Philadelphia: After the long grind of the regular season, it’s time for the Playoffs as your Philadelphia Soul take on Washington Valor for the right to move on to the Arena Bowl 32 on August 11.
Before they take the field, lets take a look at the playoff history of the Philadlephia Soul.
The Soul entered the Arena Football League in 2004 lead by an ownership group of Bon Jovi & Ron Jaworski and they would make their first playoff appearance in 2006
The Soul would win their first playoff game in 2006 by taking down Austin Wranglers in the Wildcard Round before losing to Orlando Predators in the next round.
2007: The Soul made the playoffs and would host their first playoff game as they took down Orlando in the Wildcard round before falling to Georgia Force in the next round
2008: The Philadelphia Soul finished with a 13-3 record and the number 1 seed in the playoffs, defeating New York in the Divisional Round which was one of the most exciting finish in league history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI7r1Wl1Ng8
The Soul would take apart Cleveland to make their first ArenaBowl as they took on San Jose in New Orleans, before winning their first Championship in a win over the Saber Cats.
After a two-year hiatus, the Soul returned to action in 2011 and the playoffs in 2012 as a number 1 seed, going 15-3 and overthrowing both New Orleans and Jacksonville before falling at the final hurdle in Arena Bowl XXV.
2013: The Soul were on a mission to return to the Arena Bowl and they did just that, but history repeated itself in the way of a crushing defeat.
2014: After losing in the Arena Bowl back to back seasons, the Soul were out to show they can win the big one, but were one and done in the playoffs.
2015: After another upsetting end to the season, the Soul would come back with a vengeance one year later, making it to the conference championship before bowing out.
2016: The Soul would rebound from losing in the conference championship the year before to be the number 1 seed. Their home games would be at the PPL Center in Allentown as the Wells Fargo Center was being used for the 2016 Democratic National Convention. The Soul would beat Tampa Bay & Jacksonville to make the ArenaBowl against a familiar foe in Arizona. The ArenaBowl was played in Arizona and the Soul tamed the Rattlers in XXIX to win their 2nd Arena Football Championship.
2017: Whenever you win a championship it is hard to repeat as champoions and the Soul did so as the top seed, taking down Baltimore en-route back to the Arena Bowl. A clash with Tampa Bay in Philadelphia saw the Soulw in back-to-back titles, and do so in home territory, coming from behind to defeat Tampa bay Storm 44-40.
2018: Now the question was can the Soul make it a threepeat and it was a very hard task, that ultimately saw the team crash out of the postseason again.
2019: Only time will tell…
In the Souls 13 years in the Arena Football League, the Soul have won 15 playoff games and in the process winning three Championships under the ownership of Ron Jaworski.
The 2019 season can the Soul bring a Fourth Championship to Philadelphia but will it? We’ll find out soon enough as they journey kickstarts this weekend.
