Salina Liberty Explained

Salina Liberty
Current:2024 Arena Football League season
Founded:2015
Colors:Navy, blue, red, silver, white
Owner:Precision Sports, LLC.
General Manager:Francis Flax
Coach:Heron O'Neal
Mascot:Sideline Sam
League:Champions Indoor Football (–2023)
  • Northern Division (2016)
  • North Conference (2017–2019)

Arena Football League (–present)

Team History:
  • Salina Liberty (2016–present)
No League Champs:1
League Champs:
  • 2022
No Conf Champs:1
Conf Champs:
  • 2019
No Div Champs:0
No Playoff Appearances:5
Playoff Appearances:
  • , 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023
Arena Years:

The Salina Liberty are a professional indoor football team based in Salina, Kansas. They began play in 2016 as members of the Champions Indoor Football (CIF) and currently play in the Arena Football League. The team plays their home games at the Tony’s Pizza Events Center.

History

Indoor football in Salina started in 2012 as the Salina Bombers, an expansion franchise for the Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL), were announced for the 2013 season. The Bombers then joined Champions Indoor Football (CIF) due to a merger between the CPIFL and the Lone Star Football League for 2015. However, during their first season in the CIF, the league ejected the Bombers for a "business violation" on May 28[1] and they would cease operations later that month.[2] In July 2015, the CIF announced it had replaced the Bombers with a new expansion team in Salina called the Salina Liberty.[3]

The Liberty began play in the Champions Indoor Football League in 2016 finishing last in the Northern Division and failing to qualify for the playoffs. In 2017 Salina Liberty received their first win on the road against Bloomington Edge 47-34 after promoting Offensive Coordinator Mike Bonner to Head Coach. The team finished 1-4 under Coach Bonner.

General Manager Ricky Bertz decided to go in another direction after the 2017 season. After hiring Herron O’Neal The Liberty finished first in the CIF's North Conference regular season in 2018 and 2019. They won the conference playoff championship in 2019 and played in the Champions Bowl for the league title, but lost to the Duke City Gladiators 29–35.

On September 25, 2023, the Liberty were implicitly announced to be joining the Arena Football League after the AFL announced it would be absorbing CIF's remaining franchises.[4]

Roster

Season-by-season results

League ChampionsConference ChampionsDivision ChampionsPlayoff berthLeague leader
SeasonLeagueConferenceDivisionRegular seasonPostseason results
Finish Wins Losses Ties
2016Northern6th 2 10 0
2017CIF North 7th 1 11 0
2018CIF North 1st 9 3 0 Won Conference Semifinal (Bismarck) 81–51
Lost Conference Championship (Sioux City) 39–45
2019CIF bgcolor=#dfdNorth 1st 8 4 0 Won Conference Championship (Omaha) 44–42
Lost Champions Bowl (Duke City) 29–35
2020CIF North Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021CIF 1st 9 1 0 Won Semifinal (Dodge City) 55–31
Lost Champions Bowl (Omaha) 39–40
2022bgcolor=#fccCIF 2nd 7 3 0 Won Semifinal (Billings) 26–14
Won Champions Bowl (Omaha) 38–34
2023CIF 2nd 8 2 0 Won Semifinal (Gillette) 37–30
Lost Champions Bowl (Omaha) 30–50
Totals44 34 0 All-time regular season record (2016–2023)
6 4 All-time postseason record (2016–2023)
50 38 0 All-time regular season and postseason record (2016–2023)

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Jake . Copp . . . Salina Bombers dissolving football team . May 28, 2015 . June 1, 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150529003019/http://www.kwch.com/news/local-news/salina-bombers-dissolving-football-team/33268516 . May 29, 2015 .
  2. Web site: . Our Sports Central . Salina Bombers Suspended from CIF . May 28, 2015 . June 1, 2015.
  3. Web site: Indoor football: Salina Liberty announced as latest CIF franchise . Star Local Media . July 24, 2015.
  4. Web site: Mustangs football will not play in Gillette in 2024 . county17.com . September 25, 2023.