Birmingham Bulls Statistics and History [ACHL]

The Birmingham Bulls were a minor professional hockey team playing in the Atlantic Coast Hockey League during the 1983-84 season. The Bulls were among the shortest-lived franchises in professional hockey history, playing just three games in the ACHL before failing. The ownership group of the Bulls was the same organization that operated the Birmingham South Stars in the Central Hockey League theprevious season. When the CHL disbanded, the organization decided to field a team in the lower-calibre ACHL.

The Bulls experienced ownership trouble before the season started. Their original owner had decided just prior to the season that he did not want to operate the team in the ACHL. He had not posted a required performance bond, and had not paid league dues. The Bulls were going to withdraw before the season even started, however an unnamed party allegedly put up a $50,000 guarantee, allowing the Bulls to start the season.

The city of Birmingham scrambled to line up a new investor, but could not find committed ownership for the team. General Manager Mike McClure discussed moving the team to Syracuse, but the schedule at the War Memorial arena in Syracuse was not favorable for a hockey team since many dates had already been filled.

The Bulls had the highest rent of any team in the league because they played in a large facility (the 17,000 seat Birmingham-Jefferson County Civic Center). This was cited in reports as a reason that investors could not be found for the team.

Although the team had good talent, and had a 2 win-1 loss record, due to the lack of a viable ownership group the ACHL voted to suspend the Bulls franchise on October 28, 1983.