The West Michigan Ironmen are a professional indoor football team based in

Muskegon, Michigan Muskegon ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Muskegon County, Michigan, United States. Situated around a harbor of Lake Michigan, Muskegon is known for fishing, sailing regattas, and boating. It is the most populous city along Lake Michigan' ...

(and representing the larger region which also includes

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

and

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

), the Ironmen play their home games at Trinity Health Arena. The team joined

American Indoor Football American Indoor Football (AIF) is a professional Indoor American football, indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America. The AIFL began as a regional league with six franchises on the ...

(AIF) in 2016. The AIF ceased operations following the 2016 season, leaving the Ironmen without a league. They joined

Champions Indoor Football Champions Indoor Football (CIF) was a professional indoor American football minor league created in 2014 out of the merger between the Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL) and Lone Star Football League (LSFL), plus one team fr ...

for the 2017 season. For the 2018 season, the team was originally announced to have joined the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional indoor American football league in the United States. The league comprises 14 teams, divided equally between the Eastern Conference (EC) and Western Conference ...

, however, the team was forced to sit out the 2018 Indoor Football League season. The team was then sold and played in the regional Midwest Professional Indoor Football for the 2018 season until they could rejoin the CIF in 2019. However, they were not among the list of members for the 2019 CIF season and instead joined the

American Arena League The American Arena League (AAL) is a professional Indoor American football, indoor football minor league that began playing in 2018. The league was initiated by a merger between Arena Pro Football (APF) and the Can-Am Indoor Football League (Ca ...

. After playing in smaller leagues, the Ironmen will return to the AIF in 2025. The Ironmen are the second indoor football team to play in Muskegon, after the Muskegon Thunder which played in the

Continental Indoor Football League The Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) was an indoor American football, indoor American football, football league based along the Midwestern United States region that played nine seasons from 2006 to 2014. It began play in April 2006 as ...

for the

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

seasons and later the

for its inaugural

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

season before moving to Grand Rapids and becoming the

West Michigan ThunderHawks The West Michigan ThunderHawks were an indoor football team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The team was most recently a member of the Indoor Football League. From their inception in 2007 until 2009, the ThunderHawks were known as the Muskego ...

the next year. They would fold after one season.

Franchise history

American Indoor Football (Morris)

In July 2015, it was announced that Terrence Williams was awarded an expansion team in

(AIF) for the 2016 season. After a "name-the-team" contest, the nickname Ironmen was chosen for the expansion franchise. The Ironmen dropped their first game of the season, but would win every game following that, en route to a berth in the AIF Championship Game. The Ironmen would lose the AIF Championship Game to the

Columbus Lions The Columbus Lions are a professional indoor football team based in Columbus, Georgia, and are a member of the National Arena League (NAL). The Lions were founded in 2006 as an expansion team of the World Indoor Football League (WIFL). After th ...

, 32–74, after the game was cut short by multiple altercations leading the Ironmen to leave the field citing safety reasons. On July 18, 2016, the AIF announced it was ceasing operations leaving the team without a league.

Champions Indoor Football and Indoor Football League

The Ironmen announced on September 26, that it was joining

(CIF) for the 2017 season. The Ironmen went 4–8 and missed the playoffs. On September 12, 2017, the

announced it had added the West Michigan Ironmen, as well as the

Bloomington Edge The Bloomington Edge was a professional indoor football team based in Bloomington, Illinois. While it was in operation, the team hosted home games at Grossinger Motors Arena. Originally named the Bloomington Extreme, the team was a member of Un ...

, from the CIF. The CIF then attempted to sue the IFL, Edge, and Ironmen for leaving the CIF after the two teams had already signed league affiliation agreements with the CIF for the 2018 season. While the CIF did drop the lawsuit against the IFL, it filed for an injunction against the Edge and Ironmen teams from participating in the IFL for breaking the terms of their signed affiliation agreements. A temporary injunction from participation against the two teams was granted on January 31, 2018, with the judge citing that both teams had been bribed into breaking their contracts with the CIF. Both teams participation in the IFL was suspended for the 2018 season, while still considered members, and Bloomington announced both teams would play independent schedules. As part of the injunction, the Ironmen cannot play any games for as long as the 2018 CIF season lasts.

Midwest Professional Indoor Football

On March 3, 2018, owner Terrence Williams then posted on social media that he had sold the team to another local group and the Ironmen would be participating in the semi-professional regional Midwest Professional Indoor Football (MPIF) for the 2018 season. The Ironmen went undefeated at 3–0 through the MPIF season with several teams folding during the season. On April 21, 2018, the first-seed Ironmen beat the second-seed and defending MPIF champion Midway Marauders 68–44 at home to win the MPIF championship.

American Arena League

Two days after winning the MPIF championship, the Ironmen were accepted to return to the CIF for the 2019 season. Upon the release of the 2019 season schedule, the Ironmen were not listed as members. On January 18, 2019, the Ironmen posted on social media that it had joined the

(AAL) for the 2019 season along with the remaining teams from the MPIF as a Midwest Division. The Ironmen won the division title over the

Indianapolis Enforcers The Indianapolis Enforcers are a professional indoor American football, indoor football team based in Noblesville, Indiana. The team was originally a member of the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) and played in Indianapolis. The Enforce ...

, the only other team in the division to finish the season, before losing the league semifinal game to the

West Virginia Roughriders The West Virginia Roughriders were a professional indoor football team based in Wheeling, West Virginia. They were founded in 2016 as the Richmond Roughriders and played at the Richmond Coliseum in 2017 and 2018. They were members the Arena Pr ...

. The 2020 season was cancelled due to the onset of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

with no games played by any team in the league. The following season, the team played four games with several cancellations by other Midwest Division teams. The AAL chose not to hold a 2021 championship playoff, but stated each division would have their own champion. The Ironmen planned to hold a division championship game on June 5, 2021, but no opponents committed to playing and the team was named the division champions.

Great Lakes Arena...

For the 2023 season, dissatisfied with the options for regional indoor leagues in the Michigan area and seeking a more stable foundation to allow the team to schedule home games with more advance notice than they had, the Ironmen established their own league, the

Great Lakes Arena Football The Great Lakes Arena Football (GLAF) was a professional American indoor football minor league based in the Great Lakes region in the United States whose operations are currently dormant. The GLAF was designed to be a regional "bus league" wit ...

League, which was renamed (presumably for trademark concerns) the Great Lakes Arena Alliance before the start of the 2023 season and Great Lakes Arena Football in 2024. As of 2025, the GLAF is inactive, but the league is still owned and operated by the Ironmen.

American Indoor Football (Clark/Montero)

On Christmas Day, December 25, 2024, the Ironmen announced on their social media pages that they were returning to the revamped

starting in 2025. This incarnation largely consists of the Ironmen and two teams, the

Cedar Rapids River Kings The Cedar Rapids Titans are a professional indoor football team based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. They are current members of American Indoor Football. The Titans first joined the Indoor Football League (IFL) as an expansion team in 2011 and first ...

and

Coralville Chaos The Coralville Chaos are a professional indoor football team based in Coralville, Iowa. They currently play their home games at the Xtream Arena in Coralville starting in 2025 as members of American Indoor Football. They were founded in 2023 a ...

, whose co-owner Dominic Montero had an acrimonious split with the previous AIF the previous season, a dispute that had led the rest of the league's teams to leave for the

National Arena League The National Arena League (NAL) is a professional indoor football league that began play in 2017. As of the end of the 2024 season, the league consisted of five teams. A team's typical payroll budget is $600,000 per season, but as of the 2022 ...

and Montero to lay stake to the AIF brand for his league. The Ironmen trounced both Montero-owned teams in the 2025 AIF's first two games, defeating Coralville 75-7 on February 14 and shutting Cedar Rapids out 55–0 eight days later. Then, after playing each team again as well as winning their out of league games, the Ironmen hosted the 2025 AIF Championship Game defeating the Chaos 76-24 to win their third national championship and finished the season with an unblemished 7-0 record.

Current roster

Staff

Statistics and records

Season-by-season results

Head coach records

''Note: Statistics are correct through the start of the 2025 season.''

References

External links

West Michigan Ironmen official website
{{Michigan Sports 2015 establishments in Michigan Sports in Muskegon, Michigan