Highlights of 1988 to 1990: 

1988

Highlights of the year: 

Ravens no longer No.1
EuroBowl triumph and tragedy
Bulls take over UK title
Budweiser changes its style

The National Division Managements Association (NDMA) was a new organisation formed in 1988 within the overall organisation of the Budwesier League. The NDMA covered the National Division of the Budweiser League - which was basically the owners of the top 15 clubs in the country. They set strict qualifications on standards for entry into the top flight covering things such as one the field performance, financial back-up, stadium facilities etc.

The Budweiser Leagues also had 48 teams within it's Premier Division and 32 in Division One. These three Budweiser Leagues were supplemented by a number of  regional ones which were all self-supported.

The 1988 season was the first time that the pass was used by a majority of teams. American QB's and WR's were signed by most Budweiser National and Premier Division team's. British teams had now discovered how to spread the US players about the team so that they were of maximum benefit. The blueprint was one quarterback, one receiver/cornerback and one lineman who could play offense and defense.

Four hundred and even five hundred passing performances by these US imports became common and high scoring was the order of the day. Bo Hickey of the Fylde Falcons set a passing record which to this day stands, with 3,725 passing yards in the regular season. Mike Hasskamp of the Glasgow Lions is still second in the all-time lists with 3,512 yards passing in 1988.


Fylde Falcon's QB Bo Hickey

The battle for the UK championship at last seemed more than just a one-horse race. The National teams had decided on a 14-game regular season, more than most US Division 1A colleges play. This large number of games put a strain on all areas of the teams, particularly the players.

For the defending champion Ravens, it must have seemed awesome because not only were they facing more UK opposition than ever before, they had the EuroBowl II tournament to contend with in mid-season.

In the run up to that, the Ravens finally lost to British opposition for the first time. Their fiercest rivals, the London (once Streatham) Olympians inflicted the defeat in front of the Ravens own supporters. The Black Shadow had gone 4 1/2 seasons and 63 games unbeaten against fellow UK opponents. This defeat (which came after a couple of close shaves) gave heart to every other team in the league.

The Ravens, typically avenged their earlier defeat to the Olympians by winning the rematch later in the season, and joined the Birmingham Bulls and the Manchester Spartans as divisional champions.

EuroBowl was the next event in Britain. A full report can be found by clicking here. The London Ravens were the UK's hopes and everything pointed to a home victory as they would not have to move out of the capital in any of their games. However, they were caught cold by the Amsterdam Crusaders in the opening game of the tournament and lost 31-27.

Following the EuroBowl, the UK playoffs begam. Another Ravens vs. Olympians final seemed possible, but only the O's made Budweiser Bowl III as the Ravens lost their crown by perishing in the semi-finals to the Bulls.

For the second year running, the final was played at Loftus Road, and the Bulls romped to an impressive 30-6 victory over the Olympians. The Bulls therefore qualified for the EuroBowl competition for the second year in three.


Bulls with the Bud Bowl trophy

In Budweiser Premier Division, the Colchester Gladiators (led by QB Milton Myers and RB Mel Moore) won a great Bowl game 47-28 win against the Brighton B-52s at Alexander Stadium. In a double header event, Herts Phantoms won the Division One title with a 48-34 victory against the Ipswich Cardinals.

In the other senior leagues, Woking Generals beat the Mersey Centurions for the British Gridiron Football League title (they didn't concede a point in the regular season!); the South Western American Football League title went to the Torbay Trojans, and the Caledonian League final was won by the Strathclyde Sheriffs. The Tamworth Trojans won the UKAFL title.

The cream of British football talent at Wembley before the game between the Dolphins and 49ers. The idea was a QB and a receiver, in front of a Channel 4 TV audience had to throw and catch a ball. 
Photo courtesy of Clive Dakers

When the season ended, Budweiser announced a new £1 million three-year deal, but decided to only support the National Division. The other clubs excluded from this agreement had a couple of options - they could remain within within the existing structure and management as the National Gridiron League or sign for a new organisation - the Combined Gridiron League (CGL).

The CGL provided a new concept  in sponsorship with planned support for the teams by a number of financial backers. The NGL, in response, merged with the BGFL to become the British National Gridiron League (BNGL). These two organisations had suspected Budweiser would do this as early as June 18th and had held talks then. Both organisations then set about recruiting teams.

By the end of the 1988, the Budweiser League had it's 20 teams, the CGL signed approximately 80 (mainly the 1988 Budweiser Premier and Division One
teams) and the BNGL had a further 80 (mainly from the smaller leagues).

By July 1988 the fledgling organisation had announced plans for the following season and stated publicly that 77 clubs had pledged support for the new structure which was to be an independently sponsored competition. Following the release of the CGL's prospectus on 4th August 1988 it became apparent that the CGL was a completely different animal to all that had gone before. It was essentially a sponsorship vehicle enabling the clubs (who were to be the leagues owners) to have a degree of financial stability and support with the league en masse negotiating everything from the hire of stadia and grounds to the central production of programmes, advertising, acquisition of equipment and pre payment of all officials fees and medical cover bills, the idea being to get the best possible deal for everything.

By October 1988 the CGL proudly announced that it had in place £300,000 worth of sponsorship from IPA, Trust House Forte, Skandia Life and British Steel allowing the clubs a guaranteed return for their league subs which, for a Crown Division team (the top division) were £375 (or £725 if paid late) per year. In return for this the clubs would receive £750 refs fees, £150 worth of free posters, £1000 worth of programmes plus £75 worth of programme overprint, £400 worth banner display, £500 worth of local advertising and sundry other stuff for a grand total of £3225.

During the off-season the mud slinging began in earnest as first the NGL announced a merger with the BGFL, then most of the top NGL teams refuting this, asking why the NGL had never asked what the CGL had to offer, in fact at times the whole thing descended into farce as first the NGL would claim that it had x number of teams committed to it, then the BGFL would announce that it had twice that number, then of course the CGL stated that the figure it had was something else. During this time it was claimed by the 3 leagues that they had between them 322 teams when there were only 170 in the country! 

In 1988, the Australian National side also toured the UK. They played three games, losing all three but putting in solid displays in each one:

Australian Touring Record:

Australia 6-22 Brighton B-52s
Australia 8-34 Bournemouth Bobcats
Australia 20-34 BGFL AllStars

The game against the Allstars is particularly notable for Kevin Hurst kicking a (still) UK record 58 yard field-goal. This broke Richard Meanwell's 54 yarder in Summerbowl 2 (1986).

In late 1988, the British Bulldogs "World Tour" took place with games at Cal Tech (a 21-6 defeat) and against Australia in Sydney (a 21-3 win). This was an unofficial touring side, no other details are available

GB Bulldogs sideline at Seagulls Stadium in Australia
Photo courtesy of Clive Dakers

1989

Highlights of the year: 

GB win it all
Spartans overcome the Bulls
Another EuroBowl disappointment
Budweiser pulls out

The next big thing to come out of the CGL's office was a statement that it had secured a deal whereby BSB would be televising highlights of the league's Crown division playoffs and bowl game and as we moved into 1989 a steady trickle of teams were being wooed and won over from the now defunct NGL (it had been absorbed into the BGFL who were now calling themselves the BNGL) including the entire Scottish contingent of 19 teams who for some time previously had been undecided as to which ring to throw their hat into.

On Feb 2nd 1989 the CGL announced for the first time the teams who would be competing in the Crown division of the league and as expected the vast majority were from the old Bud premier, the Leicester Huntsmen being the most prominent BGFL team to switch to the CGL. The Crown division seemed to be chock full of honest, competitive football with some comparatively big named players (ex-USFL, NCAA, CFL et al) and as the season approached the football press's attention was firmly on the CGL.

With a month to go before the new season would start, the Budweiser League had settled on 17 teams in four 'Premier' divisions, the CGL had a 23-team Crown National league, 28 in the Duke Premier and 20 more in it's Baron First Division. The BNGL National Division had 12 teams, the Premier had 28 clubs and the First Division was complete with 30. There was also a 5-team regional South Western American Football League, and all leagues at a youth level were now under the BYAFA banner, with over 70 teams affiliated.

The fourth season of Budweiser sponsorship opened with a classic Birmingham Bulls vs. London Ravens clash. The Bulls won 26-22 in a close game that showed that teams were becoming more evenly matched (especially at the top level). Brighton B-52s, in their first season in the topflight, were the surprise package. The Don Markham-coached Northants Stormbringers were similarly performing well, as were the traditional powerhouses such as the Spartans, Olympians, Ravens and Bulls.

The Bulls, having won the Bud Bowl in 1988, were the UK's representative in EuroBowl III. It would be their second European tournament and they dealt easily with the challenge of the Dublin Celts in the preliminary round, winning 20-0. However, the sterner test of an away fixture against EuroBowl II runners-up, the Amsterdam Crusaders, would follow. The Crusaders once again became the UK's teams bogey team (they had beaten the London Ravens the previous year in EuroBowl II). Amsterdam winning 46-15.

When the Bulls returned to league action, nothing seemed to stop them. The Leeds Cougars put a good string of results together and eventually made the playoffs, as did the Manchester Spartans and the Fylde Falcons. The four representatives from the Southern conferences were the London Ravens, London Olympians, Northants Storm and the Thames Valley Chargers. For the first time at the highest level, no team entered the playoffs with an undefeated record, although Birmingham and Manchester (both with 9-1-0 records) seemed destined to meet in the final.

On August 5th 1989 at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in Budweiser Bowl IV, it was indeed the Bulls and the Spartans that would meet each other.

The Bulls chances of winning were dealt a huge blow before kick-off as their quarterback/coach Russ Jensen was in dispute with the new Bulls management over payment and certain new financial guarantees. The club declined to be held to ransom on the very morning of the final and played without him.

Without, Jensen, the Bulls had little else other than a running game and a very inexperienced teenage quarterback to guide the whole offense. The Spartans, meanwhile, were well-drilled and well-motivated. When they took the lead, there was really only ever going to be one winner and the Spartans it was, 21-14. Manchester runningback Paul Bailey with 245 offensive yards was MVP.

Terry Smith with BudBowl IV

In the Combined Gridiron League's first season, there was the expected large variation in standards from the near-Budweiser quality of the Crown National teams to the starter clubs in Baron Division One.

And so in early May the league began and it soon became apparent that this was a high scoring all-action league. Big passing yardage games everywhere with the Walsall Titans doing most of the Dan Marino in the Crown National. However by the end of May the first rumours of a cash crisis began to surface, BNGL commissioner Dave Quincey was threatened with legal action after writing to all the CGL teams asking them to "come and join us" after it emerged that 20 or so teams were having second thoughts after only a couple of games.

BNGL Commissioner, Dave Quincey

The league continued through the long hot summer of 89 producing top game after top game, the culmination being the Crown National division shootout between the Titans and Portsmouth (60-47) - easily the largest points total in any UK Final. In the other CGL Bowl games, the Medway Mustangs defeated the Manchester Heroes to win the Duke Premier Bowl, and the Cheltenham Chieftains won in the last minute against the Severn Vale Royals 12-11 to take the Baron First Division Bowl.

Read reviews of the 1989 CGL season by clicking on the links below

Crown Division
Duke Division
Baron Division

Whilst all of this was happening, the GB Lions were in Germany for the European Nations Championship. Morale was high after their convincing qualifying wins against Holland and France, but they would face Germany on their own patch in the semi-finals. This was the contest GB had to win to negate all the criticism of their previous winless European Nations Championship performance in 1987. Much more emphasis was given to pre-game preparation and the same staff was appointed both off the field and on from the qualifying game. Players from all levels of the game had been able to tryout and the atmosphere among the team was one of excited expectation. The team was selected from the length and bredth of the UK, with players being selected from all the leagues for the first time.

Europe was conquered as the Terry Smith coached team destroyed the Germans 38-6 in the semi-final, and then Finland was shut-out 26-0 in the final. Two stars on the team were London Ravens RB Victor Ebubedike and QB Jason Elliot of the London Olympians.

When the game in the UK was at an all-time high, Budweiser dealt a hammer-blow. They announced that they were withdrawing their sponsorship of the last 4 years from the top 17 teams in the country. The National Division Management Association (NDMA) now chaired by Ron Weisz of the Brighton B-52s set about the task of replacing what had been the most significant sponsorship deal in British American football history.

Ron Weisz

The NDMA teams who had committed to stay together two years earlier also decided to increase their numbers to 18 and form two conferences - Northern and Southern - for the 1990 season. The new team was Portsmouth Warriors, who had been the CGL Crown National runners-up.

However, once the season was over and while all the other leagues were busy promoting themselves and planning the next season, the CGL seemed strangely quiet , no news, no plans. An interesting point was made by the Portsmouth Warriors, "We were just desperate to get out of the CGL, it was a farce", notice the past tense. This was followed by the news that 36 southeastern clubs had joined forces in an attempt to bring the CGL and the BNGL together, the former as the sponsor, the latter as the organiser (90% of these teams were CGL). Instead of this happening, both leagues set about trying to woo this block (by now known as the 'S.E.C.'), the main problem for the CGL was when it did announce its plans for 1990 it included almost all of the SEC in its lineup as well as being 18 teams short in its lower divisions.

In October 89 stories of cashflow problems began to surface especially over unpaid travel agents (the CGL had 2 Irish divisions with many teams playing home and away games on both sides of the Irish sea). Another major blow came with the decision of the SEC to throw in its lot with the BNGL leaving the CGL without most of its top southern teams and still 14 teams short of the projected Crown division standing.

At the CGL AGM an organisation called the National Conference Marketing and Management Association (NCMMA) approached the league with proposals to bring in sponsorship and to generally enhance the look of the Crown division. The spokesman concluded by adding that recent reports suggesting the NCMMA were only interested in the Crown division and were about to ditch the Duke and Baron were unfounded. A week later the NCMMA met the Crown division teams to finalise plans for 1990 and it was decided that the NCMMA would take control of the running of the Crown division (now numbering around 20 following the intervention of the NCMMA) and by the end of November it was revealed that all but 5 Duke and Baron teams had opened negotiations with the BNGL.

On 14th December 1989 the NCMMA announced the 20 teams who had committed themselves to the Crown division for 1990, this was about the last time that the CGL insisted it would have 2 lower divisions as very soon afterwards the BNGL released its list of 108 teams, including the vast majority of 1989's Duke Premier and Baron First Division teams. The BNGL had become the largest single American football league in Europe.

The International League of American Football (ILAF) released a press release in November that two teams from the UK would play in the new professional 8-team league. The cities chosen were London and Birmingham and they also announced that 24 UK national players would be selected for each team. The league was due to kick-off in April 1990.

The NFL's, World League of American Football, opened it's offices in London and began preparing for it's opening in April 1991. The Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles contested American Bowl '89 (Eagles winning 17-13), and in the preparations for the game hosted a coaching clinic in conjunction with BYAFA with was attended by the Brown's Bernie Kosar and Eagles Reggie White.

The first ever Arena football game took place in November 1989 at the London Docklands Arena. The Chicago Bruisers and Detroit Drive played the eight-a-side indoor version of the game before almost 6,000 people in London.

1990

Highlights of the year: 

CGL folds
NFL Trust announced
Spartans repeat as champs, become Euro champs
Coca-Cola sign-up
ILAF delays debut

The final bombshell for the CGL was dropped on 4th January 1990 when it was revealed that the CGL's major backer Bosledge Electronics had gone into receivership and Manchester Police Fraud Squad were investigating the Company Director (who was also CGL Chairman) Peter Ruffell. Initially it was believed that the CGL would not be involved but it soon became apparent that the whole group of companies, CGL included had suffered a domino-effect. A spokesman for the official receivers made it clear that, although they were not involved in the affairs of the CGL there was absolutely no prospect of money to continue financial support of the CGL. At a stroke the CGL was dead while the NCMMA (by now a completely seperate organisation) was up and running. The NCMMA was accepted into BAFA after an emergency meeting.

The International League of American Football announced the postponement of its inaugural season with just 6 weeks to go. A Spring 1991 start was announced - the same starting time as the NFL's World League.

The NDMA, BNGL, BAFRA and BYAFA were present at a London press conference in March when the NFL announced formal links with BAFA. The NFL Trust was put before the British press as a new initiative by the NFL to support BAFA with a financial and educational programme.

The deal included:

Official recognition of Lance Cone's BAFA as the sport's governing body
Establishing the NFL Trust - a cash and aid package intended to secure the future of the domestic game
Building for the future with big-name coaching clinics for kids

NFL Commisioner, Paul Tagliabue said, "The foundation has been laid through games on Channel 4 and at Wembley Stadium".
Cone commented, "It's a great day for British football. I think we're trying to do the right thing at long last, and this really had to happen. it's great to see the (NDMA boss) Ron Weisz and Dave Quincey from the BNGL on the same platform". This is the most exciting day since we threw the first football in Hyde Park some seven years ago. The NFL has really come up with the things we needed for a long time".

Bill Bowsher (right) at the NFL Trust signing

Lance Cone (right) watches the NFL's John Bello sign

NFL and BAFA together (clockwise from bottom left): NFL representative John Bello, BNGL boss Dave Quincey, BYAFA's Ian Feeny, Bill Bowsher of BAFRA, NDMA chairman Ron Weisz and BAFA chief Lance Cone

Plans for a national championship game between NDMA and BNGL winners were in the pipeline during pre-season, but this caused an almighty row at the end of the season! BNGL commissioner Dave Quincey said in March "Some people say we're 2-3 years behind the NDMA but I think it will be a good event".

Finally, as the season neared, the NDMA were waiting to announce a new league sponsor and first ever television contract. The sponsor emerged as Coca Cola, and they proceeded to sponsor the NDMA in 1990, 1991 and 1992. The league also announced that the NDMA Final would be shown on Channel 4.

At the end of the 12 week NDMA season, with ten games for each club, no team emerged with unbeaten records. In the Northern Conference both the defending champion Manchester Spartans and the Birmingham Bulls (who they had defeated in the final in 1989) finished with 9-1-0 records. Glasgow, Leicester and Leeds also qualifed from the north for the playoffs. In the Southern Conference there had been some major surprises. The Northants Storm looked a class apart and finished with a 9-1-0 record. The Bournemouth Bobcats surprised everyone, with their spectacular QB Albert Higgs carving up up opposition defenses. The Bobcats finished second with a 7-3 record, and Brighton qualified for the playoffs also with a 6-4 record.

Mike Fanger (Leicester QB smashed the NDMA record for passing with 2,960 yards) in 10 games, and Chris Thomas (Leeds Cougars) set a league 10 game rushing record of 1,610 yards.

When the playoffs came round, there was much controversy in the Bobcats vs. Lions clash. Bournemouth were very confident before this one, and Higgs were expected to turn in another star performance. However, just 30 seconds into the game Higgs was blindsided by Steve Collins and Willie Leggett and failed to make it back onto the field of play, and the Bobcats who were soundly beaten 38-0. In the other quarter-finals, Birmingham cruised past Brighton 21-12, Northants kept their superb season going with a 44-30 victory over Leicester, and the Spartans edged out Leeds in a thriller 46-35.

Two close semi-finals followed, with Birmingham losing out to the Storm 46-41 in a classic. Spartans stopped the Glasgow bandwagon in its tracks with a 43-29 win. In the first NDMA final, the Spartans held on for a memorable 27-25 triumph against a Northants side who were in their first and only final. Spartans had become British champs for the second consecutive year.

Storm's Johnny Atlas tackled in the final

They added the European title in 1990 also, and in doing so became the first British side to do so. The running of Paul Bailey, and the quarterbacking of Hazen Choates proved to be the best on the continent. The Spartans had qualified for the four team finals stage with a 25-20 quarter-final win against the Amsterdam Crusaders. They moved onto Rimini in Italy.


Spartans WR Allan Brown vs Amsterdam

In the final they played the host nation's team, Legnano Frogs, and won 34-22. The Spartans had achieved their dream.

In the other leagues in the UK in 1990, the London Capitals took the NCMMA title with a 31-8 win against the Essex Buccaneers in the final, after going 9-0 in the regular season. In the BNGL National Division, Ipswich Cardinals won a tough league with a 34-22 final win against the Clydesdale Colts. Cornwall's Duchy Destroyers won the Premier Bowl with a 31-19 win against the Cumbria Cougars, and the Barnsley Bears won the First Division Bowl with a storming 40-34 win against Barracuda.

Victor Ebubideke (left) tried out with the NY Jets in 1990 (here with Jets RB Johnny Hector)

Having won the National Division of the BNGL the Cardinals had obtained a possible route into Europe. All they had to do was to defeat the Manchester Spartans in a UK final. The Spartans, however had won the NDMA and believed that they were British champions and so did not need to play the Cardinals to qualify for the EuroBowl in 1991. A tense stand-off ensued, and eventually BAFA sided with the Cardinals. The Spartans would not defend their European title in 1991.

At the end of the season, the NDMA voted by a single vote to only allow 2 imports per team for the 1991 season, and voted to only allow one new NDMA member. This disappointed many sides who wished to join the NDMA thought at the time to be: Coventry, Colchester, London Capitals, Crawley, Essex, Ipswich and Medway. NDMA Chairman Ron Weisz said "Our list of criteria is 14 pages long. We'll be looking at stadiums, team management, finances

Also in 1990 the Australian touring team played two games. They lost 53-0 to the BNGL North allstars and they lost 50-0 to the Brent Bandits.

Action from the Australia v BNGL North Allstars game

Teesside Demons won College Bowl IV with a 21-20 win against the Birmingham Lions. Northants made up for their Seniors defeat in the NDMA final, by winning the NDMA Youth Kitted title against the Birmingham Bulls 32-12. Tiptree Titans maintained their impressive run of results, as they destroyed the Maidstone Pumas 53-0 in the BYAFA Youth Kitted Final.

A British side travelled to the US for the first time in 1990. The GB Crusaders played Team USA Milwaukee, in Milwaukee, and lost TransAtlantic Challenge 2 28-0.

The following is adapted from the Bournemouth Raiders website (www.bournemouthraiders.co.uk) concerning the 1990 Youth Two Touch season

Finally, the Youth Two Touch leagues were undergoing a sea of change. Traditional powerhouses such as Tiptree and Acorn (amongst others) had gone fully kitted, and many other sides had folded. In 1990 there were 16 teams who entered the league, although this turned into 15 competing sides, as rumours of over-age players and players by the names of Dr.Death, the Exterminator and the Chip Shop! at Oxford proved true, and they were kicked out before the season started!