The Mahoning Valley Thunder was a professional af2 arena football team from 2007-2009.
Having entered af2 as an expansion team in 2007, the Thunder played its home games at Cortland Banks Field at the Covelli Centre in downtown Youngstown, Ohio.
The teams colors were a combination of Black and Navy Blue, with the minor color of Gray.
Single-game tickets ranged from $5.00 to $50.00.
The team sold out their inaugural home game, on March 31, 2007, to a crowd of over 5,900 fans, while their 2nd home game entertained almost 4,800 fans, on April 21, 2007.
The Thunder's first head coach, Mike Hold, went 11-26 in his two-plus years at the helm. Hold was fired on April 28, 2009.
After going 0-3 under interim head coach, Brennan Booth, the Thunder named the franchise's second head coach, Chris MacKeown, on May 26, 2009. The team ended with a 2-14 record in 2009.
Attendance declined steadily over the three years, and the owners were unable to find investors to keep the team afloat. This led to an announcement on September 9, 2009 that the team will suspend operations indefinitely. It is assumed that the team will not return, as the af2 league disbanded the same day.
Read more about Mahoning Valley Thunder: Season-by-season
Famous quotes containing the words valley and/or thunder:
“Ah! I have penetrated to those meadows on the morning of many a first spring day, jumping from hummock to hummock, from willow root to willow root, when the wild river valley and the woods were bathed in so pure and bright a light as would have waked the dead, if they had been slumbering in their graves, as some suppose. There needs no stronger proof of immortality. All things must live in such a light. O Death, where was thy sting? O Grave, where was thy victory, then?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Lies save trouble now, but may return in thunder and lightning.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)