Quad City Steamwheelers
The Quad City Steamwheelers were a professional arena football team. They were a charter member of the AF2 and played their home games at iWireless Center in Moline, Illinois. The team was founded on September 1, 1999 when the Quad Cities was awarded an arena football franchise. Managing owner (and inventor of arena football) Jim Foster coined the team's nickname. In December 2009, it was confirmed that the Steamwheelers had ceased operations, opting not to join the new Arena Football League after the bankruptcy of the Arena Football League and subsequent disbanding of af2. Team history Back-to-back ArenaCup wins The Steamwheelers played their inaugural season in 2000 and dominated the league for its first two seasons. They went undefeated in 2000 behind coach Frank Haege, even winning one game by a score of 103-3 over Greensboro in Greensboro, en route to capturing the first-ever ArenaCup Championship. In 2001, the Steamwheelers nearly repeated that accomplishment by finishing 18-1 and winning a second-straight league title. During this two season span, the Steamwheelers set a record for the longest winning streak in the af2 at 24 consecutive wins. Banned from 2002 playoffs Allegations of rules violations plagued the Steamwheelers during the second season