Qualcomm Stadium, where the Chargers played their home games from 1967 to 2016.

The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football franchise based in the Greater Los Angeles Area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The club was founded in 1959 by Barron Hilton and played the 1960 season in Los Angeles as part of the American Football League (AFL). In the next season, the Chargers moved to San Diego.^[1] In 2017, the Chargers relocated back to the Los Angeles area.^[2]

The franchise has experienced three major periods of success. The first was from 1960 to 1965, when the Chargers were AFL West champions five times and AFL champions once. The second was from 1978 to 1982, when the Chargers had winning seasons (seasons with more wins than losses) in each of these years, and won three consecutive division championships for the second time in franchise history. The most recent accomplishments range from 2004 to 2009, with the franchise reaching the playoffs five times in six years. Their only Super Bowl appearance was in 1994.

The Chargers have experienced three notable periods of decline. Between 1970 and 1977, the Chargers never won more games than they lost as part of a 13-year period without playing in the postseason, including four consecutive years last in their division from 1972 to 1975, in which year they bottomed out before two late wins avoided the NFL's first 0–14 season. From 1983 to 1991, they never placed higher than third in their division and did not make the playoffs. From 1996 to 2003, the team had no winning seasons, and had their worst season ever, winning only one of 16 games in 2000.^[3]

The Chargers have been division champions nine times with all of them in the AFC West. They have been conference champions six times, but only once since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. As of the end of the 2020 season, the Chargers had played 967 regular and postseason games in 58 seasons, and have appeared in the postseason nineteen times.^[3]

Seasons

Footnotes

• ^A As a result of the AFL-NFL merger, the league was broken into two conferences; the AFL teams moved into the American Football Conference.
• ^B This season included the Holy Roller game.
• ^C The Chargers finished ahead of Oakland in the AFC West based on better net points in division games.
• ^D The Chargers finished ahead of the Denver Broncos based on better divisional record.
• ^E This game is known as The Epic in Miami.
• ^F This game was known as the Freezer Bowl.
• ^G The 1982 season was shortened by a strike, so the league was divided up into two conferences instead of its normal divisional alignment.
• ^H The strike of 1987 reduced the regular season schedule from 16 to 15 games.

References

General

• "San Diego Chargers (1960–Present)". Sports Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
• "San Diego Chargers Season Records". Rauzulu's Street. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
• "HickokSports.com". HickokSports.com – History – NFL Rookie of the Year Awards. Archived from the original on January 25, 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
• "NFL.com – History – Yearly Standings". National Football League Official website. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
• "chargers.com – History – Record Book". The National Football League – San Diego Chargers. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
• "San Diego Chargers (1970 – )". databasefootball.com. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
• "San Diego Chargers History". Football @ JT-SW.com. John M. Troan. Retrieved February 19, 2020.

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