Pacific Coast Professional Football League

History of early professional football in California Prior to 1936, the history of professional football in California was not a hopeful one. While there were two “major league Los Angeles teams” in 1926 (the Buccaneers of the NFL and the Los Angeles Wildcats of the first American Football League), both were actually traveling teams (the Buccaneers were based in Chicago, the Wildcats in Moline, Illinois) that lasted only one season, but several NFL and AFL teams would also play exhibition contests in the West, sometimes with other NFL or AFL teams, but also against some of the local semi-pro teams in the region, in the following year or two. Pacific Coast League (1926) In the wake of two barnstorming tours by Red Grange (the latter of which also featured the Buccaneers and Wildcats) a league was formed in 1926 and called the Pacific Coast League, but it lasted only one season after drawing an average of 3,500 fans a game. California Winter League (1927–1928) With an aim to mimic Grange tour success, in January 1927 the Galloping Ghost AFL's Yankees joined by another AFL team – the Los Angeles Wildcats and together with the NFL's Duluth Eskimos and Los Angeles Buccaneers formed the California winter league, following the end of the fall NFL and AFL seasons. The teams also scheduled game against the PCL Hollywood Generals and the California All-Stars (amalgamation of the Oakland Oaks and San Francisco Tigers). It was the first major league to operate in the West Coast. The best team in both seasons was the Los Angeles Wildcats, dubbed ''Wilson's Wildcats by the press and included a few Providence Steam Roller players plus a collection of West Coast stars, was not chosen to play in the champion series, as they did not drew well enough. Instead, Grange's Yankees played against the Buccaneers (known as Brick Muller's Buccaneers), winning the first one 14–0 and losing the second one 6–7. The Eskimos finished last, and were known as Nevers-Imlay Giants'' after getting reinforcement from West Coast colleges (including Tut Imlay). For the 1928 season, the Cleveland Bulldogs (known as ''Benny Friedman's Bulldogs'') replaced the Buccaneers, which lost to the Yankees 6–13 in the 1928 championship game. The league folded after decline in attendance in the second year. American Legion League (1934–1935) In 1934, four teams from the Los Angeles area and two from San Francisco formed another Pacific Coast League. When the two San Francisco teams withdrew from the league after the 1934 season, the four L.A. teams continued to compete in 1935 as the American Legion League (some called it the American Legion Football League, or ALFL). It folded after one season under the new name. After the season, Westwood played an exhibition game against the 1935 NFL Champions, the Detroit Lions, at Gilmore Stadium in Los Angeles before 16,000 fans: the Lions beat the Cubs in a rout, 67–14. The Los Angeles Bulldogs and the formation of the Pacific Coast Professional Football League The 1930s proved to be a boon for professional football leagues in the United States (the NFL grew in popularity even in light of competition of the second AFL in 1936 and 1937), but it was a “golden age” for minor league football. The year 1936 also marked the first year of the Dixie League of the American South (the DL lasted until the fall of 1947), the American Association (which changed its name to the American Football League in 1946 and lasted until 1950) and the Hollywood Stars, but also the Philadelphia Eagles (won, 10–7), Pittsburgh Pirates (won, 21–7), Chicago Cardinals (won, 13–10), Brooklyn Dodgers (tied, 13–13), Chicago Bears (lost, 7–0), and Green Bay Packers (lost, 49–0). In their six games against the NFL, the Bulldogs compiled a 3–2–1 record while having a 6–3–1 season overall. Myers was confident of receiving an NFL franchise in the 1937 league owners meeting, but after seeing presentations from Houston, Cleveland, and Los Angeles, the owners offered the franchise to Cleveland, then a member of the second American Football League. The Bulldogs were invited to replace the Rams in the fledgling league, and proceeded with the first perfect season in major league professional football: eight wins in AFL games (and the only AFL team with a winning record in the 1937 season), 18 wins including exhibition games, no losses, no ties. American Professional Football Association (1939) After 1938 "independent" season, the Bulldogs joined the Bengals in becoming members of yet another American Football League (which later changed its name to the American Professional Football Association) for the 1939 season. The Bulldogs won the 1939 league title (and had a new owner, Jerry Corcoran), and before the end of league play, had already given notice that they would be leaving at the end of the season to become a charter member of the Pacific Coast Professional Football League (the AFL/APFA would subsequently end after yet another AFL signed three APFA member clubs and split the older league). ==History==

1940 Charter members of the 1940 edition of the PCPFL include the Bulldogs, the Hollywood Bears (which Paul Schissler had renamed in honor of his alma mater, UCLA), In the meantime, the PCPFL expanded to a record nine teams and had divisional play for the only time in its history: the two Division Champions would play a single game for the league Championship. New teams include the Tacoma Indians, Sacramento Nuggets, and the Hawaiian Warriors. The San Jose Mustangs were sold and relocated to Utah, becoming the Salt Lake Seagulls. The Hawaiians played all their games at home, and generally in two-game sets to minimize travel expenses for the mainland opponents. With their own officiating crew, the Warriors had a perceived advantage as they consistently played in front of crowds of over 15,000 people. The PCPFL, the Dixie League, and the American Association (which changed its name to the American Football League for the 1946 season) entered into a working arrangement with the NFL, agreeing to being, in essence, a farm league to the “big boys” and not allowing any participants in “any outlaw league” (specifically the AAFC) to be a member of any PCPFL team. 1947 Back Buddy Abreu was the league's leading rusher and scorer as his Hawaiian Warriors won a narrow “race” with the defending champion Bulldogs (led by quarterback Mel Reid) by beating the team from L.A. 7–6. Sacramento and Salt Lake dropped out of the league after canceling their home-and-home series that was scheduled to finish the PCPFL season. But having only three active members was not the only issue threatening the continuation of the existence of the league. An investigation led by league president J. Rufus Klawans revealed that members of the Hawaiian Warriors were placing bets on games in which they were participating. Four (Abreu, Ray Scussell, Floyd “Scrap Iron” Rhea, and Jack Keenan) were permanently banned from the league; another ten team members were “suspended indefinitely.” 1948 and the demise of the PCPFL As the PCPFL continued unraveling, the Hollywood Bears return to the fold after a second “leave of absence.” The revitalized Bears were under the watchful eye of former Bulldogs owner Jerry Corcoran as they re-entered the league as a traveling team. The Bulldogs, who used to sell out games at 18,000-seat Gilmore Stadium, had to move to Long Beach after two years of failing to attract 1,000 fans to their home games. The Warriors were the class of the league, averaging 30 points of offense per game despite losing over half of the 1947 squad, and had claimed at least a tie for the league title with a 5–1 record: the Bulldogs had two games left to play (one with the Bears, one with the Clippers) at Long Beach's Veterans Memorial Stadium. The games were not played, as the legendary Los Angeles Bulldogs – who were the Long Beach Bulldogs in 1948 – dropped out of the PCPFL and folded after drawing only 850 fans to the only PCPFL game in Long Beach; the remaining three teams and the league shortly after decided to fold. ==Successor leagues==

Pacific Football Conference (1957–1958) The Pacific Football Conference was the largest attempt to established a professional football league in West Coast since the PCPFL. The teams were mainly located in California with one lone team in Arizona for the 1958 season. The league attracted strong local talent, including future American Football League stars like Tom Flores and Lionel Taylor. 1957 1958 North Pacific Football League (1963–1966) A similar name low-level minor league with teams in the Pacific Northwest region. For the 1965 and 1966 seasons the league had a separate conference in California called Northern California League. California Football League (1974–1982; 1984) The new California Football League was a low-level minor league that began as a semi-pro league in 1974 as a six-team circuit, renamed the Western Football League for the 1976 season, but change back to CFL after one season, when the league expended to eight teams, split into two divisions and became pro. • Napa Valley Bears (1979–1982) • North Bay Rainbows (1982) • Sacramento Buffaloes (1977–1981) • San Diego Sharks (1980–1981) • San Gabriel Saints (1977–1978) • San Jose Tigers (1977–1982) • Oceanside Sharks (1979) • Orange County/Southern California Rhinos (1977–1981) • Orange Empire Outlaws (1981) • Twin City Cougars (1977–1982) • Ventura County Americans (1979–1981) In 1978 San Jose was declared minor-league "National Champions" after beating 32–6 the American Football Association's Shreveport Steamer, in a game between the leagues champions called "King Kong Bowl". In 1980 the Twin City Cougars were declared the "West Coast Championship", after beating 28–23 the Pierce County Bengals from the semi-pro Pacific Northwest Football League (also known as the Northwest International Alliance). They also won the Minor Professional Football Association minor league championship after beating the Northern States Football League's Delavan Red Devils. They won their second MPFA championship in 1981 after beating the Pittsburgh Colts. ==References==