The Trenton Lightning were an indoor professional football team founded in 2000 by owner/general manager, Phillip J. Subhan and local businessman, Kenneth Samu. The team started the 2001 season in the

Indoor Professional Football League The Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) was the new incarnation of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL), which started in 1998. Two of its teams (the Madison Mad Dogs and the Green Bay Bombers) left the league and their owner, ...

( IPFL) and were led by head coach (ex-NFL RB) Vaughn Hebron (played for the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

and

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 20 ...

) and the team played its home games at the

Sovereign Bank Arena The CURE Insurance Arena is a multipurpose arena in Trenton, New Jersey. It hosts events including shows, sporting events and concerts. The arena seats 7,605 for hockey and other ice events, 8,600 for basketball and up to 10,500 for concerts, fam ...

, capacity 7,605 in Trenton, New Jersey. The team was originally scheduled for a 16-game season (eight home and eight away games), But, the team was to fold after only 6 games. The team's Director of Football operations was Marty Yukichak and the team had a front office staff of seven others in addition to a coaching staff of eight, including Hebron. The team's defensive coordinator was Chuck Murphy and offensive coordinator was Tom Cocuzza. The 21 member active roster was made up mostly of local college football players stemming from

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and wa ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High ...

, as well as a number of players from the local ( Division III)

New Jersey Athletic Conference The New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC), formerly the New Jersey State Athletic Conference, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. All of its full members are public universities in New Jersey. Affiliate mem ...

. The players were paid $200 per game, plus stipend for away games. The Trenton area has traditionally supported a number of successful minor league sports franchises including the

Trenton Thunder The Trenton Thunder are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Trenton, New Jersey, and play their home games at Trenton Thunder Ballpark. From 1994 to 2020, it was a Minor League Baseball team of the Double ...

(

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eig ...

and

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...

Minor League Baseball affiliate) and

Trenton Titans The Trenton Titans were a professional minor league ice hockey team that played in the ECHL. The team last played in the Atlantic Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. The Titans played their home games at the Sun National Bank Center in Trent ...

(

East Coast Hockey League The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The E ...

) and the Lightning's attendance was strong (with average attendance of nearly 4,000 in their 6,500 capacity arena). Despite local talent and strong support, the team finished their inaugural (and last/shortened) season 0-6.

2001 IPFL Trenton Lightning schedule

Friday, April 13 Trenton Lightning at Tennessee ThunderCats 25-52 Saturday, April 21 Trenton Lightning at Boise Stallions 12-29 Saturday, April 28

Omaha Beef The Omaha Beef is an indoor football team and a charter member of the Champions Indoor Football (CIF) league. Based in Omaha, Nebraska, the Beef play their home games at Liberty First Credit Union Arena in nearby Ralston. History First 13 seas ...

at Trenton Lightning 51-41 Saturday, May 5 St. Louis Renegades at Trenton Lightning 14-13 Saturday, May 12 Trenton Lightning at Tennessee ThunderCats 26-39 Saturday, May 19 Tennessee ThunderCats at Trenton Lightning 41-24 Saturday, June 2 Boise Stallions at Trenton Lightning CANCELLED Saturday, June 9 Trenton Lightning at Boise Stallions CANCELLED Saturday, June 16 Trenton Lightning at

CANCELLED Saturday, June 22 St. Louis Renegades at Trenton Lightning CANCELLED Saturday, July 7 Boise Stallions at Trenton Lightning CANCELLED Saturday, July 14 Trenton Lightning at St. Louis Renegades CANCELLED Saturday, July 21 Tennessee ThunderCats at Trenton Lightning CANCELLED Saturday, August 4

at Trenton Lightning CANCELLED Saturday, August 11 Trenton Lightning at St. Louis Renegades CANCELLED Saturday, August 18 Trenton Lightning at

CANCELLED

References

{{Indoor Professional Football League Indoor Professional Football League teams Defunct American football teams in New Jersey Sports in Trenton, New Jersey 2000 establishments in New Jersey 2001 disestablishments in New Jersey American football teams established in 2000 American football teams disestablished in 2001