1983 Des Moines Knights program from the Northern States Football League

Des Moines Knights / Capitol City Knights

Northern States Football League (1983-1984)

Tombstone

Born: 1982 – Northern States Football League expansion franchise
Folded: June 19851Grett, Wayne. “Lack of field forces Knights to skip season”. The Register (Des Moines, IA). June 27, 1985

First Game: June 26, 1983 (L 17-14 vs. Lincolnwood Chargers)
Last Game: 

NSFL Champions:

Stadia

1983-1984: Williams Stadium (East High School)

1983-1984: Hutchens Stadium (Lincoln High School)

Marketing

Team Colors: Black & Silver21983 Northern States Football League Handbook

Ownership

Owners: 

1983: ?
1984: David Sears & Ray Gamel

Attendance

The Des Moines Knights debut game at Lincolnwood High School’s Hutchens Stadium om June 26th, 1983 attracted an announced crowd of 2,615.

Source: Carlson, Steve. “FG in last 1:49 sinks Knights”. The Register (Des Moines, IA). June 27, 1983

 

Background

The Des Moines Knights were a football team formed in 1983 to compete in the semi-professional Northern States Football League. The Knights played a June-August schedule against semi-pro rivals from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Illinois.

The Knights were turbulent behind the scenes, cycling through multiple managers and organizers during their first two seasons. Two games into the team’s second season in 1984, Northern States Football League officials seized the nearly bankrupt franchise and awarded it to new owners David Sears and Ray Gamel.3Grett, Wayne. “D.M. Knights undergo name, owner change”. The Register (Des Moines, IA). July 13, 1984. The new owners immediately modified the name of the team to the “Capitol City Knights” in the middle of the 1984 season.

In April 1985 The Des Moines Register reported that Sears and Gamel had withdrawn from the Northern States Football League. The Knights hoped to play an independent schedule in 1985, but renovations at both of the local high school stadiums that the team used in 1983 and 1984 sunk that idea. In June 1985 the Knights cancelled their summer schedule. In spite of the usual noises about re-grouping and returning the following year, the Knights were never heard from again.

 

Des Moines Knights Shop

Editor's Pick

Outsiders II

by Bob Gill with Tod Maher & Steve Brainerd
 
Outsiders II covers the independent minor leagues of professional football from 1951 through 1985. This volume contains histories and yearly statistical summaries for the top minor leagues of the period, plus the World Football League, which has a claim to major league status, and the United States Football League, which was clearly a major league. It also includes yearly summaries for the best of the lesser leagues, which featured a good number of interesting players in their own right.
 
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Downloads

1983 Northern States Football League Press Handbook

1983 Northern States Football League Press Guide

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Comments

2 Responses

  1. Does anyone have a player roster for the Des Moines nights at arena football League I saw them when I was little and I got a sign football I lost the football so I want to know who was on it

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