Desperados Shift To Southern Division For 2009 Season

DALLAS, Texas - The Dallas Desperados will join the AFL's Southern Division for the 2009 season as part of the league's new realignment, leaving the Eastern Division where the team won two division championships in back-to-back seasons (2006-07) to join a Southern Division that will pit them against new divisional foes in the Georgia Force, Orlando Predators and Tampa Bay Storm.

"It's two difficult divisions, comparing what we've played in and what we're now going to," said Desperados Head Coach Will McClay. "We're used to being in a division with Philadelphia, Columbus, Cleveland and New York in the Eastern Division, and now we go to another tough division in the Southern Division that features perennial ArenaBowl teams with Tampa Bay, Orlando and Georgia. So the competition only gets fiercer."

Dallas has moved divisions four times since its inception into the league in 2002 as a member of the West Division while also playing in the Central (2003) and Eastern Divisions (2004-08). The Desperados conclude their record in the Eastern Division with a mark of 24-10 - the best divisional record of any Eastern Division team during that five year span - and were the Eastern Division champions during the 2006 and 2007 seasons. The Desperados best season in the Eastern Division came in 2007 when the team set a league record with a 15-1 regular season mark including a perfect 6-0 record in the Eastern Division.