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Could someone find out what the Spartans team colors were and add them to the infobox? 67.100.125.181 (talk) 23:52, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
As far as I can tell, the team color was purple. On the Portsmouth Spartans Historical Society website there are photos from what I think is a ceremony in 2003 when Spartan Stadium was designated a Historical Site that show a purple Portsmouth Spartans jersey (#60) and a citation on the Football Almanac (www.football-almanac.com) has an article from the Portsmouth News from Sept. 14, 1931 that refers to the Spartans as the "Purple Herd". Ksu499 (talk) 17:01, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I found this article addressing the Ironton Tanks where they discuss their rivalry with Portsmouth teams. https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/8dpmrb/in_the_1920s_the_ironton_tanks_and_smoke_house/
In it, they discuss a continuation from the Portsmouth Smoke House, the Portsmouth Presidents and finally the Portsmouth Shoe Steels. This is not insignificant as Jim Thorpe was a player and coach for the Shoe Steels... his final season which should be listed as part of the Lions history http://www.profootballresearchers.org/archives/Website_Files/Coffin_Corner/15-03-518.pdf
In 1925, Smoke House was shut out 35–0 against the Huntington Boosters and eventually shut down operations, though the city would not be permanently left without football as the Portsmouth Presidents were formed in 1926. The Presidents renewed the rivalry with the Tanks, but lost both games, with the second being a 33–0 defeat.[8]
The Presidents were replaced by the Shoe Steels (sponsored by the Selby Shoe Company and Whitaker Glessner Steel Mills) in 1927; although it retained several former Smoke House and Presidents players, the team also signed Jim Thorpe as a player/coach. Despite his popularity and legacy in the sports world, the 40-year-old and injury-prone Thorpe was in the twilight years of his athletic career. He missed the season opener with a foot infection (a Shoe Steels 13–0 victory over Columbus' Rochester Clothiers). A week later, he made his debut as a fullback against the Bobb Chevrolets, but his team lost 12–0.[8]
By the start of November, the Shoe Steels were 4–2 and had the support of various NFL veterans like tackle Russ Hathaway and guard/line coach Walter Jean. On November 6, the Shoe Steels faced the undefeated Tanks, but suffered another shutout in an 18–0 loss.[8][9]
The Shoe Steels rebounded to win their next three games, including a 32–0 revenge victory against the Chevrolets, to put them in title contention as the season finale against the Ashland Armcos approached.[9] To bolster the roster for the game, the team signed Packers running backs Rex Enright and Pid Purdy. Neither of them would play in the game as they were involved in a car accident that ended their football careers. The Shoe Steels tried to salvage the situation by adding more Packers players, backs Red Dunn and Eddie Kotal, both of whom made it to Portsmouth safely. However, the team faced another predicament: this time, Thorpe was gone. The contract he had signed with the Shoe Steels was for ten games... and the Ashland match was Game #11. Thorpe left for Marion, Ohio to run his dog kennel, leading to Jean become the de facto head coach. With Thorpe gone, the Shoe Steels lost 7-6.[8]
In 1928, the Shoe Steels rebranded once more to become the Spartans.[8] That year, the team played three games against the Tanks, tying twice and losing the third 14–0.[10] A year later, Portsmouth finally defeated the Tanks in a 38–0 blowout.[11] At the turn of the decade, the Spartans joined the NFL. Today, the team is known as the Detroit Lions.
Armorbeast (talk) 11:43, 17 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]
An RfC relating to relocated teams' article titles using "History of" has been opened and may be of interest to editors of this article. The RfC will add language to the WP:GUIDELINE and will affect this article's title and multiple others. Please join the discussion at the above link. Rgrds. --Bison X (talk) 13:53, 27 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]
