Tag: American Legion Memorial Stadium

1989 Charlotte Barons program from the Minor League Football System

Charlotte Barons

The Charlotte Barons were a dominant semi-professional football team that played two summer/fall seasons at American Legion Memorial Stadium in 1989 and 1990. Charlotte dominated the nationwide Minor League Football System in both seasons, running up a 23-2 overall record and winning the MLFS league championship in 1990. The Barons folded along with the rest of the league following the 1990 season.

Read More »
Carolina Chargers American Football Association

Carolina Chargers

The Carolina Chargers were a ramshackle minor league football team that played out of Charlotte, North Carolina for three summers between 1979 and 1981. Quarterbacked by former North Carolina A&T star Ellsworth Turner in all three seasons, the Chargers appeared in two American Football Association title games in 1979 and 1980. After the Chargers folded in 1981, the team was replaced by the Carolina Storm who featured many of the same players and won the last two championships of the AFA in 1982 and 1983.

Read More »
1984 Charlotte Gold Santiago Formoso Game Jersey

Charlotte Gold

The Charlotte Gold played one season of lower-division men’s professional soccer in the summer of 1984. The franchise was a successor/replacement for the more popular Carolina Lightnin’ team that played in the 2nd Division American Soccer League from 1981 to 1983. The Gold played at American Legion Memorial Stadium.

Read More »
Carolina Lightnin' American Soccer League

Carolina Lightnin’

The Carolina Lightnin’ were a popular 2nd division soccer club that played three seasons in Charlotte during the early 1980’s.  The Lightnin’ won the championship of the American Soccer League during the debut season in 1981. The club was the first pro soccer franchise ever established in the Carolinas.

Read More »
Linebacker Marty Huff on the cover of a 1975 Charlotte Hornets program from the World Football League

Charlotte Hornets (1974-1975)

Charlotte’s football Hornets were members of the World Football League for parts of two seasons in 1974 and 1975. The team began play in July 1974 as the New York Stars, but bombed in the Big Apple, lost its owner, and fled to Charlotte in October. The Hornets’ second season in 1975 was also abbreviated, as the entire WFL folded in October 1975 before completing its regular season schedule.

Read More »