| Mahoning Valley Thunder | |
|---|---|
| Established 2006 Folded 2009 Played in Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio | |
 | |
| League/conference affiliations | |
AF2 (2007–2009)
| |
Current uniform | |
| Team colors | Blue, silver, black, white |
| Personnel | |
| Owner(s) | Insight Entertainment, LLC |
| Head coach | Mike Hold (2007–2009) Brennan Booth (2009) Chris MacKeown (2009) |
| Team history | |
| |
| Championships | |
| League championships (0) | |
| Conference championships (0) | |
| Division championships (0) | |
| Home arena(s) | |
| |
The Mahoning Valley Thunder was a professional af2 arena football team from 2007 to 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 team's 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.[1]
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.[2]
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.[3] 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.[4] This led to an announcement on September 9, 2009 that the team would suspend operations indefinitely. The af2 disbanded the same day.[5]
- ^ Shilling, Don and Joe Scalzo. "Mahoning Valley's least expensive seats are the most costly in its league." Archived 2007-09-26 at the Wayback Machine Vindy.com. March 29, 2007.
- ^ "Thunder Fire Head Coach Mike Hold"
- ^ "Thunder G.M. hopes for quick turnaround with new coach"
- ^ "Mahoning Valley Thunder Faces Defeat" Archived 2011-07-18 at the Wayback Machine WKBN. Sept. 9, 2009
- ^ "Youngstown Thunder af2 Team Folds" Archived 2011-08-13 at the Wayback Machine Youngstown Vindicator. Sept. 9, 2009