The Virginia Sailors were a minor league

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 ...

team based in the

Washington metropolitan area The Washington metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the National Capital Region, is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C. The metropolitan area includes all of Washington, D.C. and parts of the states of Maryland, Virgin ...

, operating in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Downto ...

, and

Herndon, Virginia Herndon is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area of the United States. The population was 23,292 at the 2010 census. In 2020, the population was estimated to be 24,532, which makes it the largest of three i ...

during its existence.

History

The Virginia Sailors played three seasons in 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 pai ...

(ACFL) from 1966 to 1968 and played their home games at Wakefield High School Stadium, Montgomery Field, and Herndon Stadium. The Sailors were coached by head coach Billy Cox. In 1966 and 1967, the Sailors won the ACFL championship. During its existence, the Sailors were affiliated with the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

and received players from the Redskins

taxi squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

. Under the leadership of coach Cox, a former Redskins player himself, the Sailors dominated the ACFL in their three seasons of existence. The team posted a 25-6 regular season mark from 1966 to 1968. In the postseason, the Sailors defeated the Lowell Giants in the 1966 ACFL championship game and repeated with a victory over the Westchester Bulls in 1967. In 1968, the Sailors were defeated by the

Hartford Knights The Hartford Knights were a professional American football team based in Hartford, Connecticut. They began play in 1968 as a member of the Atlantic Coast Football League, replacing the Hartford Charter Oaks. For the 1969 season, they became the af ...

30–17 in the championship game, failing to three-peat as champions. The championship game played on November 30, 1968, would be their final game as a franchise in the ACFL.

References

{{Atlantic Coast Football League Atlantic Coast Football League teams American football teams established in 1966 American football teams disestablished in 1968