History of the Blue Flame

The idea for a football team was conceived in December 2002, during a weekend of watching the Eagles at the home of founder and current VP Joe Hansbury.

The foundation of the original board was formed.

We quickly identified many of the tasks for start-up and divided the labors Joe Hansbury approached John McAneney, a long time successful high school football coach who had won championships in both the Philadelphia Public and Catholic leagues. Coach Mac was very receptive and reached out to his friends in support of the team. A key contact was Anthony DePaul.

Anthony is a friend of the coach, and respected member of the Philadelphia business community. Joe Hansbury and Joe Getter met with Coach and Anthony to discuss the team, the goals of the league and our needs. Over dinner, we outlined what we knew of the NPSFL and expressed the confidence that we could build the organization to field and fund a team AND raise money for charity. Hansbury and Getter had been involved community fundraising efforts for more than 15 years. Coach liked the entire concept of ?cops-n-firemen? and quickly assembled an experienced and well known staff of high-school coaches. The spring season was appealing to these football men. Anthony DePaul was equally impressed with the concept. He was and is one of our biggest financial supporters. He also reached into his social and business circles to gather financial support for the club.

By mid-January 2003, we had a solid coaching staff, budding financial support and field to practice. All we needed was players. We held open tryouts and the team began to practice. We came up with a team name and logo that is representative of both police and fire backgrounds. Our organization remains committed to a united team.