The Lehigh Valley Steelhawks were a professional indoor football team based in

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 census. It is the fastest-growing major city in Pennsylvania ...

. The Steelhawks began play as an

expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

in the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams am ...

(IFL) in 2011. The Steelhawks moved to the

Professional Indoor Football League The Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) was a professional indoor football league that played four seasons from 2012 to 2015. Like the Lone Star Football League, the PIFL was mainly composed of teams formerly part of Southern Indoor Foo ...

(PIFL) in 2013, where they made their only championship game appearance to date, losing PIFL Cup III to the

Nashville Venom The Nashville Venom were a professional indoor football team, one of eight franchises of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL). Based in Nashville, Tennessee, the Venom were members of the American Conference. The team began play in 201 ...

. The team joined

American Indoor Football American Indoor Football (AIF) was a professional indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America. The AIFL began as a regional league with six franchises on the East Coast of the United ...

for the 2016 season after the PIFL folded, which lasted one season before that league also folded. They joined the

National Arena League The National Arena League (NAL) is a professional indoor football league that began play in 2017. It consists of teams based on the East Coast of the United States. Teams' typical payroll budget is $600,000 per season, while players are paid $ ...

for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. The Steelhawks are the Lehigh Valley's second indoor football team, following the defunct Lehigh Valley Outlawz of the

Continental Indoor Football League The Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) was an indoor football league based along the Midwestern United States region that played nine seasons from 2006 to 2014. It began play in April 2006 as the Great Lakes Indoor Football League (GLIF ...

(2005–2008). Both teams played their home games at Stabler Arena. The Steelhawks played their home games at the PPL Center. The owner of the Steelhawks was Glenn Clark, but sought to sell the team following the 2018 season. After failing to find new ownership for the Steelhawks, the team suspended operations before the 2019 season.

History

In July 2010, the

(IFL) announced that there would be an expansion franchise placed in

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley (), known colloquially as The Valley, is a geographic region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County and Northampton County in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bound to the no ...

for the 2011 season. It was also announced that the team would be owned by Glenn W. Clark, a

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington (Unami language, Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North ...

businessman. Later in July the team announced that they had named Dan Kuhn as the team's general manager and would be holding a "Name The Team" contest was held to choose a name for the organization. Over 700 names were submitted and the top five were chosen by management. These names were Vipers, Ironmen, Blast, Gamblers, and Steelhawks. Fans were then asked to vote on the name they thought would be best for the team with over 70% of the votes being cast for Steelhawks. Brooke Trautwein, the fan who submitted the Steelhawks name, was given a prize package that included season tickets and Steelhawks' merchandise. In August 2013, Clark announced that the Steelhawks would be leaving the IFL for the

(PIFL) after two seasons. The Steelhawks finished in second place overall in the 2013 PIFL season, but lost their semifinal playoff game. The Steelhawks finished the 2014 season with a 6–6 record and second in the National Conference. The Steelhawks defeated the Trenton Freedom by a score of 49–38 in the National Conference championship game to advance to PIFL Cup III. where they were defeated 43–64 by the

. In the 2015 season, the Steelhawks announced that they would be moving to the newly constructed PPL Center. They finished fourth overall in the PIFL and lost their semifinal playoff game to the

Columbus Lions The Columbus Lions are a professional indoor football team based in Columbus, Georgia and are a member of the American Indoor Football Alliance. The were a founding member of the National Arena League (NAL) for the 2017 season. The Lions were ...

Triangle Torch vs Lehigh Valley Steelhawks 3

With the PIFL not having enough teams to remain viable, the Steelhawks moved to

(AIF) for the 2016 season. The Steelhawks finished third in the North Division and made it to the division championship game before losing to the

West Michigan Ironmen The West Michigan Ironmen are a professional indoor football team based in Muskegon, Michigan (and representing the larger region which also includes Grand Rapids and Holland), the Ironmen play their home games at Mercy Health Arena. The team jo ...

. After the season ended, the team announced it would not be returning to the AIF for the 2017 season. On July 19, 2016, the Steelhawks announced they had joined the Arena Developmental League (which became the

) as a charter member of the new league. In the NAL's inaugural 2017 season, the Steelhawks finished in second place overall before losing at home to the third place

in the semifinal playoff game. Following the season, the Steelhawks franchise's only head coach Chris Thompson left the team to take an offensive coordinator position with the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

's Albany Empire expansion team for the 2018 season. The Steelhawks hired Danton Barto as the new head coach for the 2018 season and the team finished with a 0–15 record. At the end of the season, owner Glenn Clark and president Mike Clark announced the Steelhawks were for sale. The team announced a hiatus prior to the 2019 season while continuing to seek new ownership. After closing up shop, the team's turf would be acquired by the IFL's Oakland Panthers, who now go by the Bay Area Pathers after a move to San Jose.

History

Season-by-season results

Current roster

Awards and honors

References

External links