The Philadelphia Firebirds are a women's football team in the

Independent Women's Football League The Independent Women's Football League (IWFL) was the first Women's American football league established by women players for women players. The league was founded in 2000, began play in 2001, and played its last season in 2018. Members of th ...

based in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. They are in the Eastern Conference, North Atlantic Division with the

Boston Militia The Boston Militia were a women's full-contact football team in the Women's Football Alliance of which they were two-time champions (2011, 2014). Previously, the Militia played in the Independent Women's Football League from 2008 until 2010, winnin ...

, New York Nemesis, and

New York Sharks The New York Sharks were a women's American football team that was based in New York City. Their final season in 2018 was played as a member team of the Women's Football Alliance (WFA). They were the longest running and most winning team in women ...

. The team was formerly known as the Philadelphia Phoenix and formerly played in the

National Women's Football Association The National Women's Football Association (NWFA) was a full-contact American football league for women headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. The league was founded by Catherine Masters in 2000, as the two benchmark teams, the Alabama Renegades ...

. Upon moving to the IWFL, they changed their name so as to avoid confusion with their fellow IWFL franchise, the Carolina Phoenix. Philadelphia's first women's tackle football team was founded in 2001 as the

Philadelphia Liberty Belles The Philadelphia Liberty Belles are a team of the Women's Football Alliance which began play for its inaugural 2009 season. Home games are played on the campus of Wissahickon High School in Ambler, Pennsylvania. The Liberty Belles are named in ...

. The Belles won the inaugural NWFL Championship that year. In 2002, the Belles lost in the semi-final playoff round. Heading into the 2003 season, the team split and the Philadelphia Phoenix was formed. The two teams existed simultaneously until the

eventually folded. The Liberty Belles have since reformed for the 2009 season and have joined the new WFA.

Season-by-season

, - , colspan="6" align="center" , Philadelphia Phoenix (NWFA) , - , 2003 , , 7 , , 1 , , 0 , , 1st North North , , First-round bye
Won Eastern Conference Semifinal ( D.C.)
Lost Eastern Conference Championship (

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

) , - , 2004 , , 7 , , 1 , , 0 , , 1st North North , , Lost Northern Conference Qualifier ( Southwest Michigan) , - , 2005 , , 4 , , 4 , , 0 , , 13th North Division , , – , - , 2006 , , 5 , , 3 , , 0 , , 2nd North East , , Lost NWFA First Round (

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

) , - , 2007 , , 1 , , 6 , , 0 , , 2nd North South , , – , - , 2008 , , 8 , , 0 , , 0 , , 1st North East , , First-round bye
Won Northern Conference Semifinal (

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

)
Lost Northern Conference Championship (

West Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Pe ...

) , - , colspan="6" align="center" , Philadelphia Firebirds (IWFL) , - , 2009 , , 1 , , 7 , , 0 , , 4th Tier I East North Atlantic , , – , - , 2010 , , 1 , , 7 , , 0 , , 5th Tier I East Northeast , , – , - , 2011 , , 2 , , 4 , , 1 , , 3rd East mid-Atlantic , , - , - !Totals , , 38 , , 37 , , 1 , colspan="2", (including playoffs)

Season schedules

2009

2010

** = Forfeited because of league action to reduce schedule

References

External links

Philadelphia Firebirds official websiteIWFL official website
Independent Women's Football League American football teams in Philadelphia American football teams established in 2003 Women's sports in Pennsylvania {{Philadelphia-sport-stub