The first great controversy in the AFL occurred
in 1938 (see 1938 season page) when Dothan and Andalusia met each
other in the first round of the playoffs. The teams were tied
2-2 after 4 games in the best-of-5 series and the fifth game would
decide who would play Troy in the championship series. The
league announced after the fourth game that a coin toss would
determine the location of the fifth and final game of the series.
Dothan manager, Ernie « Doc » Wingard, demanded that the
game be played in Dothan by virtue of the Browns’ first-placed
finish and refused to acknowledge any coin toss result, good or
bad. When the league refused to give into Wingard’s demand,
he refused to allow Dothan to play the game at all. What
ensued was a controversy which eventually lead league president
George Grant to resign. Although Dothan president J.C. Wadlington
fought the forfeit ruling, Dothan was eliminated from the playoffs….
[Back To The
Table Of Contents]