The Lowell Giants were a minor league American football team based in Lowell, Massachusetts. They played three seasons in the Atlantic Coast Football League (ACFL) from 1966 to 1968 and played their home games at

Cawley Memorial Stadium Cawley Memorial Stadium is a 6,000-seat multipurpose stadium in Lowell, Massachusetts primarily used for football, soccer, field hockey, track and field and lacrosse. The stadium was named after Edward Cawley, a landowner who owned several pl ...

Ken MacAfee Kenneth Adams MacAfee II (born January 9, 1956) is a former professional American football player. He played collegiately at the University of Notre Dame and professionally for the San Francisco 49ers. High school MacAfee grew up in Brockton, M ...

coached the team from 1966 to 1967 before being replaced by Ross O'Hanley, who coached the team in 1968 and 1969. In 1969, the team moved to

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Greater Boston, Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 1 ...

and was renamed to the Quincy Giants. The team folded after the 1969 season. During its existence, the Giants were affiliated with the

Boston Patriots Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most ...

History

The Giants were founded in 1966 and began play in Lowell, Massachusetts as the Lowell Giants. The team remained in Lowell until 1969, when the team was moved to

. The Giants moved to Quincy from Lowell less than a month before the first game of the 1969 season. Following the 1969 season and just one season being based in Quincy, the Giants folded from the ACFL. In 1966, Ken MacAfee was hired as the first head coach in Giants history. MacAfee would coach the team for two seasons, in 1966 and 1967. MacAfee was familiar with the area near Lowell, having grown up in the area, being born in Milton, Massachusetts. MacAfee played football at Quincy High School, Portsmouth High School, and

Oliver Ames High School Oliver Ames High School is a public high school in Easton, Massachusetts, United States. The school currently enrolls approximately 1200 students in grades 9 through 12 and is named after Oliver Ames, who was the 35th governor of Massachusetts. ...

. The Giants first game in franchise history came against the

Rhode Island Steelers The Rhode Island Steelers were a minor league American football team based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. They began play in the Atlantic Coast Football League in 1966 as a minor league affiliate of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers. Within weeks of the ...

, the farm club of the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

of the National Football League (NFL). The game was played in Lowell and resulted in a dominant win for the Giants, who won in a 21–0 shutout. In the 1966 season, the Giants had an extremely promising inaugural season. The team started off unbeaten through their first nine games. The Giants would lose their first game to the Waterbury Orbits 17–20 on October 22, 1966. Finishing 9–2–1 in 1966 earned the Giants the Northern Division championship in the ACFL and the chance to face the Southern Division champions

Virginia Sailors The Virginia Sailors were a minor league American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area, operating in Arlington, Virginia, Alexandria, Virginia, and Herndon, Virginia during its existence. History The Virginia Sailors played ...

for the ACFL championship. The Giants would lose the title game on the road against the Sailors, 10–42. In 1967, the Giants began the season as one of the favorites to win the ACFL title as the defending Northern Division champions. Lowell would finish with a 7–5 record and second place in the division, denying them a chance to play for the title. The Giants would struggle mightily in their final two seasons in the ACFL, finishing 2–8–1 in 1968 and 2–9 in 1969.

References

Atlantic Coast Football League teams American football teams established in 1966 American football teams disestablished in 1968 {{Amfoot-team-stub