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Other rivals were the Ashland Armcos, from across the river in Kentucky, Dayton Koors, several teams from Cincinnati, Columbus and Akron, but none appeared to have stirred the fans' passion as did the different Portsmouth teams that appeared between 19. Despite being a small town, only about 1/3 the size of Portsmouth, the Tanks are referred to by Carl Becker refers as the dominant team of the era, 'In the 1920s, the 'famous' Ironton Tanks were the sovereigns of semi-professional football in the upper Ohio Valley, indeed even in the state of Ohio'. Perhaps more important to Ironton residents at the time were the local rivalries with other cities in the Ohio area, particularly Portsmouth, where the local sentiment was summed up by this quote “ancient and hereditary foes”. One thing that made the first game in Detroit so notable was arranging NBC to broadcast the game nationally, reaching a larger audience and developing a national clamor for repeats in following years. This led him to schedule the first Thanksgiving Day Game in Detroit (actually the 10th game of the series). Richards) about ways to improve ticket sales, the former Tanks players (led by Presnell) indicated that in the past (as Tanks) that they always got a good turnout on Thanksgiving Day. The Spartans assets were acquired and moved to Detroit where they were renamed the Lions. They did not continue the annual tradition through their demise after the 1933 season.

Several Tank players (including Glenn Presnell) continued their football careers by joining the nearby Portsmouth Spartans. The Tanks continued playing on this national holiday each year through 1930, which was the Tanks final season. They began the actual string of Thanksgiving Day Games by defeating the Huntington Boosters 12–0 on Thursday Nov 30, 1922. The Tanks played a game the day after Thanksgiving with the Lombards, a crosstown rival on Friday winning 26-0 when many people were off due to the holiday. NFL Thanksgiving Day Game Tradition and transfer to the Detroit Lions Īs with most football teams of the era, the Tanks regularly played games over Thanksgiving weekend. So the forerunners of today's Lions were both the Tanks and Spartans. Without presence of the Tanks on the roster the Spartan record would have been less successful and likely not worth being bought and moved to become the Detroit Lions.

Their assets were purchased to pay off debt and the team became the Detroit Lions in 1934. In 1932 the Spartans were among the best in the league but lost to the Chicago Bears in the first NFL playoff game, but after the next year in the depths of the depression, the Spartans too folded. The combined team strength from the Tank infusion and the addition of rookie Dutch Clark, a future Hall of Famer, turned the Spartans into a power to be reckoned with.

Over half of the Tanks moved on to other NFL teams, the most, including Glenn Presnel stayed in Ironton and played for the Portsmouth Spartans (only 30 miles away) until they too folded in 1933.

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Their unmatched achievements in 1930 are recorded in a Professional Football Researchers Association's report on the 1930 season when talking about non-NFL teams: 'None, however, matched the Ironton (Ohio) Tanks' 1930 achievements.' Īlthough the Ironton Tanks ceased operations after the 1930 season, they lived on. This motto is reinforced on the wall of Tank Stadium, where the story of the stadium opening proclaims 'When the Tanks Were Tops' (2nd picture in photo gallery below). 2 NFL Thanksgiving Day Game Tradition and transfer to the Detroit Lionsīased on their outstanding record of 85 wins, 19 losses, 14 ties, an undefeated season in 1922, a state championship in 1926 and dual victories in 1930 over National Football League (NFL) powerhouses the Chicago Bears and New York Giants, the Tanks have a strong claim to being the best team to not play in the NFL.