It has been widely reported by several media outlets that the Reading Express are leaving the American Indoor Football Association and joining the Indoor Football League. The Reading Eagle did an in-depth article on the situation here . The Express have planned a 2:00pm press conference today to announce their intentions along with the formal introductions of their new Head Coach Chris Thompson and General Manager Tim Glase. The 2010 season was the first time in five years that the Express failed to make the post-season. I am very saddened to see the Express leave the AIFA as they were a cornerstone franchise of the league over the past 5 years. We have enjoyed many battles with the Express over the years, and were always treated in a first class and professional manner by their front office and ownership.

An interesting side-note on all of this is that the Express were almost named …….The Reading RiverRats?

Yes it is true, in 2006 AIFL President Andrew Haines had several logos to be reviewed for consideration for the new franchise that was being placed in Reading. One of those logos was the Reading RiverRats logo which is shown below. The RiverRats logo eventually lost out to Express branding and the rest is history. The RiverRats logo would later be reworked by Haines and used in the debut of the Pittsburgh RiverRats at a Press Conference in August of 2006. The RiverRats later moved to Erie and played at the Tullio Arena from 2008-2009.