The Central Division is one of four divisions that make up the Arena Football League

Arena Football League

The Arena Football League is the highest level of professional indoor American football in the United States. It is currently the second longest running professional football league in the United States, after the National Football League. It was founded in 1987 by Jim Foster...

. It's also one of two divisions that make up the "American Conference", now part of the "National Conference". The division was first formed in 1995 when expansion teams were formed and put into the current divisions.

Division lineups

1995 and 1996

• Iowa Barnstormers
  Iowa Barnstormers
  The Iowa Barnstormers are an arena football team based in Des Moines, Iowa. They are currently members of the Arena Football League , which they joined in 2010 following the organization's restructuring...
  
  
• St. Louis Stampede
  St. Louis Stampede
  The St. Louis Stampede was a team in the Arena Football League. The Stampede competed in the 1995 and 1996 seasons, playing their home games in the Kiel Center , also the home of the St...
  
  
• Memphis Pharaoahs
• Milwaukee Mustangs
  Milwaukee Mustangs
  The Milwaukee Mustangs were an Arena Football League team. They played from 1994 to 2001 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin's Bradley Center.-History:The team was founded in 1994 amidst rumors that the Green Bay Packers would soon stop playing games in Milwaukee, something they'd been doing since 1936...
  
  

Creation of the Central Division as part of the American Conference. Iowa, St. Louis, and Memphis are enfranchised for this division.

1997

• Iowa Barnstormers
• Milwaukee Mustangs
• Portland Forest Dragons
• Texas Terror
  Houston Thunderbears
  The Houston ThunderBears were a team in the Arena Football League that operated from 1996-2001. The team was based in Houston, Texas. Home games were played at the Compaq Center. The team was known as the Texas Terror their first two years in existence before changing the name to the Thunderbears...
  
  

Memphis moved to Portland as the Forest Dragons. St. Louis Stampede folded. Texas Terror moved in from National Conference's Southern Division.

1998-2000

• Grand Rapids Rampage
  Grand Rapids Rampage
  The Grand Rapids Rampage was an Arena Football League team that began playing as a 1998 expansion team. They were coached by Steve Thonn.-History:...
  
  
• Houston Thunderbears
• Iowa Barnstormers
• Milwaukee Mustangs

Grand Rapids Rampage enfranchised. Portland moved to American Conference's Western Division. Texas Terror renamed Houston Thunderbears.

2001

• Chicago Rush
  Chicago Rush
  The Chicago Rush is an arena football team based in Rosemont, Illinois. It is a member of the Central Division of the National Conference of the Arena Football League. The team was founded in 2001 and is co-owned by Mike Ditka, the Hall of Fame player and coach.The Rush have qualified for the...
  
  
• Detroit Fury
  Detroit Fury
  The Detroit Fury were an Arena Football League team. The team began play in 2001 and was based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, at The Palace of Auburn Hills, also the home of the NBA's Detroit Pistons. The team was co-owned by William Davidson, who owned the Pistons, along with...
  
  
• Grand Rapids Rampage
• Indiana Firebirds
  Indiana Firebirds
  The Indiana Firebirds were a team in the Arena Football League.The team was based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Home games were played at the Conseco Fieldhouse, also the home of the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association and Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball...
  
  
• Milwaukee Mustangs

Albany from National Conference's Eastern Division moved in to this division as Indiana Firebirds, relocated in Indianapolis. Chicago Rush and Detroit Fury enfranchised. Houston moved to Western Division. Iowa moved to Uniondale, New York

Uniondale, New York

Uniondale is a hamlet as well as a suburb of New York City in Nassau County, New York, United States, on Long Island, in the Town of Hempstead. The population was 24,759 at the 2010 United States Census.-Geography:...

 as New York Dragons.

2002

• Chicago Rush
• Detroit Fury
• Grand Rapids Rampage
• Indiana Firebirds

Milwaukee Mustangs folded.

2003

• Chicago Rush
• Dallas Desperados
  Dallas Desperados
  The Dallas Desperados were a professional Arena Football team. The Desperados played in the Southern Division of the now-defunct Arena Football League from 2002 to 2008....
  
  
• Grand Rapids Rampage
• Indiana Firebirds

Dallas moved in from Western Division. Detroit Fury moved to Eastern Division.

2004

• Chicago Rush
• Colorado Crush
• Detroit Fury
• Grand Rapids Rampage
• Indiana Firebirds

Colorado moved in from Western Division. Dallas moved to Eastern Division. Detroit moved back from Eastern Division.

2005 and 2006

• Chicago Rush
• Colorado Crush
• Grand Rapids Rampage
• Nashville Kats

Detroit and Indiana folded. Nashville Kats (not to be confused with Georgia Force of the Southern Division which are the original Kats team) enfranchised.

2007

• Chicago Rush
• Colorado Crush
• Grand Rapids Rampage
• Kansas City Brigade
• Nashville Kats

Kansas City moved in from Southern Division.

2008

• Chicago Rush
• Colorado Crush
• Grand Rapids Rampage
• Kansas City Brigade

Nashville folded. Kansas City suspended. The AFL has been put on a one-year hiatus in 2009.

2010

• Chicago Rush
• Cleveland Gladiators
• Iowa Barnstormers
• Milwaukee Iron
  Milwaukee Iron
  The Milwaukee Mustangs are a professional arena football team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They are currently members of the Arena Football League , which they joined in 2010 during the league's restructuring...
  
  

Central Division moved to National Conference as Midwest Division. Cleveland moved in from Eastern Division (which is moved to the American Conference for this season as the Southwest Division). Milwaukee Iron as well as the second Iowa Barnstormers franchise (not to be confused with the original one known as the New York Dragons

New York Dragons

The New York Dragons were an Arena Football League team based in the New York metropolitan area. The team was founded in as the original incarnation of the Iowa Barnstormers, and relocated to New York in . They played in New York until 2008, when the league folded...

) moved in from the now-defunct af2.

2011

• Chicago Rush
• Dallas Vigilantes
  Dallas Vigilantes
  The Dallas Vigilantes were an Arena Football League team based in Dallas, Texas. Like its AFL predecessor, the Dallas Desperados, the Vigilantes played at the American Airlines Center. The Vigilantes and the Jacksonville Sharks began play in the 2010 season, the first after the league's...
  
  
• Iowa Barnstormers
• Kansas City Command
• Tulsa Talons

The Midwest Division changed its name back to Central Division. Dallas and Tulsa moved in from Southwest Division (now Eastern Division). Cleveland and Milwaukee moved to the Eastern Division. Kansas City reactivated.

2012

• Chicago Rush
• Iowa Barnstormers
• Kansas City Command
• San Antonio Talons

Dallas suspended, Tulsa relocated to San Antonio.

Division Champions

• 1995: St. Louis Stampede (9-3)
• 1996: Iowa Barnstormers (12-2)
• 1997: Iowa Barnstormers (11-3)
• 1998: Houston Thunderbears (8-6)
• 1999: Iowa Barnstormers (11-3)
• 2000: Iowa Barnstormers (9-5)
• 2001: Grand Rapids Rampage (11-3)
• 2002: Chicago Rush (9-5)
• 2003: Dallas Desperados (10-6)
• 2004: Chicago Rush (11-5)
• 2005: Colorado Crush (10-6)
• 2006: Colorado Crush (11-5)
• 2007: Chicago Rush (12-4)
• 2008: Chicago Rush (11-5)
• 2010 (as Midwest Division): Milwaukee Iron (11-5)