation of the requirement to show a passport or other acceptable document to enter the United States, for nationals of certain North American jurisdictions who were previously exempt ...

, all Canadian teams were removed from the league beginning in the 2010 season (at the time, the Quebec Titans and the Ottawa Deacon Demons (Joliet Chargers) were in the league). The Watertown Red and Black left the league in 2017 when the EFL was down to two teams. The league held an emergency meeting when it was left with just the Seaway Valley Venom and the Glens Falls Greenjackets. The Hudson Valley Mountaineers joined the league in 2018. In 2018 Kevin Siska of the Glens Falls Greenjackets was inducted into the American Football Association Minor League Football Hall of Fame. The team canceled its 2020 season amid the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. For the 2021 season Utica, Hudson Valley and Sussex decided to join other leagues, so the league decided to split into 2 divisions to cut down on travel costs. Eastern Division included Glens Falls Greenjackets, Plattsburgh North Stars and Tri City Spartans, while the West Division consist Syracuse Smash,

Watertown Red & Black The Watertown Red & Black is a semi-professional American football team based in Watertown, New York. The team is the oldest active semi-pro football team in the United States, and can trace its history to 1896, although the Professional Footba ...

and Northern New York Grizzlies. West division champs Watertown beat East division champs Glens Falls 37-8 in the final.

Current teams

* Auburn Pride of

Auburn, New York Auburn is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States. Located at the north end of Owasco Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in Central New York, the city had a population of 26,866 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city of Cayuga County, the ...

* Broome County Stallions of

Apalachin, New York Apalachin ( ) is a census-designated place within the Town of Owego in Tioga County, New York, United States. The population was 1,131 in the 2010 census. The CDP is named after Apalachin Creek. ''Apalachin'' means "from where the messenger retur ...

* Glens Falls Greenjackets of

Glens Falls, New York Glens Falls is a city in Warren County, New York, United States and is the central city of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,700 at the 2010 census. The name was given by Colonel Johannes Glen, the falls refe ...

* Plattsburgh North Stars North Stars of

Plattsburgh, New York Plattsburgh ( moh, Tsi ietsénhtha) is a city in, and the seat of, Clinton County, New York, United States, situated on the north-western shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 19,841 at the 2020 census. The population of the surrounding ...

* Syracuse Smash of

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

Watertown, New York Watertown is a city in, and the county seat of, Jefferson County, New York, United States. It is approximately south of the Thousand Islands, along the Black River about east of where it flows into Lake Ontario. The city is bordered by the ...

Prior franchises

Albany Metro Mallers The Albany Metro Mallers are a semi-professional football team. The team has regularly appeared in national semipro playoffs and won the national semipro title in 2008, 2013, and 2016. Some of the team's players have gone on to play professional foo ...

* Amsterdam Zephyrs *

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

Mountaineers * Berwick Colts * Binghamton Jets * Broome County Dragons * Capitaland Thunder * Chenango Storm * Connecticut Chiefs * Dutchess County Checkmates * Glens Falls Greenjackets * Glove Cities Colonials * Hudson Vikings (Columbia County) * Hudson Falls Greenjackets * Kingston Panthers * Marlboro Shamrocks * Massena Warriors * Massena Silver and Black Raiders * Montreal Condors * Montreal Voyaguers * New England Crusaders * New York Stallions * Newburgh Raiders * Oneonta Indians * Oneida Silver Bullets * Orange County Bulldogs * Ottawa Bootleggers * Ottawa Demon Deacons * Plattsburg Northstars (Lake City Stars) * Quebec Titans * Rochester Sting * Rotterdam Eagles * Reading Raptors * Scranton Eagles * Schenectady Chargers * Seaway Valley Venom * Salt City Aces * Syracuse Vipers * Syracuse Shock * Syracuse Storm * Syracuse Strong * Triple Cities Jets * St. Lawrence Trailblazers * Toronto Raiders * Troy Uncle Sammies * Troy Giants * Troy Titans * Utica Mustangs * Utica Nighthawks * Utica Yardogs * Vermont Ice Storm * Vermont Muddogs (Casselton)

Champions

References

{{Reflist

External links