Fayetteville Force



The Fayetteville Force is a professional indoor football team in the Southern Indoor Football League. The Force plays its home games at the Cumberland County Crown Coliseum. The team began play in 2003 as the Myrtle Beach Stingrays' of the National Indoor Football League in the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, compiling a 6-8 record in their inaugural season.

History
At the beginning of the 2004 season, the NIFL pulled the team out of Myrtle Beach, and the team almost folded. However, some local investors saved the team, playing as the Carolina Stingrays in the Florence Civic Center. They managed to finish 3-6 in their shortened season.

The following year, the team was purchased again and moved to Fayetteville to replace af2's Cape Fear Wildcats, who had moved to Albany, Georgia and are currently playing as the South Georgia Wildcats. The new team had originally been called the Fayetteville Heat, but later on changed their name to the Fayetteville Guard. The team started their season 0-5, but went 7-2 in their final nine regular season games, thus earning them a 7-7 record and a playoff berth. The team defeated the Dayton Warbirds in the first round, but lost to the Cincinnati Marshals in the divisional round.

The Guard did even better in 2006, posting a 13-1 record in the regular season, then defeating the Lakeland Thunderbolts and River City Rage en route to Indoor Bowl VI, where they would lose to the Billings Outlaws. The best player ever for the Fayetteville Guard was former Hawaii QB-K Shawn-Ke'ali'i Withy-Allen, 6'5", 234 lbs.

In August 2006, it was reported that the Guard were moving to the World Indoor Football League. However, the Guard denied these rumors by announcing that they were staying in the NIFL in a press conference two months later.

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With to the merger of the AIFA and SIFL, a new Fayetteville based sports marketing group claimed the right to field a SIFL team from the Fayetteville market. The Guard will not be back this season, but a new team not affiliated with the Guard or its owners, called the Fayetteville Force, will be the new representation for the Cape Fear area.

Season-by-Season
!Totals || 59 || 52 || 0
 * colspan="6" align="center" | Myrtle Beach Stingrays (NIFL)
 * 2003 || 6 || 8 || 0 || 3rd Atlantic Southern || --
 * colspan="6" align="center" | Carolina Stingrays (NIFL)
 * 2004 || 3 || 6 || 0 || 3rd Atlantic Southern || --
 * colspan="6" align="center" | Fayetteville Guard (NIFL)
 * 2005 || 7 || 7 || 0 || 3rd Atlantic Central || Won AC Quarterfinal (Dayton)Lost AC Divisional (Cincinnati)
 * 2006 || 13 || 1 || 0 || 1st Atlantic Central || Won AC Semifinal (Lakeland)Won AC Championship (River City)Lost Indoor Bowl VI (Billings)
 * colspan="6" align="center" | Fayetteville Guard (NIFL/Independent)
 * 2007 || 12 || 0 || 0 || 1st Atlantic ||
 * colspan="6" align="center" | Fayetteville Guard (AIFA)
 * 2008 || 5 || 9 || 0 || 4th EC Eastern || --
 * 2009 || 8 || 6 || 0 || 2nd Southern || Lost Divisional (Columbus)
 * 2010 || 2 || 12 || 0 || 6th Eastern || --
 * colspan="6" align="center" | Fayetteville Force (SIFL)
 * 2011 || -- || -- || -- || -- || --
 * colspan="6" align="center" | Fayetteville Guard (NIFL/Independent)
 * 2007 || 12 || 0 || 0 || 1st Atlantic ||
 * colspan="6" align="center" | Fayetteville Guard (AIFA)
 * 2008 || 5 || 9 || 0 || 4th EC Eastern || --
 * 2009 || 8 || 6 || 0 || 2nd Southern || Lost Divisional (Columbus)
 * 2010 || 2 || 12 || 0 || 6th Eastern || --
 * colspan="6" align="center" | Fayetteville Force (SIFL)
 * 2011 || -- || -- || -- || -- || --
 * 2009 || 8 || 6 || 0 || 2nd Southern || Lost Divisional (Columbus)
 * 2010 || 2 || 12 || 0 || 6th Eastern || --
 * colspan="6" align="center" | Fayetteville Force (SIFL)
 * 2011 || -- || -- || -- || -- || --
 * colspan="6" align="center" | Fayetteville Force (SIFL)
 * 2011 || -- || -- || -- || -- || --
 * 2011 || -- || -- || -- || -- || --
 * colspan="2"| (including playoffs)