Atlantic Coast Football League (1973)
Tombstone
Born: January 24, 1973 – ACFL expansion franchise1Staff Reports. “Foxboro gets minor league football team”. The Boston Globe. January 25, 1973
Folded: 1974
First Game: September 1, 1973 (W 41-7 vs. Western Massachusetts Pioneers)
Last Game: November 23, 1973 (W 41-17 @ Bridgeport Jets)
ACFL Champions: 1973
Stadium
Schaefer Stadium
Opened: 1971
Demolished: 2002
Branding
Team Colors:
Ownership
Owner: Bert Alessi, et al.
Our Favorite Stuff
ACFL Logo T-Shirt
The Atlantic Coast Football League of 1962 – 1973 was likely the closest pro football has ever come to having a true “triple-A” minor league, similar to baseball. At the league’s peak in the late 1960’s, NFL teams such as the New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins maintained farm clubs in the ACFL.
This ACFL design is also available today as a Crewneck or Hooded Sweartshirt, 3/4 sleeve Raglan or Women’s Tank Top at Old School Shirts!
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Background
The New England Colonials entered the Atlantic Coast Football League (1962-1973) for the minor league circuit’s final season of 1973. The Colonials shared Schaefer Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts with the New England Patriots and had strong ties to the NFL club. The coaching staff included former Boston Patriots stars of the 60’s including Head Coach Tom Yewcic, perennial All-AFL defensive lineman Houston Antwine and 1964 AFL Most Valuable Player Gino Cappelletti.
Colonials players earned $65 per game. Two-thirds of the Colonials’ 36-man roster consisted of players who played college football in New England and no member of the squad was over 25 years old.2Pave, Marvin. “N.E. Colonials – pro football’s “Last Chance Saloon”. The Boston Globe. August 12, 1973
Relationship to New England Patriots
ACFL teams served as farm clubs of AFL and NFL franchises during the late 1960’s, but there is some confusion as to whether the Colonials had a formal relationship with the Pats. The Boston Globe (8/12/1973) declared that the Colonials were “not a farm team of the New England Patriots”, with Colonials General Manager Bob Keating adding “This is an independent operation. All our players are free agents.”
On the other hand, there was the case of English placekicker John Smith. Smith travelled to the U.S. in the early 70’s to coach soccer at a youth summer camp in Western Massachusetts. Through a sequence of extremely unlikely events, Smith ended up with an invitation to Patriots training camp in 1973, despite never having seen a game of American football before. After failing to make the team in camp, Pats officials asked Smith to sign with the Colonials.
“The Patriots used [the Colonials] as their farm team,” Smith explained years later to The Fall River News-Herald (3/9/2009).
Championship Season & Aftermath
The expansion Colonials tore up the ACFL in 1973 season with a 10-2 regular season record. On November 23, 1973 the Colonials travelled to Connecticut for the ACFL title game. New England annihilated the host Bridgeport Jets 41-17 before an announced crowd of 10,000. Former Harvard University defensive back Mike McHugh headed the rout, returning two Bridgeport interceptions for touchdowns.
Following the 1973 season, the Atlantic Coast Football League disbanded. General Manager Bob Keating took the same post with the New York Stars of the upstart World Football League (WFL), which launched as a rival to the NFL in 1974. Keating invited 8 former Colonials to training camp with the Stars and overall 14 former Colonials players signed with the WFL.
The Colonials changed their name to the Boston Colonials and attempted to forge on in the obscure semi-pro Seaboard Football League that fall. The Colonials filed a $1.4 million lawsuit against the WFL in August 1974 for luring away nearly half the team’s roster, but the case was swiftly dismissed. The team appears to have faded out of existence sometime in late 1974.
Wide receiver Steve Schubert from the University of Massachusetts and English kicker John Smith both earned roster spots with the New England Patriots in 1974. Schubert enjoyed a six-year NFL career from 1974 to 1979, mostly with the Chicago Bears. Smith held down the Patriots kicking duties for the next ten seasons. He was named to New England’s All-Decade Team for the 1970’s.
New England Colonials Shop
Editor's Pick
Outsiders II
by Bob Gill with Tod Maher & Steve Brainerd
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In Memoriam
Defensive end Alvin Foster passed away on October 13, 2007 at age 58. Legacy.com obituary.
Downloads
Thank you to Walter Alessi, son of former New England Colonials president Bert Alessi, for contributing this letter from his father to potentials fans & supporters to our digital collection.
1973 Colonials Welcome Letter & Ticket Sales Solicitation
1973 New England Colonials Letter
Links
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One Response
The president of the New England Colonials was my father, the late Humbert Alessi of Newton.