The United Football League officially announced today that it’s moving its New York franchise to Hartford.
UFL Commissioner Michael Huyghue, team owner Bill Mayer and Chris Palmer, the teams head coach and general manger, were formally welcomed to the state capital by Gov.M. Jodi Rell at a press conference at the team’s future home venue of Rentschler Field.
The Sentinels team that played one game in Hartford in 2009 and hosted games at three different locations, will settle into East Hartford’s Rentschler Field for a proposed five home games this season.
“We are excited to play a full season of home games in Hartford and I am personally delighted to bring the United Football League to my home state,” said UFL Commissioner Huyghue, a native of Windsor. “The people of Hartford and the surrounding areas deserve their own professional football team and that is what we will deliver, beginning this 2010 UFL season. I am sure they will respond with great enthusiasm for their team.”
The UFL played its inaugural season in November with teams in Orlando, New York, Las Vegas and San Francisco. The Las Vegas Locomotives beat the Florida Tuskers, 20-17, in November’s championship.
The league mostly follows NFL rules, but there are some visible differences on the field. The referees wear solid red shirts and black pants. Plus, the yard-line, end-zone markers and the sideline crew’s vests are lime green.
The Hartford team, which will be renamed at a future time, posted a 0-6 record as the New York Sentinels during the inaugural UFL season and lost 24-6 to the championship game-bound Florida Tuskers in Hartford on Nov. 12 in front of 5,201 spectators.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report)
