The Bell was one of just two WFL teams that maintained the same ownership in both 1974 and 1975. The group was headed by John B. Kelly Jr., a respected business and sportsman in Philadelphia and part of the well-known Kelly family, which included his sister Grace Kelly, movie star-turned-Princess of Monaco. The major money contributor behind the ownership group was John Bosacco, who came forward during the first season and took over the operations of the franchise. Bosacco believed that the WFL could survive as a league and he was instrumental in the removal of Gary Davidson as commissioner following the 1974 season. Ron Waller was hired as head coach in 1974; he was replaced during training camp at Glassboro State University in 1975 by future NFL Hall of FamerWillie Wood.
"Papergate" scandal
At first the Bell appeared to be the most popular team in the fledgling league, announcing a crowd of 55,534 for the home opener, followed by a whopping 64,719 for the second home game. However, when the Bell paid city taxes on the attendance figures two weeks later, it emerged that they had inflated the gate on a scale unprecedented in professional sports. In an apparent attempt to pique interest, the Bell sold block tickets to several area businesses at a discount, and did not report the tax revenue. In turn, many of these businesses gave away the tickets for free. The actual paid attendance for the home opener was only 13,855, and for the second game just 6,200—and many of those tickets were sold well below face value. The "Papergate" scandal, as it was dubbed by the press, made the Bell and the WFL look foolish, and proved to be a humiliation from which neither recovered.
1974 and 1975 seasons
The Bell had a losing season in 1974, finishing 9-11, one game behind the Charlotte Hornets for the final playoff spot. The club hit rock bottom on October 16, when only 750 fans found their way to JFK for a Wednesday night game in a torrential downpour. However, at the request of league officials, they advanced to the playoffs in place of the Hornets. The Hornets were due to play the Florida Blazers in the first round. However, the Blazers only sold 1,000 advance tickets for the matchup in Orlando, nowhere near enough for the financially troubled Hornets to meet their travel expenses. The Bell, in contrast, were somewhat better financed, and could cover their own expenses. They traveled to Orlando, where lost to the Blazers, 18-3. Despite the Papergate fiasco, the Bell were reckoned as one of the WFL's stronger franchises, as evidenced by the league asking them to accept a playoff berth over the Hornets. They at least had the potential to have been successful had the WFL been better run. Bosacco was one of only three owners, along with the Memphis Southmen's John F. Bassett and The Hawaiians' Sam Battisone, thought to be capable of fielding a team in 1975. Those three teams had also been the only ones to meet payroll every week of the season. Even on TV, the Bell couldn't get any respect. On August 29, 1975, WTAF aired a sports doubleheader, featuring a Philadelphia Wings lacrosse match followed by the Bell's game against the Southern California Sun in Anaheim. The football game was scheduled for 10:30 pm EDT, but since the Wings game ran long, viewers missed the beginning. Bell fans would miss the end of the contest, too: WTAF abruptly cut the broadcast off with six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, pleading a "prior commitment". The station then signed off for the night at 1:30 am; the game didn't end until 2:06 am. The Bell had a record of 4-7 in 1975 at the time of the league's dissolution. Attendance remained anemic, with the team's best-attended game at Franklin Field drawing barely 5,000 fans. After only 1,293 fans attended the Bell's October 18 contest, both the team and the WFL folded for good. Vince Papale, the inspiration for the 2006 filmInvincible, played wide receiver for the Bell for two seasons prior to his three years with the Philadelphia Eagles. The Bell's starting quarterback was King Corcoran, who spent most of his career in the minor leagues due to his refusal to accept a backup quarterback position. Both Papale and Corcoran had recently played in the Seaboard Football League, the minor league that was active at the time in the area; Corcoran had played under Waller with the Pottstown Firebirds of the recently closed Atlantic Coast Football League.
