View source for Southern California Sun

{{More citations needed|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox American football team
| name              = Southern California Sun
| logo              =
| helmet            = 
| uniform           = 
| established       = 1974
| suspended         = 
| folded            = October 1975
| location          = [[Anaheim, California|Anaheim]], [[California]]
| field             = [[Anaheim Stadium]]
| colours           = Magenta and orange {{color box|#FF00FF}} {{color box|#FF7F50}}
| nickname          = 
| coach             = [[Tom Fears]]
| manager           = [[Curly Morrison]]
| owner             = Larry Hatfield
| mascot            = 
| league            = [[World Football League]]
| division          = Western
| league_champ_type = [[World Bowl (WFL)|World Bowl]] wins
| league_champs     = 
| div_champs        = 
| website           = 
}}

The '''Southern California Sun''' were an [[American football]] team based out of [[Anaheim, California]] that played in the [[World Football League]] in 1974 and 1975. Their records were 13-7 in 1974 and 7-5 in 1975. Their home stadium was [[Anaheim Stadium]]. They were coached by former Rams great and Hall of Famer [[Tom Fears]] and owned by trucking magnate Larry Hatfield.  The team drew national attention for their (at the time) outlandish magenta and orange uniforms.

Former USC greats [[Anthony Davis (USC running back)|Anthony Davis]] and [[Pat Haden]] played for the Sun in 1975 along with former Oakland Raiders QB [[Daryle Lamonica]], also known as the "Mad Bomber."

The Sun won the 1974 Western Division title, but lost their playoff game against [[The Hawaiians (WFL)|The Hawaiians]] when three of their best players--[[Kermit Johnson]], [[James McAlister]] and [[Booker Brown]]—sat out the game.  The three players were owed back pay, and claimed the missed checks breached their contracts.<ref>Marshall, Joe. [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1089343/index.htm World Bowl in crisis]. ''[[Sports Illustrated]]'', 1974-12-16.</ref>  This episode aside, the Sun were one of the WFL's better-run teams, and at least had the potential to be a viable venture had the WFL been run in a more realistic and financially sensible manner. A year later, they were leading the West when the league folded on October 22, 1975 in midseason.

==Schedule and results==
{| cellpadding=5 style="border:1px solid #BBB"
|-
| '''Key''': || style="background: #CCFFCC;" | '''Win''' || style="background: #FFCCCC;" | '''Loss''' || style="background: #CCCCCC;" | '''Bye'''
|}

===1974 regular season <ref>{{cite web|url=http://wflfootball.tripod.com/1974/results.html| title=1974 World Football League Game Results| accessdate=2015-11-11}}</ref>===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Week
! Day
! Date
! Opponent
! Result
! Attendance
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
!1
|Wednesday
|July 10, 1974
|at [[Birmingham Americans]]
|'''L'''  7–11
|53,231
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
!2
|Wednesday
|July 17, 1974
|[[The Hawaiians (WFL)|Hawaiians]]
|'''W'''  38–31
|32,018
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
!3
|Wednesday
|July 24, 1974
|at [[Jacksonville Sharks (WFL)|Jacksonville Sharks]]
|'''W'''  21–19
|46,780
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
!4
|Thursday
|August 1, 1974
|at [[Memphis Southmen]]
|'''L'''  15–25
|25,175
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
!5
|Wednesday
|August 7, 1974
|[[Charlotte Hornets (WFL)|New York Stars]]
|'''L'''  8–11
|28,174
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
!6
|Thursday
|August 15, 1974
|at [[Shreveport Steamer|Houston Texans]]
|'''W'''  18–7
|31,227
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
!7
|Wednesday
|August 21, 1974
|at [[Philadelphia Bell]]
|'''W'''  31–28
|14,600
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
!8
|Wednesday
|August 28, 1974
|[[Portland Storm]]
|'''W'''  45–15
|27,814
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
!9
|Monday
|September 2, 1974
|[[Chicago Fire (WFL)|Chicago Fire]]
|'''L'''  22–32
|27,133
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
!10
|Friday
|September 6, 1974
|at [[Detroit Wheels]]
|'''W'''  10–7
|6,351
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
!11
|Wednesday
|September 11, 1974
|at [[Chicago Fire (WFL)|Chicago Fire]]
|'''W'''  31–28
|24,837
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
!12
|Wednesday
|September 18, 1974
|[[Detroit Wheels]]
|'''W'''  29–24
|12,169
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
!13
|Wednesday
|September 25, 1974
|[[Jacksonville Sharks (WFL)|Jacksonville Sharks]]
|'''W'''  57–7
|22,017
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
!14
|Wednesday
|October 2, 1974
|at [[Portland Storm]]
|'''W'''  26–22
|N/A
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
!15
|Thursday
|October 10, 1974
|[[Shreveport Steamer]]
|'''W'''  25–23
|24,223
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
!16
|Thursday
|October 17, 1974
|[[Birmingham Americans]]
|'''W'''  29–25
|25,247
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
!17
|Wednesday
|October 23, 1974
|[[Philadelphia Bell]]
|'''L'''  7–45
|N/A
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
!18
|Wednesday
|October 30, 1974
|at [[Charlotte Hornets (WFL)|Charlotte Hornets]]
|'''W'''  34–25
|19,436
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
!19
|Wednesday
|November 6, 1974
|at [[The Hawaiians (WFL)|Hawaiians]]
|'''L'''  8–29
|13,780
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
!20
|Thursday
|November 14, 1974
|[[Florida Blazers]]
|'''L'''  24–27
|28,213
|----
|}

===Playoffs===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Game
! Day
! Date
! Opponent
! Result
! Attendance
|- align="center" bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
! Quarter-finals
| Wednesday
| November 20, 1974
| [[The Hawaiians (WFL)|Hawaiians]]
| '''L''' 14–32
| 11,430
|}

===1975 regular season <ref>{{cite web|url=http://wflfootball.tripod.com/1975/results.html| title=1975 World Football League Results| accessdate=2015-11-11}}</ref>===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Week
! Day
! Date
! Opponent
! Result
! Attendance
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
!1
|Monday
|August 3, 1975
|[[Portland Storm|Portland Thunder]]
|'''W''' 21–15
|14,362
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
!2
|Sunday
|August 9, 1975
|at [[San Antonio Wings]]
|'''L''' 22–54
|21,000
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
!3
|Sunday
|August 16, 1975
|at [[The Hawaiians (WFL)|Hawaiians]]
|'''W''' 37–19
|15,862
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
!4
|Sunday
|August 23, 1975
|at [[Birmingham Vulcans]]
|'''W''' 35–25
|32,000
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
!5
|Saturday
|August 29, 1975
|[[Philadelphia Bell]]
|'''W''' 58–39
|17,811
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
!6
|Saturday
|September 6, 1975
|at [[San Antonio Wings]]
|'''L''' 8–30
|10,470
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
!7
|Sunday
|September 14, 1975
|[[Charlotte Hornets (WFL)|Charlotte Hornets]]
|'''L''' 22–30
|13,405
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
!8
|Saturday
|September 20, 1975
|at [[Shreveport Steamer]]
|'''L''' 29–38
|18,777
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
!9
|Saturday
|September 27, 1975
|at [[Charlotte Hornets (WFL)|Charlotte Hornets]]
|'''W''' 24–17
|17,000
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
!10
|Sunday
|October 5, 1975
|at [[Memphis Southmen|Memphis Grizzlies]]
|'''L''' 33–37
|18,129
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
!11
|Sunday
|October 12, 1975
|[[Shreveport Steamer]]
|'''W''' 39–30
|10,505
|---- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
!12
|Sunday
|October 19, 1975
|at [[The Hawaiians (WFL)|Hawaiians]]
|'''W''' 26–7
|15,905
|----
|}

==See also==
* [[1974 World Football League season]]
* [[1975 World Football League season]]

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://www.funwhileitlasted.net/2011/04/19/8-southern-california-sun/ Southern California Sun on FunWhileItLasted.net]
* [http://www.helmethut.com/WFL/WFLSun.html Southern California Sun Helmets]

{{Orange County Sports}}
{{WFL}}

[[Category:Southern California Sun|*]]
[[Category:Defunct American football teams in California]]
[[Category:Sports clubs established in 1974]]
[[Category:Sports clubs disestablished in 1975]]
[[Category:1974 establishments in California]]
[[Category:1975 disestablishments in California]]


{{Amfoot-team-stub}}
{{California-sport-stub}}