Atlantic Football League
{{Short description|Amateur Canadian football league}}
{{Infobox sports league
| title = Atlantic Football League
| current_season =
| logo = Atlantic Football League Logo.png
| pixels = 200px
| sport = Canadian football
| founded = 2009
| inaugural = 2009
| Commissioner = Larry Wisniewski
| teams = Four teams
| country = Canada
| champion = Dalhousie Tigers
| most_champs = UNBF Red Bombers (5)
Dalhousie Tigers (5)
| website = [https://atlanticfootball.co/ atlanticfootball.co]
| TV =
}}
The Atlantic Football League (AFL) is an amateur club-level Canadian football league that features four teams based in Atlantic Canada. The league is for players aged 18–24 that either attend universities without U Sports football programs or for players in the area.{{cite web|url=https://www.canadafootballchat.com/atlantic-football-league-afl-expands-by-2-teams/ |title=Atlantic Football League (AFL) expands by 2 teams |publisher=Canada Football Chat |date=March 23, 2010}}{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/new-football-league-kicks-off-in-n-b-1.828356 |title=New football league kicks off in N.B. |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |date=September 26, 2009}} Since member teams operate as club teams (and not varsity teams), they do not receive funding from their universities. Some players eventually join U Sports programs and all Canadian players are eligible to join Canadian Football League teams.
On June 9, 2020, the league announced that they had cancelled the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.{{cite news|url=https://atlanticfootball.co/news/2020-06-09-atlantic-football-league-cancels-2020-season/|title=Atlantic Football League Cancels 2020 Season|publisher=Atlantic Football League|date=June 9, 2020}}
On September 21, 2024, Ella Lord became the first woman to play in the league, playing for the UNB Reds.https://web.archive.org/web/20241009002132/https://tj.news/saint-john-south/female-receiver-catches-on-with-atlantic-football-league-reds
Season structure
There are currently four teams in the league and each team plays six games with each team hosting the other once.{{cite news|url=https://atlanticfootball.co/schedule/2024/ |title=Schedule 2024 |publisher=Atlantic Football League |access-date=June 12, 2024}} The top three teams currently qualify for the playoffs with the top seed earning a bye. The finalists then qualify for the league championship game, the Moosehead Cup.
Teams
=Active teams=
| class="wikitable" style="width:70%; text-align:left" |
| style="background:white; | Team
! style="background:white; | City ! style="background:white; | Stadium ! style="background:white; | Founded (Lineage) ! style="background:white; | Moosehead Cups |
|---|
| Dalhousie Tigers
| Wickwire Field | align=center | 2010 (1947–76) | align=center | 5 |
| Holland Hurricanes
| Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island | MacAdam Field | align=center | 2010 | align=center | 4 |
| UNBF Red Bombers
| BMO Centre | align=center | 2009 (1949–80) | align=center | 5 |
| Saint John Falcons
| align=center | 2024 | align=center | 0 |
=Defunct teams=
| class="wikitable" style="width:70%; text-align:left" |
| style="background:white; | Team
! style="background:white; | City ! style="background:white; | Stadium ! style="background:white; | Existence ! style="background:white; | Moosehead Cups |
|---|
| Moncton Jr. Mustangs
| align=center | 2009–10 | align=center | 0 |
| UNBSJ Seawolves
| align=center | 2009 | align=center | 1 |
Championships
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Game
!Date !Winning Team !Score !Losing Team |
|---|
| {{sort|01|1st}}
| {{dts|2009|November|21}} | align=center| {{sort|0203|3–1}} |
| {{sort|02|2nd}}
| {{dts|2010|November|20}} | align=center| {{sort|3640|40–6}} |
| {{sort|03|3rd}}
| {{dts|2011|November|19}} | align=center| {{sort|2828|28–0}} |
| {{sort|04|4th}}
| {{dts|2012|November|3}} | align=center| {{sort|0714|14–7}} |
| {{sort|05|5th}}
| {{dts|2013|November|2}} | align=center| {{sort|0820|20–12}} |
| {{sort|06|6th}}
| {{dts|2014|November|1}} | align=center| {{sort|1631|31–15}} |
| {{sort|07|7th}}
| {{dts|2015|November|7}} | align=center| {{sort|0832|32–24}} |
| {{sort|08|8th}}
| {{dts|2016|November|5}} | align=center| {{sort|1829|29–11}} |
| {{sort|09|9th}}
| {{dts|2017|November|4}} | align=center| {{sort|0439|39–35}} |
| {{sort|10|10th}}
| {{dts|2018|November|3}} | align=center| {{sort|2427|27–3}} |
| {{sort|11|11th}}
| {{dts|2019|November|2}} | align=center| {{sort|0329|29–26}} |
| {{sort|12|12th}}
| {{dts|2021|November|6}} | align=center| {{sort|2640|40–14}} |
| {{sort|13|13th}}
| {{dts|2022|November|5}} | align=center| {{sort|0127|27–26}} |
| {{sort|14|14th}}
| {{dts|2023|November|11}} | align=center| {{sort|0331|31–28}} |
| {{sort|15|15th}}
| {{dts|2024|November|2}} | align=center| {{sort|2548|48–23}} |
{{Cite web |url=http://dalfootball.pointstreaksites.com/view/dalfootball/about-230/atlantic-football-league |title=Atlantic Football League |access-date=2017-02-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222194620/http://dalfootball.pointstreaksites.com/view/dalfootball/about-230/atlantic-football-league |archive-date=2017-02-22 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|url=https://atlanticfootball.co/schedule/2019/ |title=Atlantic Football League Schedule |publisher=Atlantic Football League |access-date=June 6, 2021}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- [https://atlanticfootball.co/ Atlantic Football League]
{{Amateur gridiron football leagues in Canada}}
Category:Canadian football leagues
Category:Sport in the Maritimes