Borough President Vito Fossella Declares 'L&M Tavern Football Team Day'

Sunday mornings on Staten Island in the 1970s and early 1980s used to mean one thing: Touch Tackle Football. Every Sunday, hundreds of fans would show up to watch a series of games featuring former NFL players, homegrown legends, and five-star athletes.

One team stood out among the rest in the Staten Island Touch Tackle League: The L&M Tavern Football Team who were undefeated in consecutive regular season games between 1983 and 1986.

Borough President Vito Fossella welcomed some of the original players into Borough Hall on Wednesday and presented them with a proclamation declaring February 28, 2024, as "L&M Tavern Football Team Day" in Staten Island.

“I just thought it was a beautiful Staten Island story, especially as you look back all these years later and with your induction into the Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame,” said Borough President Fossella. “It was a team effort and something that is sort of missing today.”

The team was originally formed as O’Neil’s Service Station in 1975 and played in the Staten Island Touch Tackle League’s Southern Division. Three years later, L&M Tavern, a small neighborhood bar on Targee Street in Concord, took over sponsorship and moved the team to the League’s Northen Division and then its Western Division. In 1981, they won the famed New Dorp Father’s Club Lion Tournament.

It was in the 1983 season when they became a formidable team with the addition of several key players. Their practices were sharp and crisp, and they played with unparalleled confidence. On Sept. 11, 1983, they took the field at New Dorp High School and shut out the highly ranked team of B&A Jewelers, 6-0. Their win on that hot and sunny morning was just the beginning of an undefeated 12-0 season and playoff run.
 
The L&M Tavern Football Team played with a “never say die” attitude and their record speaks for itself. The team was inducted into the Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame last year.