Haven-Villa of Winter Haven
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| Haven-Villa of Winter Haven | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Founded | 1926 |
| Folded | 1926 |
| Stadium | Winter Haven High School |
| Headquartered | Traveling team |
| Colors | Blue, White |
| Personnel | |
| Head coach | Bob Daley |
| Team history | |
Haven-Villa of Winter Haven w/local players | |
| League / conference affiliations | |
| Independent | |
The Haven-Villa of Winter Haven was a professional football team based in Winter Haven, Florida in 1926. While the team originated as a successful local team. However, the team was taken over by members of the Tampa Cardinals, featuring Jim Thorpe, and later the Millville Big Blue, a pro club from Millville, New Jersey, when the teams played a series of exhibition games in the winter of 1926.
When Milleville first came to Florida, it had scheduled a game against Haven-Villa. However, the day of the game, Thorpe and several of the other Cardinals, fresh off of a loss against Red Grange and the Chicago Bears of the National Football League, showed up in the Haven-Villa line-up. The game resulted in a lopsided 28–6 victory for Millville. The win, however, proved costly, as Gyp Downey, the team's star kicker, suffered a fractured collar bone, ending his season. The Millville newspapers reported prior to the game that Red Grange would be officiating the game, however there were no reports of Grange doing so. Jim Thorpe also did not play in the game, probably due to his age and health issues, however several of his old teammates from the NFL did play. Those players include Pete Calac, Joe Little Twig and Rube Ursella.
