Tombstone
Born: March 1975 – WFL expansion franchise
Folded: October 22, 1975
First Game: August 2, 1975 (W 10-0 vs. Chicago Winds)
Last Game: October 19, 1975 (W 21-0 vs. Memphis Southmen)
World Bowl Championships: None
Stadium
Legion Field (68,821)
Opened: 1927
Marketing
Team Colors: Scarlet, Royal Blue & White
Ownership
Owner: Ferd Weil
Best Seller
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Vulcans Logo T from Old School Shirts
Background
The Birmingham Vulcans were a pro football franchise in the World Football League (1974-1975) that existed for just a dozen games in the summer and early fall of 1975.
The Vulcans were a replacement for the WFL’s Birmingham Americans franchise, which won the inaugural World Bowl championship game in the fall of 1974 and proved to be a pretty popular box office attraction at Legion Field. But Americans owner Bill Putnam spent himself into oblivion paying out signing bonuses to NFL stars such as L.C. Greenwood and Ken Stabler to join the Americans in future seasons after playing out their NFL deals. By the end of the Americans’ first season in December 1974, Putnam was out of money and the franchise was loaded with tax liens. In a famous incident, Jefferson County, Alabama sheriff’s deputies entered the Americans locker room at Legion Field and seized their uniforms and gear while the team was celebrating their World Bowl victory.
The Americans franchise was terminated in January 1975. The league awarded a new Birmingham franchise to a group led by Ferd Weil in March 1975. The new group adopted the “Vulcans” nickname and began re-signing many members of the previous year’s Americans squad. Former Americans Head Coach Jack Gotta came back as General Manager and former Americans Defensive Coordinator Marvin Bass took on the head coaching reigns.
1975 Season
Even before the WFL exhibition season began, the Vulcans made their local debut with a controlled scrimmage against the Memphis Southmen on July 3, 1975. Since the scrimmage marked the WFL debut of Memphis’ trio of star “jumpers” from the NFL’s Miami Dolphins – Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick and Paul Warfield – the glorified practice drew an enormous crowd estimated at 35,000 to Legion Field.
Notable Vulcans players included Johnny Musso, the “Italian Stallion, a tremendously popular hometown product of Birmingham Banks High School, who became a two-time All-American running back under Bear Bryant at Alabama.
Another standout was quarterback Matthew Reed out of Grambling. Reed was the back-up for the Americans in 1974, but the starter’s job was all his with the Vulcans in 1975. Reed piloted the team to a league best 9-3 record. Even more remarkable – he was a black man starting unchallenged at quarterback for a popular team in the Deep South, something that would have been unthinkable just a few years earlier.
The End
The Vulcans remained a popular attraction for Birmingham football fans in 1975, putting up the best attendance numbers in the WFL. But on October 22, 1975 WFL officials met in New York City to review the crumbling state of many of the league’s franchises. Team owners voted 6-4 to disband the league immediately in mid-season, with Birmingham voting with the majority, despite being in first place and having one of the most stable clubs. Birmingham hoped to land an NFL expansion franchise – as did the owners of the WFL’s Memphis Southmen, another stable club who nevertheless voted to disband – and it is thought that this is why Vulcans officials were content to vote the World Football League out of business.
Trivia
The Birmingham Vulcans nickname was also revived for a minor league team – the Alabama Vulcans – that played for a single season at Legion Field in 1979.
Birmingham Vulcans Shop
Editor's Pick
The Home Team
My Bromance With Off-Brand Football
Birmingham, Alabama – the Football Capital of the South – has likely had more pro football teams than any other city. None have been in the NFL, and all have failed. Quickly.
As veteran sportswriter Scott Adamson can attest, loving an off-brand team is the triumph of hope over experience. Having decided at an early age that tackle football was the greatest sport man has yet to invent, Adamson takes on a fan’s-eye view of life with Brand X football. The Home Team: My Bromance with Off-Brand Football is the funny, somewhat tortured, journey of a fanatic’s life long quest for a hometown team of his own.
The Home Team: My Bromance with Off-Brand Football is filled with trivia, history, heartache, and more trivia. And how game day hotdogs can be fatal to young romance. Adamson’s account of Birmingham’s unsinkable quest for pro football is for any fan whose hometown’s reach has exceeded its grasp.
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WFL MINI-HELMETS
Birmingham Vulcans Mini-Helmet
This World Football League Mini Helmet is available through Royal Retros.
15 oz. mini helmet
Style worn by the Vulcans in 1975
Available in the classic helmet style by Schutt
Typically ships in 3-5 business days
Fulfilled by 417 Helmets
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Downloads
9-6-1975 Vulcans @ Portland Thunder Roster
9-6-1975 Birmingham Vulcans @ Portland Thunder Roster
1975 World Football League Standard Player Contract
1975 World Football League Standard Player Contract
Links
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One Response
Would add my husband’s name to ==In Memoriam==? Eddie Foster (#75) passed away from a heart attack May 15, 2015. Foster was inducted into the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame 2013. Thank you for your kindness!