The Ohio Valley Greyhounds were a professional indoor football team. They began play in 1999 as the Steel Valley Smash, a charter member of the IFL. After the league folded, they moved to the NIFL, became a charter member, and renamed themselves as the Ohio Valley Greyhounds. After four successful years in the league, they moved to the UIF in 2005 and became a charter member to the new league. However, the Greyhounds failed to reach the same level of success from the NIFL years. Their home games were played at the WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Virginia, which is also the home to the ECHL's Wheeling Nailers. After three dismal years in the UIF, the team folded in October 2007.[1]
| Ohio Valley Greyhounds | |
|---|---|
| Established 1999 Folded 2007 Played in Wheeling, West Virginia at the WesBanco Arena | |
| League/conference affiliations | |
| Indoor Football League 1999–2000 National Indoor Football League 2001–2004 | |
Current uniform | |
| Team colors | Black, Red, Grey |
| Mascot | Blitz |
| Cheerleaders | Greyhound Girls |
| Personnel | |
| President | Sharon Stephan |
| Head coach | Mark Bonar 2002–2003–2004–2005 (partial year) – Record 49–6 |
| Team history | |
| |
| Championships | |
| League championships (2) 2002, 2003 | |
| Conference championships (2) | |
| Division championships (3) | |
| Playoff appearances (5) | |
| 2000, 2001,2002, 2003, 2004 | |
| Home arena(s) | |
| |
Season-by-season
edit| Season | W | L | T | Finish | Playoff results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steel Valley Smash (IFL) | |||||
| 1999 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 4th Southern | -- |
| 2000 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 1st EC Southern | Won Quarterfinal (Green Bay) Lost Semifinal (Peoria) |
| Ohio Valley Greyhounds (NIFL) | |||||
| 2001 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 1st Atlantic Eastern | Won Round 1 (Lake Charles) Lost Semifinal (Mississippi) |
| 2002 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1st Atlantic Northern | Won Round 1 (L. Rangers) Win Semifinal (T. ThunderCats) Won Indoor Bowl II (Billings) |
| 2003 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1st Atlantic Eastern | Won Round 1 (Lexington) Won Semifinal (Lake Charles) Won Indoor Bowl III (Utah) |
| 2004 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 1st Atlantic East | Won AC Semifinal (Fort Wayne) Lost AC Championship (Lexington) |
| Ohio Valley Greyhounds (UIF) | |||||
| 2005 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 2nd Midwest | Lost Round 1 (Sioux City) |
| 2006 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 3rd East | -- |
| 2007 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 6th East | -- |
| Totals | 73 | 53 | 0 | (including playoffs) | |
References
edit- ^ "Greyhounds Cease Operation". Archived from the original on 2011-09-26.