The Milwaukee Mustangs were a professional arena football team based in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. The team was a member of 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 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

, playing from

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

to 2001. The owner of the Mustangs was Andrew Vallozzi. The Mustangs played their home games at the Bradley Center in

History

Expansion

The team was founded in August 1993, when Andrew Vallozzi was approved by the league for expansion. The city of Milwaukee became football hungry, after renovations to Lambeau Field led to speculation that the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

would soon stop playing games in Milwaukee, something they'd been doing since 1933. Later that year, the Packers would confirm the rumors and announced that their December 1994 contest at Milwaukee County Stadium would be their last. For many in the Milwaukee area, the Mustangs helped fill the void left by the Packers. The team never finished lower than eighth in seasonal attendance, regularly drawing in the 14,000's and 15,000's (at a time when average attendance was approx. 8,500). The Mustangs even led the AFL in attendance in 1996.

Ending

After the 2001 season, the Mustangs lost their lease at the Bradley Center. When it was unable to find a replacement facility, the league folded the team. Milwaukee was left without an arena football team until 2008, with the formation of the Milwaukee Bonecrushers of the Continental Indoor Football League, who played their home games at the U.S. Cellular Arena. A year later, the Milwaukee Iron began play in the Arena Football 2 League across the street at the Bradley Center. In January 2011, it was announced that the Milwaukee Iron, now of the

would be changing its name to the Milwaukee Mustangs.Don Walker.
Iron will be Mustangs
. ''

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper and also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely read. It was purchased by the G ...

'' In 2018, the Milwaukee Mustangs' intellectual properties were acquired by Counterbalance Sports & Entertainment, LLC, the sports-entertainment division of Counterbalance Group Inc. Additionally, Counterbalance Sports began using the Milwaukee Iron / econd Milwaukee Mustangs branding in 2021.

Season-by-season

Players of note

Final roster

Retired uniform numbers

''Note: These players' numbers were retired by the Milwaukee Iron in 2009''.

Arena Football Hall of Famers

Individual awards

All-Arena players

The following Mustangs players were named to All-Arena Teams: * WR/LB Gary Compton (2) * WR/DB Sean Riley (1) * OL/DL Ralph Jarvis (2), Ernest Allen (1) * K Kenny Stucker (2), Steve Videtich (1)

All-Ironman players

The following Mustangs players were named to All-Ironman Teams: * WR/DB Sean Riley (1) * WR/LB Gary Compton (2)

All-Rookie players

The following Mustangs players were named to All-Rookie Teams: * QB Kevin McDougal * FB/LB Odell Parks * OL/DL Mike Ivey

Head coaches

References

External links

Milwaukee Mustangs at ArenaFan.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Milwaukee Mustangs (1994-2001) Defunct Arena Football League teams Sports in Milwaukee American football teams in Wisconsin 1994 establishments in Wisconsin 2001 disestablishments in Wisconsin American football teams established in 1994 American football teams disestablished in 2001