Portsmouth Spartans

General informationFounded1928StadiumUniversal StadiumHeadquarteredPortsmouth, OhioColorsPurple, gold, white
PersonnelOwnersPortsmouth National League Football Corporation
Harry N. Snyder (largest shareholder)Head coachHal Griffen (1930)
George "Potsy" Clark
(1931–1933)Team history

Portsmouth Spartans
(1928–1933)
Detroit Lions
(1934–present)

League / conference affiliationsNational Football League
(as of 1930 season)

The Portsmouth Spartans were a professional American football team that played in Portsmouth, Ohio, from their founding in 1928 to their relocation to Detroit in 1934. Originally drawing players from defunct independent professional and semi-professional teams, they joined the fledgling National Football League (NFL) in 1930. Their home stadium was Universal Stadium, known today as Spartan Municipal Stadium.

The team was sold to a new ownership group in 1934 and relocated to Detroit, where they became the Detroit Lions — a team which remains part of the NFL today.