1940 American Football League season

The 1940 AFL season was the first season of the third American Football League. The league was formed when the New York Yankees, Boston Bears, and Buffalo Indians were joined by the Cincinnati Bengals, Columbus Bullies, and Milwaukee Chiefs of the minor American Professional Football Association (the mass defection doomed the minor league). After the announcement of the formation of the AFL (July 14, 1940),^[1] applications for membership by former APFA members St. Louis Gunners and Kenosha Cardinals were rejected by the upstart league, which started with six members.

The Columbus Bullies were declared league champions after compiling an 8-1-1 record, just edging the 7-2 of the Milwaukee Chiefs.

Final standings

W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pct.= Winning Percentage, PF = Points for, PA = Points against

Final 1940 standings

Team	W	L	T	Pct.	PF	PA
Columbus Bullies	8	1	1	.889	134	69
Milwaukee Chiefs	7	2	0	.778	180	59
Boston Bears	5	4	1	.556	120	79
New York Yankees	4	5	0	.444	138	138
Buffalo Indians	2	8	0	.200	45	138
Cincinnati Bengals	1	7	0	.125	53	187

The standings include two forfeits: Buffalo forfeited to New York due to the field being deemed unplayable on November 17, 1940, while Cincinnati forfeited to Buffalo on November 24, 1940 due to injuries leaving the Bengals unable to field a team. ^[2]

Results of AFL games - 1940 season^[3]
WEEK ONE 15 September, Red Bird Stadium, Columbus, Ohio: Milwaukee Chiefs 14, Columbus Bullies 2 WEEK TWO 22 September, Civic Stadium, Buffalo, New York: Milwaukee Chiefs 23, Buffalo Tigers 0 WEEK THREE 29 September, Civic Stadium, Buffalo: Buffalo Tigers 17, Cincinnati Bengals 7 WEEK FOUR 6 October, Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts: Boston Bears 29, Cincinnati Bengals 7 6 October, Yankee Stadium, New York: Columbus Bullies 23. New York Yankees 13 9 October, Civic Stadium, Buffalo: Columbus Bullies 17, Buffalo Tigers 7 9 October, Yankee Stadium, New York: New York Yankees 40, Cincinnati Bengals 13 WEEK FIVE 13 October, Fenway Park, Boston: Boston Bears 28, New York Yankees 7 13 October, Dairy Bowl, Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Milwaukee Chiefs 49, Cincinnati Bengals 0 16 October, Red Bird Stadium, Columbus: Columbus Bullies 7, Milwaukee Chiefs 3 16 October, Civic Stadium, Buffalo: Boston Bears 10, Buffalo Tigers 0 WEEK SIX 20 October, Fenway Park, Boston: Boston Bears 20, Buffalo Tigers 0 20 October, Yankee Stadium, New York: New York Yankees 30, Milwaukee Chiefs 7 WEEK SEVEN 27 October, Fenway Park, Boston: Milwaukee Chiefs 14, Boston Bears 0 27 October, Red Bird Stadium, Columbus: Columbus Bullies 17, Cincinnati Bengals 7 WEEK EIGHT 3 November, Crosley Field, Cincinnati: Columbus Bullies 21, Cincinnati Bengals 2 3 November, Dairy Bowl, Milwaukee: Milwaukee Chiefs 10, Boston Bears 0 3 November, Yankee Stadium, New York: New York Yankees 17, Buffalo Tigers 0 WEEK NINE 10 November, Red Bird Stadium, Columbus: Columbus Bullies 13. Buffalo Tigers 7 10 November, Dairy Bowl, Milwaukee: Milwaukee Chiefs 30, New York Yankees 7 11 November, Crosley Field, Cincinnati: Cincinnati Bengals 17, Boston Bears 13 WEEK TEN 17 November, Civic Stadium, Buffalo: New York Yankees 1, Buffalo Tigers 0 (forfeit – unplayable field) 17 November, Red Bird Stadium, Columbus: Boston Bears 0, Columbus Bullies 0 (tie) 21 November, Red Bird Stadium, Columbus: Columbus 17, New York Yankees 16 21 November, Dairy Bowl, Milwaukee: Milwaukee Chiefs 30, Buffalo Tigers 13 21 November, Yankee Stadium, New York: Boston Bears 20, New York Yankees 7 WEEK ELEVEN 24 November, Crosley Field, Cincinnati: Buffalo Tigers 1, Cincinnati Bengals 0 (forfeit – Bengals unable to field team) Note: Two scheduled games were cancelled: New York-Cincinnati and Milwaukee-Cincinnati (both games scheduled to have been played in Cincinnati)

1940 All-League Team

The league's coaches selected the all-league team:^[4]

1940 AFL All-League Teams^[4]
Position	First Team	Second Team
End	Sherman Barnes, Milwaukee	Keith Ranspot, Boston
End	Harlan Gustafson, New York	Joel Mason, Boston
Tackle	Ed Karpowich, Buffalo	Ralph Niehaus, Columbus
Tackle	Bob Eckl, Milwaukee	Alec Shellogg, Buffalo
Guard	Jim Karcher, Columbus	Vic Marino, Boston
Guard	Alex Drobnitch, Buffalo	Len Akin, Milwaukee
Center	Joe Alexus, Columbus	Joe Ratica, Boston
Back	Andy Karpus, Boston, QB	Bob Davis, Columbus
	Bill Hutchinson, New York, HB	Ray Cole, Milwaukee
	Nelson Peterson, Columbus, HB	Lee Elkins, New York
	Al Novakofski, Milwaukee, FB	Paul Shu, Cincinnati

References

^ George Gipe, The Great American Sports Book (Doubleday 1978) ISBN 0-385-13091-0
^ History of Professional Football in Western New York Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Enciclopedia del football italiano - 1940 AFL season" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
^ ^a ^b Gill, Bob (1983). "The Best of the Rest, Part 2" (PDF). The Coffin Corner. 5 (12). Professional Football Researchers Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-11-27. Retrieved 11 February 2010.

1940 American Football League season

Final standings

Final 1940 standings

1940 All-League Team

References

See also

Portal di Ensiklopedia Dunia