The Hartford Charter Oaks were a professional

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 wi ...

team based in Hartford, Connecticut. They began play in 1964 as a member of the

Atlantic Coast Football League The Atlantic Coast Football League (ACFL) was a professional american football minor league that operated from 1962 to 1973. Until 1969, many of its franchises had working agreements with NFL and AFL teams to serve as farm clubs. The league paid ...

, replacing the Ansonia Black Knights. In 1965 the Charter Oaks were one of several ACFL franchises to join the new Continental Football League, where they finished in last place in their division. Jerry Fishman, notorious for his unsportsmanlike behavior in the 1964 Maryland-Navy game, played his lone full professional season with the Charter Oaks in 1965. After cancelling a few games in 1967 due to financial difficulty, the Charter Oaks announced they were ceasing operations in March 1968. The team cited losses of approximately $250,000. The Atlantic Coast Football League immediately established the Hartford Knights to replace the Charter Oaks in the market, and by at least one player's account (that of eventual Pro Bowl fullback

Marv Hubbard ''For the career criminal of the same name, see Battle of Alcatraz'' Marvin Ronald Hubbard (May 7, 1946 – May 4, 2015) was a professional American football player. He played fullback for the American Football League's and later National F ...

), the Knights were still known as the Charter Oaks for at least their first season. The Knights would play for the next six seasons, winning the ACFL title in 1968, appearing in but losing the title games every year from 1969 to 1971, and winning the

Seaboard Football League The Seaboard Football League was an American football minor league that operated from 1971 to 1974.Bob Gill, with Steve Brainerd and Tod Maher, ''Minor League Football, 1960-85'' (McFarland and Co., 2002), pp84, 99-100 It folded during the 1974 ...

in 1972."Hartford Quits Seaboard Loop", ''Lewiston (ME) Daily Sun'' - Nov 23, 1972, p39

Season-by-season

References

Atlantic Coast Football League teams Continental Football League teams American football teams in Connecticut Defunct sports teams in Connecticut Sports in Hartford, Connecticut American football teams established in 1964 American football teams disestablished in 1968 1964 establishments in Connecticut 1968 disestablishments in Connecticut {{Connecticut-sport-team-stub