CoFL 1965

	P	W	L	T
West Division
Charleston Rockets	14	14	0	0
Fort Wayne Warriors	14	8	6	0
Richmond Rebels	14	6	8	0
Providence Indians	14	3	11	0
Hartford Charter Oaks	14	2	12	0
East Division
Toronto Rifles	14	11	3	0
Philadelphia Bulldogs	14	10	4	0
Springfield Acorns	14	9	5	0
Newark Bears	14	5	9	0
Wheeling Ironmen	14	2	12	0

Date	Home Team		Away Team
	Championship Game
1965	Charleston Rockets	24	Toronto Rifles	7

CoFL 1966

	P	W	L	T
West Division
Orlando Panthers	14	12	2	0
Charleston Rockets	14	10	4	0
Montreal Beavers	14	7	7	0
Richmond Rebels	14	4	10	0
Wheeling Ironmen	10	0	14	0
East Division
Toronto Rifles	14	9	5	0
Philadelphia Bulldogs	14	9	5	0
Norfolk Neptunes	14	8	6	0
Hartford Charter Oaks	14	6	8	0
Brooklyn Dodgers	14	5	9	0

Date	Home Team		Away Team
	1st Round Playoffs
1966	Orlando Panthers	31	Charleson Rockets	24
1966	Toronto Rifles	14	Philadelphia Bulldogs	31
	Championship Game
1966	Philadelphia Bulldogs	20	Orlando Panthers	17

Reference: [1-3]

Note: Tom Furlong, who was born in Co. Offaly, Ireland, played as Kicker for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1966.

Reference: [2]

CoFL 1967

	P	W	L	T
Atlantic North Division
Norfolk Neptunes	14	11	3	0
Hartford Charter Oaks	12	5	7	0
Montreal Beavers	12	4	8	0
Toronto Rifles	4	1	3	0
Akron Vulcans	4	1	3	0
Atlantic South Division
Orlando Panthers	14	11	3	0
Charleston Rockets	14	6	8	0
Wheeling Ironmen	14	5	9	0
Richmond Rebels
Philadelphia Bulldogs
Pacific Division
Orange County Ramblers	12	10	2	0
San Jose Apaches	12	8	4	0
Seattle Rangers	13	7	6	0
Eugene Bombers	12	6	6	0
Victoria Steelers	12	4	8	0
Sacramento Buccaneers	12	2	10	0
Long Beach Admirals	1	0	1	0

Date	Home Team		Away Team
	Atlantic Division Playoff
1967	Norfolk Neptunes	17	Orlando Panthers	21
	Championship Game
1967	Orange County Ramblers	14	Orlando Panthers	38

Reference: [1]

CoFL 1968

	P	W	L	T
Atlantic Division
Orlando Panthers	12	10	2	0
Ohio Valley Ironmen	12	9	3	0
Charleston Rockets	11	8	3	0
Norfolk Neptunes	12	7	5	0
Alabama Hawks	12	5	7	0
Michigan Arrows	12	1	11	0
Central Division
Indianapolis Capitols	12	8	4	0
Omaha Mustangs	12	7	5	0
Chicago Owls	12	6	6	0
Oklahoma City Plainsmen	11	5	6	0
Arkansas Diamonds	12	2	10	0
Las Vegas Cowboys	10	1	9	0
Quad Cities Raiders	2	0	2	0
Pacific Division
Orange County Ramblers	12	11	1	0
Seattle Rangers	12	7	5	0
Sacramento Capitols	12	5	7	0
Spokane Shockers	12	3	9	0

Date	Home Team		Away Team
	Eastern Playoff
1968	Orlando Panthers	28	Indianapolis Capitols	14
	Championship Game
1968	Orlando Panthers	30	Orange County Ramblers	23

Reference: [1]

CoFL 1969

	P	W	L	T
East Division
Orlando Panthers	12	10	2	0
Norfolk Neptunes	12	8	4	0
Jersey Jays	12	7	5	0
Alabama Hawks	12	6	6	0
Arkansas Diamonds	12	5	7	0
Central Division
Indianapolis Capitols	12	8	4	0
Ohio Valley Ironmen	12	6	6	0
Omaha Mustangs	12	6	6	0
Chicago Owls	12	5	7	0
Tri-City Apollos	12	2	10	0
Texas Division
San Antonio Toros	11	7	4	0
West Texas Rufneks	11	7	4	0
Texarkana Titans	12	7	5	0
Tulsa Thunderbirds	11	5	6	0
Fort Worth Braves	12	5	7	0
Mexico Golden Aztecs	8	2	6	0
Dallas	11	1	10	0
Pacific Division
Las Vegas Cowboys	12	8	4	0
Sacramento Capitols	12	8	4	0
Seattle Rangers	12	7	5	0
Spokane Shockers	12	5	7	0
Portland Loggers	12	3	9	0

Date	Home Team		Away Team
	Texas Division Playoff
1969	Texarkana Titans	7	San Antonio Toros	20
	Pacific Division Playoff
1969	Sacramento Capitols	0	Las Vegas Cowboys	31
	Western Playoff
1969	San Antonio Toros	21	Las Vegas Cowboys	17
	Eastern Playoff
1969	Indianapolis Capitols	27	Orlando Panthers	7
	Championship Game
1969	Indianapolis Capitols	44	San Antonio Toros	38

Report

The Continental Football League was created in 1965 from the merger of the United Football League and Atlantic Coast Football League as a Development League to the National Football League, with teams situated on the East Coast and in Toronto, . In 1966, the League broke away from autonomy towards a working alliance with AFL & NFL clubs, causing Commissioner Chandler to resign, as it was moving away from the original charter he signed up to. The League added a Pacific Division that year.

1967 was a difficult year for the CoFL as a number of teams failed to finish the season, although the League became more “Continental” by merging with Professional Football League of America, thus bringing in teams from the Centre. In 1969 the League absorbed the Texas Professional Football League, and looked to become the largest Football League in the country, as it bid for University of Southern California star, O. J. Simpson. the newly merged NFL-AFL began opening their pockets in 1970 and the Continental Football League fell apart as backers pulled out.

Tom Furlong

Born: Daingean, Co. offaly

Career: Kicker on the Practice Squad of the New York Giants (NFL) 1965 / Pre-Season signing for Atlanta Falcons (NFL) 1966 (Cut after tearing cruciate ligaments) / Brooklyn Dodgers, Continental Football League 1966.

Biography: Tom Furlong was born in Daingean, Co. Offaly, and played Inter-County Football for Offaly, before being banned by the County Board for playing Soccer. Sitting in a bar in New York, he overheard members of the New York Giants Coaching Staff lamenting at the quality of their kickers (The Giants were having a woeful season) and having seen the game on TV, thought there was nothing to it a GAA player could not do, and volunteered to try out. He got on the Practice Squad for the Giants in 1965, leading to interviews with the New York Times and other newspapers with Irish-American connections.

The Giants brought in a new Kicker the following season, but the Irish-American Community Leaders, seeing the value of an Irish-born player in the NFL, arranged tryouts with the Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots. He was signed by the Falcons for $12, 000-a-yeat contract, but unfortunately tore his cruciate ligament in training four days before the start of the season.

He didn’t give up on a Pro Career, however, as he was only working as a carpet fitter at the time and signed for the Brookyn Dodgers in the Continental Football League, where he played the 1966 season before retiring, as he thought his kicking was never as good after the injury.

Reference: [2]

References:

Websites:

[1] Greater Northwest Football Alliance (2017) Continental Football League (1965-1969) [Internet] Available from: http://www.gnfafootball.org/continentalleague.htm [Accessed 30 August 2017]

Newspapers

[2] Hannigan, Dara (1987) “Greening of the Gridiron” The Sunday Tribune , 27 July 1987. Sportweek, pg. 10 [Available online at the British Newspaper Archive: https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ ]

Bibliography

[3] Gill, Bob et al (2010) “Season-By-Season Listings: The Top Leagues” Outsiders II – Minor League and Independent Football 1951-1985″ pg. 70-79. St. Johann Press, Haworth, NJ. (2010).

Images:

[4] Greater Northwest Football Alliance (2017) Continental Football League Logo [Internet] Available from: http://www.gnfafootball.org/photos/continental.jpg [Accessed 28 July 2019]

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Tim Leadingham

About this document

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish North American & World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 28 July 2019

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and World Gridiron Archive 2019

You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Resereved.