The Louisville Fire was an arena football

Arena football

Arena football is a variety of gridiron football played by the Arena Football League . It is a proprietary game, the rights to which are owned by Gridiron Enterprises, and is played indoors on a smaller field than American or Canadian outdoor football, resulting in a faster and higher-scoring game....

 team that played its home games at the Brown-Forman Field in Freedom Hall

Freedom Hall

Freedom Hall is a multipurpose arena in Louisville, Kentucky, on the grounds of the Kentucky Exposition Center, which is owned by the Commonwealth of Kentucky...

 in Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

. They were a 2001 expansion team of the af2

Af2

AF2 was the name of the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football rules and style of play. League seasons ran from April through July with the postseason and ArenaCup...

. Their owner/operator was former Pro Bowl

Pro Bowl

In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...

 lineman and Louisville native Will Wolford

Will Wolford

William Charles Wolford is a former American football offensive lineman in the National Football League for the Buffalo Bills, the Indianapolis Colts, and the Pittsburgh Steelers....

. The team was somewhat successful. After a rocky first few seasons they finally found success in 2004 and then made it all the way to the Arena Cup in the 2005 season.

In July 2007, it was announced that the team plans on selling portions of the team to local ownership (ala the NFL's Green Bay Packers

Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...

) and attempt to boost season ticket sales and then buy it back in time before the team joins the AFL.

In November 2008, the Louisville Fire ceased operations.

Award winners

• 2004 - Takua Furutani - International Player of the Year
• 2005 - Matthew Sauk - Offensive Player of the Year
• 2005 - Danny Kight - Kicker of the Year
• 2006 - Brett Dietz - Rookie of the Year
• 2006 - Rob Mager - Offensive Player of the Year
• 2008 - Elizabeth "Liz" Horrall - Miss Louisville Fire Football

Season-by-season

|-
| 2001 || 6 || 10 || 0 || 6th NC Midwest || --
|-
| 2002 || 2 || 14 || 0 || 4th NC Midwest || --
|-
| 2003 || 5 || 11 || 0 || 3rd NC Midwest || --
|-
| 2004 || 9 || 7 || 0 || 2nd NC Midwest || Won NC Round 1 (Quad City

Quad City Steamwheelers

The Quad City Steamwheelers were a professional arena football team. They were a charter member of the af2. They play their home games at i wireless Center in Moline, Illinois....

 53-48)
Lost NC Semifinal (Tulsa

Tulsa Talons

The San Antonio Talons are a professional arena football franchise in San Antonio, Texas that plays in the Arena Football League.The Talons began in 2000 in Tulsa, Oklahoma as the Tulsa Talons, a charter member of the defunct minor league Arena Football 2, also known as af2...

 49-42)
|-
| 2005 || 11 || 5 || 0 || 2nd AC East || Won AC Round 1 (Macon

Macon Knights

The Macon Knights were a professional arena football team, playing in the af2 league. They were a 2001 expansion member of af2. They played their home games at Macon Coliseum. The Knights were owned and operated by Beverly Olson. The Knights were formerly coached by Derek Stingley, who was a...

 55-54)
Won AC Semifinal (Manchester

Manchester Wolves

The Manchester Wolves were a professional arena football team, based at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire, which folded at the end of the 2009 season along with the rest of the league...

 69-56)
Won AC Championship (Florida 70-40)
Lost ArenaCup

ArenaCup

The ArenaCup is the af2's championship game. For the league's first five years, it was held at the arena of the higher seeded team. However, the 2005 ArenaCup was the first to be played at a neutral site in Bossier City, Louisiana. The 2006 ArenaCup was played in Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San...

 VI (Memphis

Memphis Xplorers

The Memphis Xplorers were a professional arena football team. They were a 2001 expansion member of the af2. They played their home games at DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, Mississippi ....

 63-41)
|-
| 2006 || 9 || 7 || 0 || 4th AC East || Lost AC Round 1 (Memphis

Memphis Xplorers

The Memphis Xplorers were a professional arena football team. They were a 2001 expansion member of the af2. They played their home games at DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, Mississippi ....

 83-61)
|-
| 2007 || 9 || 7 || 0 || 3rd AC Midwest || Won AC Round 1 (Spokane

Spokane Shock

The Spokane Shock is a professional arena football team of the Arena Football League from Spokane, Washington, USA. They play their home games at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena...

 62-35)
Lost AC Semifinals (Green Bay

Green Bay Blizzard

The Green Bay Blizzard is a professional indoor football team, which was founded in 2003. The Blizzard began play in the Indoor Football League in 2010, after having played the previous seven seasons in af2, in the now defunct the minor league of the Arena Football League. The Blizzard play in...

37-27)
|-
| 2008 || 8 || 8 || 0 || 4th AC Midwest || --
|-
!Totals || 62 || 71 || 0
| colspan="2"| (including playoffs)

2008 coaches

• Tommy Johnnson - Head Coach
• George Eskridge - Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coach
• Anthony Payton - Offensive Coordination
• Oscar Brohm - Quarterbacks Coach
• Darrel Ryan
• Pat Padrone
• Roy McMillen
• Tyronne Young