West Virginia Roughriders

West Virginia Roughriders
Established 2016
Play in Wheeling, West Virginia
at the WesBanco Arena
WestVirginiaRoughriders.com
HelmetLogo
League/conference affiliations
Arena Pro Football (2017)
American Arena League (2018)
Professional Arena Football (2019–)
Team colors Black, lime green, silver, white
                   
Personnel
Owner(s) Gregg Fornario
Mike Kacor
Jim Jones
Head coach Mook Zimmerman
Team history
  • Richmond Roughriders (2017–2018)
  • West Virginia Roughriders (2019–)
Championships

League championships (1)

  • APF: 2017
Conference championships (0)
Division championships (0)
Playoff appearances (2)
  • APF: 2017
  • AAL: 2018
Home arena(s)

The West Virginia Roughriders are a professional indoor football team based in Wheeling, West Virginia. They were founded in 2016 as the Richmond Roughriders and played at the Richmond Coliseum in 2017 and 2018. They were members the Arena Pro Football (APF) league in 2017. The Roughriders initially announced they were joining the National Arena League (NAL) for the 2018 season but then later joined the American Arena League (AAL). After the one season in the AAL, the owner announced he was creating his own league and the Roughriders joined Professional Arena Football (PAF) for 2019 and moved to Wheeling due to arena issues in Richmond.[1]

History

Original 2017 logo

Richmond Roughriders (2017–2018)

The Roughriders were first formed in October 2016 as members of Arena Pro Football's inaugural season.[2] The team would go undefeated in the 2017 season in the unstable APF. The Roughriders defeated the Florida Tarpons 71–61 to capture the APF's only championship.[3]

At the end of the first season, the APF was announced to have merged with the Can-Am Indoor Football League for the 2018 season to create the American Arena League (AAL). The new league initially announced the Roughriders as members in the league,[4] but ownership claimed they were still exploring their options and never committed to the AAL.[5] On July 20, 2017, the National Arena League announced it had conditionally approved a team from Richmond as members for the 2018 season[6] with the Roughriders confirming that they were finalizing their NAL expansion requirements.[7] However, on September 13, 2017, the team announced that they were instead joining the American Arena League citing that the AAL would be a better fit for them.[8]

In December 2017, rapper Jim Jones became part owner of the team along with the original owners Gregg Fornario and Mike Kacor.[9] Jones immediately made the news by publicly offering the then-currently unemployed and controversial former NFL quarterbacks Colin Kaepernick and Johnny Manziel a position on the team.[10] On January 26, 2018, the team announced the signing of controversial former NFL defensive lineman Greg Hardy.[11] The signing gained significant media attention,[12] mostly criticizing the move in response the on-going Me Too movement, heightened attention to the treatment of women, and Hardy's 2014 domestic violence charge.[13]

Richmond Roughriders 2018 Logo

In the 2018 season, the Roughriders continued to have success and went 7–1 for the season and first place finish, only losing to the Georgia Doom. After the Atlanta Havoc lost their final game of the season, also to the Doom, the Roughriders earned home field advantage for the playoffs. They defeated the Carolina Energy 57–43 in a semifinal game before facing the Havoc. The Roughriders led the game through the first half, but the Havoc came back to win the inaugural AAL championship game 58–50. After the end of the season, the Roughriders home, the Richmond Coliseum, was scheduled for demolition and to be replaced by a new venue. The team claimed any new arena would be priced out of their affordability and the Roughriders could not return to Richmond for a 2019 season. Majority owner and general manager Gregg Fornario stated they were looking into venues in Hershey, Reading, and Wilkes-Barre in Pennsylvania, Norfolk in Virginia, and Atlantic City in New Jersey.[14][15]

West Virginia Roughriders (2019–)

On August 15, 2018, Roughriders' owner Gregg Fornario announced his intentions of creating a new league called Northern Arena Football (NAF).[16] His Roughriders team was not initially planning on leaving the AAL with the NAF only having teams north of the Maryland-Pennsylvania border.[17] However, by August 28, Fornario had rebranded the new league as Professional Arena Football (PAF) with multiple divisions, Northern Arena Football and Southern Arena Football,[18] and the Roughriders were announced as part of Professional Arena Football on August 30, leaving the AAL.[19] The league will also feature the New England Cavalry and Marion Mambas.[20]

After the loss of the Richmond Coliseum, the Roughriders also settled on a lease to use WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Virginia, becoming the West Virginia Roughriders.[21]

Statistics

Original helmet from 2017 championship season

Season-by-season results

As of the 2018 season:

League Champions Conference Champions Division Champions Playoff Berth League Leader
Season League Conference Division Regular season Postseason results
FinishWinsLossesTies
2017 APF 1st400Won APF Championship (Tarpons) 74–61
2018 AAL 1st710Won Semifinal (Carolina) 57–43
Lost AAL Championship (Atlanta) 50–58
Totals 1110All-time regular season record (2017–2018)
21—All-time postseason record (2017–2018)
1320All-time regular season and postseason record (2017–2018)

2017 APF season

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordGame siteNotes
1 April 8 Alabama Outlawz W 84–4 1–0 Richmond Coliseum
2 April 15 at River City Raiders W 54–39 2–0 Family Arena
3 April 22 Savannah Coastal Outlaws W 94–14 3–0 Richmond Coliseum
4 April 29 Carolina Cowboys (EIF) W 92–0 Richmond Coliseum Non-league game
5 May 6 Florida Tarpons W 55–34 4–0 Richmond Coliseum
6 Bye
7 May 20 Atlanta Furious (EIF) W 82–14 Richmond Coliseum Non-league game
8 May 27 Triangle Torch (SIF) W 69–40 Richmond Coliseum Non-league game
9 June 10 Florida Tarpons W 74–61 5–0 Richmond Coliseum Championship game

2018 AAL season

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordGame siteNotes
1 March 17 at High Country Grizzlies W 34–19 1–0 George M. Holmes Convocation Center
2 Bye
3 March 31 Carolina Energy W 52–38 2–0 Richmond Coliseum
4 April 7 Cape Fear Heroes W 76–32 3–0 Richmond Coliseum
5 April 14 at Florida Tarpons W 58–20 4–0 RP Funding Center
6 April 20 at Jersey Flight W 56–50 5–0 CURE Insurance Arena
7 April 28 New England Cavalry W 61–14 [lower-alpha 1] Richmond Coliseum Non-league game
8 May 5 Peach State Cats W 82–22 [lower-alpha 1] Richmond Coliseum Non-league game
9 May 12 at Georgia Doom L 44–56 5–1 Macon Coliseum
10 May 19 East Carolina Torch W 68–33 6–1 Richmond Coliseum
11 May 26 Jersey Flight W 74–65 [lower-alpha 1] Richmond Coliseum Non-league game
12 June 2 High Country Grizzlies W 70–62 7–1 Richmond Coliseum
13 Bye
June 16 Carolina Energy W 57–43 Richmond Coliseum Semifinal
June 30 Atlanta Havoc L 50–58 Richmond Coliseum Championship game
  1. 1 2 3 As only eight league games can count for league standings, at the beginning of the season, AAL team owners chose which games they play against in-league opponents in excess of the eight games that do not count towards their overall league record.

References

  1. ↑ "'It was a total honor': Richmond Roughriders find new home in West Virginia". WRIC-TV. September 24, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Weekly Sports League & Franchise Report". OurSports Central. October 31, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Roughriders Clinch Arena Pro Football Title on Last Play". Richmond Roughriders. June 21, 2017.
  4. ↑ Stephen Ur (June 20, 2017). "American Arena League Announces First 10 Teams". InsideTheArena.org.
  5. ↑ "Richmond Roughriders mulling over next move after perfect first year". Developmental Football USA. June 20, 2017.
  6. ↑ "NAL Announces Teams for 2018 Play - Northeast Bolstered by Expansion". NAL. July 20, 2017.
  7. ↑ Brandon Russell (July 21, 2017). "Richmond Roughriders officially announce NAL Expansion". Last Word On Sports.
  8. ↑ "American Arena League Adds Third Championship Team". American Arena League. September 13, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Jim Jones Now Part Owner of AAL's Richmond Roughriders". American Arena League. December 7, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Rapper Jim Jones to Kaepernick, Manziel: Join my arena football team". New York Post. December 7, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Richmond Roughriders Announce the Signing of Former Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys Pro Bowl Defensive Lineman Greg Hardy". American Arena League. January 26, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Richmond Roughriders sign former NFL Pro Bowler Greg Hardy". WTVR-TV. January 26, 2018.
  13. ↑ "WOODY: Roughriders decision to sign Greg Hardy completely inappropriate". Richmond Times-Dispatch. January 29, 2018.
  14. ↑ "Roughriders likely to leave Richmond; 'Our arena got taken away from us'". Richmond Times-Dispatch. July 19, 2018.
  15. ↑ Mark Davis (July 18, 2018). "Roughriders plan to leave Richmond". NBC12.com.
  16. ↑ "Northern Arena Football, a new league coming in 2019". ArenaFootballTalk.com. August 15, 2018.
  17. ↑ "Roughriders owner looking at Winston-Salem, will open new indoor football league". Richmond Times-Dispatch. August 9, 2018.
  18. ↑ "What to Watch For in 2019 Arena Football Season". InsideTheArena.com. August 29, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Roughriders Join Professional Arena Football". Facebook.com. August 30, 2018.
  20. ↑ "Professional Arena Football website". ProfessionalArenaFootball.com. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
  21. ↑ "Richmond Roughriders relocate to West Virginia". WWBT. September 24, 2018.
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