The American Football League existed in various forms and various times from 1926-1969.  Sometimes the AFL would be a rival Pro Football league, and compete directly with the NFL.  Such was the case in 1926, 1936-1937, 1940-1941, and 1960-1969.  Other times it would be a Semi-Pro Football league, and would not compete directly with the NFL, but would be more of a farm system for the NFL Clubs.  Such was the case in 1946.  In the autumn of 1945, after the surrender of Japan in World War II, the American Association returned to business, unlike the third American Football League.  John Rosentover remained league president, and the five teams that finished the 1941 AA season (Jersey City, Long Island, Newark, Paterson, and Wilmington) returned to the fold, but the two franchises that were supposed to join the league in 1942 (Hartford and Springfield) did not survive the league's layover.  The third American Football League, which had originally announced intentions of resuming play after the war, didn't survive it either, so the American Association adopted a new name upon resumption of operations: "American Football League".  The league renewed its working relationship with the old National Football League, of 1920/1922, considered a "major league" of pro football.  A compact with the Dixie League and the far west's Pacific Coast Football League prohibited the participation of players signed to “outlaw leagues” (originally directed toward the third AFL, but, starting 1946, also applied to the newly formed All-America Football Conference of 1946-1949, soon to be involved in major league competition with the old NFL.  On March 24, 1946, the formalization of the compact, the Association of Professional Football Leagues as the "Big Three" of the minor leagues of pro football in the United States, was announced by PCFL president (and Association chairman) J. Rufus Klawans.  The resurrected league had three new entries for the first post-war season:  the Scranton Miners, Newark Bombers (replacing the Bears, who moved to Akron, Ohio), and the Bethlehem Bulldogs.  As the games resumed, fan attendance returned to prewar levels.  On the field, the league was dominated by the Jersey City Giants (9-1-0) in the Eastern Division, and the Akron Bears (8-2-0) in the Western Division.  None of the other 8 teams would win more than 5 games.  On December 8, 1946, the Jersey City Giants would defeat the Akron Bears 14-13 at Roosevelt Stadium in New Jersey, in front of 15,080 fans, for the Championship of the American Football League.