Richmond Raiders
The Richmond Raiders were a professional indoor football team located in Richmond, Virginia the Richmond Coliseum as their home arena. The Raiders began play in the 2010 as an expansion team of the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA). The Raiders moved to the Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL) when the Eastern Division of the AIFA merged with the SIFL in the winter of 2010, beginning SIFL play in the 2011 season. After just a single season in the SIFL the Raiders, along with four other members of the SIFL, became the charter members of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL). The team was then a member the PIFL from 2012 to 2015.
| Richmond Raiders | ||
|---|---|---|
| Established 2008 Folded 2015 Played in Richmond, Virginia at the Richmond Coliseum | ||
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| League/conference affiliations | ||
American Indoor Football Association (2010)
Southern Indoor Football League (2011)
Professional Indoor Football League (2012–2015)
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| Team colors | Blue, Black, Silver, White | |
| Mascot | Risky the Horse | |
| Cheerleaders | Lady Raiders | |
| Personnel | ||
| Owner(s) | Richmond Raiders, LLC (Mike & Elizabeth Fraizer) | |
| Head coach | James Fuller | |
| Team history | ||
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| Championships | ||
| League championships (0) | ||
| Conference championships (0) | ||
Division championships (1)
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| Playoff appearances (3) | ||
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| Home arena(s) | ||
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History
In July, 2009, the American Indoor Football Association announced that they would be expanding into Richmond, Virginia. After a month-long name-the-team contest, the Richmond franchise announced that it would be nicknamed the Raiders on August 5, 2009.[1] On October 12, 2009, the Raiders officially unveiled their new logo.[2]
The Raiders' first game was the 2010 AIFA Kickoff Classic; on January 23, 2010, where they played an exhibition game against the AIFA All-Stars at the Richmond Coliseum.[3]
On May 5, 2010, defensive coordinator Charles Gunnings replaced Mike Siani as the head coach, as Siani resigned.[4][5]
Chris Simpson became the head coach of the Raiders for the 2011 season, coming over from the Baltimore Mariners on September 13, 2010. Even more change came about for the 2011 season, as the AIFA announced an merger with the Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL).[6] In February, 2011, Simpson resigned before opening day, as he "relocated to Texas to pursue family business opportunities".[7] He was replaced by James Fuller, who was the interim head coach for the Arena Football League's Dallas Vigilantes in 2010.
Former Richmond Revolution head coach Steve Criswell signed with the Raiders as a senior consultant for the 2011 season. Criswell brought several former Revolution players along, including QB Bryan Randall and DL Lawrence Lewis.
The 2012 season saw the Raiders move to the just formed Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL).[8]
After starting the season with a 2-4 record, the Raiders rallied to win their final six games to clinch the #2 seed in the PIFL playoffs. After a 54-35 victory over the Nashville Venom in the opening round of the PIFL playoffs,[9] the Raiders advanced to PIFL IV against the Columbus Lions. The Raiders were defeated 38-64.[10]
After the 2015 season, and due to turmoil in the lower levels of indoor football, the Raiders announced that they would take the 2016 season off, as there was no league within reasonable geographic distance that the team's ownership felt comfortable joining.[11] In summer 2016, the ownership announced that Raiders would not be returning and they would continue to focus on their sports performance training business.
Players
Final roster
| Richmond Raiders roster | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quarterbacks
Fullbacks
Wide receivers
|
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
|
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Kickers |
Injured reserve
Exempt list
Suspended
| |||
Awards and honors
The following is a list of all Raiders players who won league awards:
| Season | Player | Position | Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Antwon Young | QB | Most Valuable Player |
| 2012 | T. C. Stevens | K | Special Teams of the Year |
| 2014 | Devin Jones | DL | Defensive Rookie of the Year |
| 2014 | Devin Jones | DL | Defensive Player of the Year |
| 2015 | T. C. Stevens | K | Special Teams of the Year |
| 2015 | Jonathan Bane | QB | Offensive Player of the Year[12] |
Head coaches
| Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | Win% | W | L | |||
| Mike Siani | 2010 | 2 | 5 | 0 | .286 | 0 | 0 | |
| Charlie Gunnings | 2010 | 4 | 3 | 0 | .571 | 0 | 0 | |
| James Fuller | 2011–2015 | 37 | 24 | 0 | .600 | 3 | 3 | 2012 PIFL Coach of the Year 2015 PIFL Coach of the Year |
Season-by-season results
| League Champions | Conference Champions | Division Champions | Wild Card Berth | League Leader |
| Season | Team | League | Conference | Division | Regular season | Postseason results | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Wins | Losses | Ties | ||||||||
| 2010 | 2010 | AIFA | Eastern | 5th | 6 | 8 | 0 | ||||
| 2011 | 2011 | SIFL | Eastern | Mid-Atlantic | 1st | 6 | 6 | 0 | |||
| 2012 | 2012 | PIFL | 1st | 10 | 2 | 0 | Won Semifinals (Louisiana) 56-50 Lost PIFL Cup I (Albany) 56-60 | ||||
| 2013 | 2013 | PIFL | 3rd | 7 | 5 | 0 | Won Semifinals (Lehigh Valley) 44-40 Lost PIFL Cup II (Alabama) 44-70 | ||||
| 2014 | 2014 | PIFL | American | 3rd | 5 | 7 | 0 | ||||
| 2015 | 2015 | PIFL | 2nd | 8 | 4 | 0 | Won Semifinals (Nashville) 54-35 Lost PIFL Cup IV (Columbus) 38-64 | ||||
| Totals | 42 | 32 | 0 | All-time regular season record (2010–2015) | |||||||
| 3 | 3 | - | All-time postseason record (2010–2015) | ||||||||
| 45 | 35 | 0 | All-time regular season and postseason record (2010–2015) | ||||||||
References
- "Raiders chosen as name for Richmond's AIFA team". www.richmond.com. BH Media Group Holdings, Inc. August 5, 2009. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
- "Richmond Raiders unveil team logo". OurSports Central.com. October 12, 2009. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
- "AIFA Kickoff Classic Set For Richmond Saturday Night". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. January 22, 2010. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
- "Richmond Raiders change coaches". www.richmond.com. BH Media Group Holdings, Inc. May 5, 2010. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
- Time Pearrell (May 6, 2010). "Gunnings replaces Siani as Raiders' coach". www.richmond.com. BH Media Group Holdings, Inc. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
- Matthew Felan (November 10, 2010). "Raiders Join Southern Indoor Football League". www.richmondcoliseum.net. Richmond Coliseum. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
- "AFL Veteran Takes Over For Promising 2011 Season". Retrieved February 21, 2011.
- "Raiders join PIFL for 2012". www.richmond.com. Richmond Times-Dispatch. September 29, 2011. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
- Laura Fien (June 29, 2015). "Strong start spurs Raiders to semifinal win". www.richmond.com. Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
- Justin Ferguson (July 6, 2015). "Columbus Lions feast on Richmond Raiders again, claim indoor football title with 64-38 win". www.richmond.com. Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
- Elizabeth and Mike Fraizer (September 8, 2015). "A MESSAGE FROM THE RICHMOND RAIDERS MANAGEMENT". www.richmondraidersprofootball.com. Richmond Raiders. Archived from the original on February 3, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
- "Raiders QB Jonathan Bane wins PIFL Offensive Player of the Year". www.richmond.com. Richmond Times-Dispatch. July 15, 2015. Retrieved July 15, 2015.