I’ve always thought Birmingham is the perfect city to have a minor-league professional football franchise.

The Birmingham Iron of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) is the Steel city’s latest venture into pro football.

I was impressed with the Iron’s 26-0 victory over the Memphis Express on Sunday at Legion Field. The Iron’s formula, a power running game and a hard-hitting defense reminded me of the Alabama teams coached by Gene Stallings.

Birmingham has a long history of swimming in pro football waters. It began with the Birmingham Americans and Birmingham Vulcans of the World Football League (WFL) in 1974 and 1975. I was barely a kindergartner and hardly remember those teams. I read where the WFL was poorly operated and made the fatal mistake of trying to compete against the more established NFL.

I enjoyed watching the Birmingham Stallions of the United States Football League (USFL) in the mid-1980’s. The USFL had the ideal setup: spring football as a distraction while waiting for the college season to begin on Labor Day weekend.

I attended a few of those games and they were marketed along with a strong fanbase. The USFL folded when league officials decided to compete with the NFL in the fall.  From where I sit, the USFL should’ve remained in the spring.

The Birmingham Fire of the World League of American Football (WLAF) in 1991 and 1992 was entertaining. The Fire was popular. It had the right blueprint, a spring developmental league for the NFL, but the league lost money. The WLAF suspended operations in 1992, but came back briefly as NFL Europe, with the Rhein (Germany) Fire.

The Birmingham Barracudas were part of the Canadian Football League’s failed experiment to branch out in America. The Barracudas played its only season in 1995 at Legion Field. Team ownership reportedly lost between $10 and $12 million. Another dismal factor was trying to compete with Alabama and Auburn for fans.

I never saw the Birmingham Steeldogs (2000-2007) in the Arena Football League nor the Birmingham Thunderbolts (2001) of the ill-fated XFL.

With Hall of Fame General Manager Bill Polian part of the AAFL, the Birmingham Iron have a chance to stick around.