West Allis Spartans

Central States Football League (1968-1975)

Tombstone

Born: 1968 – Central States Football League expansion franchise
Folded: April 1976¹

First Game: August 25, 1968 (L 26-8 vs. Rockford Rams)
Last Game: October 18, 1975 (L 21-15 vs. Racine Raiders)

Central States Football League Champions: 1969 & 1972

Stadia

Nathan Hale High School Stadium

Marketing

Team Colors:

Ownership

Owners:

Background

The West Allis Spartans were a suburban Milwaukee semi-pro football team of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. The Spartans held their games at Nathan Hale High School Stadium.

The team is best remembered for helping to further the football career of future NFL Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion Otis Sistrunk. Sistrunk, was a 21-year old ex-Marine with no college working in a Milwaukee meat-cutting plant when he latched on with West Allis Racers of the Central States Football League in 1967. Sistrunk had a terrific season and earned All-League honors at the defensive tackle spot that autumn.² The Racers were thrown out of the league following the season for financial shortcomings.

West Allis got a new entry, the Spartans, in the Central States League in 1968 and Sistrunk returned for a second season. In 1969 he would move on to the Norfolk Neptunes of the Continental Football League, a higher level circuit where several teams had developmental team partnerships with NFL and AFL franchises. It would take another three years before Otis Sistrunk made it to the NFL as a 26-year old rookie with the Oakland Raiders in 1972. He would enjoy a seven-year career with the Silver & Black, earning Pro Bowl honors in 1974 and winning a Super Bowl ring as part of the Raiders’ Super Bowl XI championship team.

Championships

Meanwhile, the Spartans kept plugging away in the Central States League. They won the league title in 1969 and again in 1972. In 1969, the Spartans won the league title on the road, beating the Lake County of Mundelein, Illinois 35 to 21 before an estimated crowd of 4,500.³

In the 1972 final, the Spartans bested the defending champion Rockford Rams 31-14 at Nathan Hale Stadium on November 4th, 1972. The team got a heroic performance from two-way player Terry Fredenberg, who picked off two passes on defense and then hauled in two 4th quarter touchdown passed to spark a 2nd half comeback.⁴

End of the Road

After nearly disbanding due to financial difficulties during the 1974 season, the Spartans re-organized under new ownership for 1975 and changed their name to the Milwaukee County Spartans. Minor name change aside, the team continued to play at Nathan Hale High School Stadium. The Spartans were not alone in their challenges. The Central States League itself had shrunk to a barely viable five active members for the 1975 season.

By April 1976 that number was just to just three surviving clubs. The Central States Football League voted to suspend operations and cancel their 1976 season, bringing an end to the Spartans era.