Dayton Triangles
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The Dayton Triangles were an original franchise of the American Professional Football Association (now the National Football League) in 1920. The Triangles were based in Dayton, Ohio, and took their nickname from their home field, Triangle Park (capacity 5,000), which was located at the confluence of the Great Miami and Stillwater Rivers in north Dayton. They were the longest-lasting traveling team in the NFL (1920-1929), and the last such "road team" until the Dallas Texans in 1952.
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[edit] Early years
Sponsored by the Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company (or Delco), the Dayton Metal Products Company and the Domestic Engineering Company (now called Delco-Light), the Triangles existed as a semi-pro squad in the 1910s, playing other top teams in the football-rich areas of Ohio and western Pennsylvania. On October 3, 1920, the Triangles won their first APFA game, a 14-0 defeat of the Columbus Panhandles in Triangle Park. The high point of the Triangles' 1920 season was a 20-20 tie at Triangle Park with Jim Thorpe's Canton Bulldogs; it was the first time a team had scored three touchdowns on the Bulldogs since 1915. Trailing the Triangles, 20-14, Thorpe nailed two late field goals to tie the score. Six games into the season, the Triangles remained undefeated (4-0-2) but in the final three games lost twice to eventual league champion Akron Pros, ending 1920 with a 5-2-2 mark.
[edit] Decline
The Triangles were never competitive in the NFL again, though. By the late twenties they were one of the league's doormats, winning just five of their 51 league contests from 1923-29. Finally, on July 12, 1930, a Brooklyn-based syndicate headed by John Dwyer bought the Triangles; the franchise moved to Brooklyn and was renamed the Brooklyn Dodgers.
In later years, the Brooklyn Dodgers would merge with the Boston Yanks franchise in 1945 (with the Brooklyn half "moving" to the AAFC the next year); in 1949, the Yanks moved to New York and became the New York Bulldogs; the Bulldogs franchise (renamed the New York Yanks in 1950) was "sold back" to the NFL in 1952 and awarded to a group from Texas, who formed the Dallas Texans; the Texans failed after one year and was sold back to the NFL. The NFL folded the Texans franchise, and its remains were awarded to an ownership group in the city of Baltimore to form the Baltimore Colts; and the Colts moved to Indianapolis in 1984 and are still playing as the Indianapolis Colts. It can thus be argued that the Triangles still exist, at least indirectly. However, both the Colts and the NFL officially recognize the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts as a separate franchise, and not as a continuation of the Triangles-Texans line.
[edit] Dayton Triangles Soccer Club
During the 1970s, the Dayton Triangles Soccer Club revived the name and enjoyed some success and recognition as a successful youth (and later semi-pro) soccer club. Like the football team, they took their name from the same city park and played an important role in development of soccer in the Miami Valley.
[edit] Season-by-season
| Year | W | L | T | Finish | Coach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 6th | Bud Talbott |
| 1921 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 8th | Bud Talbott |
| 1922 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 7th | Carl Storck |
| 1923 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 16th | Carl Storck |
| 1924 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 13th | Carl Storck |
| 1925 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 16th | Carl Storck |
| 1926 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 16th | Carl Storck |
| 1927 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 10th | Lou Mahrt |
| 1928 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10th | Fay Abbott |
| 1929 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 12th | Fay Abbott |
[edit] External links
Fan web site Dayton Triangles
