Trenton Lightning

The Trenton Lightning were an indoor professional football team founded in 2000 by owner/general manager, Phillip J. Subhan and local businessman, Kenneth Samu. The team started the 2001 season in the Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) and were led by head coach (ex-NFL RB) Vaughn Hebron^[1] (played for the Philadelphia Eagles, Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts) and the team played its home games at the Sovereign Bank Arena, capacity 7,605 in Trenton, New Jersey. The team was originally scheduled for a 16-game season (eight home and eight away games), But, the team was to fold after only 6 games.^[2] The team's Director of Football operations was Marty Yukichak and the team had a front office staff of seven others in addition to a coaching staff of eight, including Hebron. The team's defensive coordinator was Chuck Murphy and offensive coordinator was Tom Cocuzza.

The 21 member active roster was made up mostly of local college football players stemming from Rutgers University, West Virginia, Penn State, as well as a number of players from the local (Division III) New Jersey Athletic Conference. The players were paid $200 per game, plus stipend for away games. The Trenton area has traditionally supported a number of successful minor league sports franchises including the Trenton Thunder (Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees Minor League Baseball affiliate) and Trenton Titans (East Coast Hockey League) and the Lightning's attendance was strong (with average attendance of nearly 4,000 in their 6,500 capacity arena). Despite local talent and strong support, the team finished their inaugural (and last/shortened) season 0-6.