The Atlantic Coast Football League (ACFL) was a professional American football minor league that operated from 1962 to 1973. Until 1969, many of its franchises had working agreements with NFL and AFL teams to serve as farm clubs. The league paid a base salary of $100 per game and had 36 players on each active roster. On the field, the Newark Bears would finish atop the Southern Division with an impressive 11-1 record while the Springfield Acorns would take the Northern Division with 7-5 record. So the Bears and the Acorns would play for the 1963 ACFL Championship at Pynchon Park in Springfield, Massachusetts, on November 24, 1963. Newark would go on to win the game 23-6 to take the 1963 ACFL Championship.