Birmingham Bulls came with a late surge to make the playoffs, where they joined the Gateshead Senators and the Pirates from the Northern Conference.

In the playoffs, the Bulls dominated the Senators 25-6, and the Sundevils overpowered the PA Knights 26-6 to book semi-final places. In the semi-finals, the London O's shutout the Bulls at home and the East Kilbride Pirates dominated the Sundevils 22-0 to reach their first final. The O's ran away with the final against their Scottish opponents to register a sixth straight title with a 37-20 victory.

In Division Two, Lancashire Wolverines won the Northern Conference with an undefeated season. The AP Surge clung to their coat tails and finished second, with the Yorkshire Rams also making the quarterfinals. With a large Southern Conference, five teams made the quarterfinals. Oxford Saints made the entire running with an 8-0-0 perfect regular season. The two East Anglian teams, Norwich and Ipswich, were as strong as ever and both recorded good winning records.

Come the playoffs, though the Saints started to stutter. They recorded a hard won 24-14 result against Plymouth, but then fell to the resurgent Ipswich Cardinals at the semi-final stage. Norwich, got the better of the Lancashire Wolverines in the other semi-final to make it an all East Anglian Division Two final. In the final it was Ipswich who came away with a 47-15 victory.


Ipswich QB Ian Girling vs Norwich in Div.2 final

Both bowl games had extensive highlights during NFL Sunday on Sky Sports.

The GB Senior National team were drawn against Spain in the quarterfinals of the 2001 European Championship. On the 17th June, the Brits defeated Spain 27-6 at the Saffron Lane Sports Stadium in Leicester.

After failing to fulfil the European Championship semi-final on the 30th June, the newly elected board on the EFAF expelled Great Britain from the European Championships. As such, Germany received a bye into the final where they got their revenge against Finland (Finland beat them in the 2000 European Championship final). Germany took the championship for the first time with a 19-7 win in Hanau.

In the EuroBowl, La Courneuve Flash (the O's conquerors) went out at the semi-final stage to the defending champion Bergamo Lions. The Lions went on to retain their title with a 28-11 win in Vienna against the hometown Chrysler Vienna Vikings.


The Lions on offense in EuroBowl XV
Photo courtesy of Carmen Barocio (www.bergamolions.it)

In Ireland, there was a league season for the first time since 1999 with four sides entering the Irish Fall League. Irish American football returned to normal in 2001 after various legal actions were settled during the summer. A statement released read as follows

"In the Four Courts in Dublin today, 4 members of the Irish American Football League received an undisclosed cash settlement and full costs in settlement of their legal action against Jim Hutton t/a "Image Management & Promotion" ("Image Management & Promotion had been contracted to the American Football Association of Ireland prior to it ceasing operations). One of the IAFL members said "it will be great to be able to concentrate on football rather than having to deal with these off the field problems - integrity has now been restored to the sport."

A meeting was held in August in Dublin with the aim of getting a league back up and running in Ireland. Four teams were present at the meeting which were the Carrickfergus Knights, Dublin Dragons, Dublin Rebels and UL Vikings. The league got underway, with those four teams in September. At the end of the Fall League, the Dublin Rebels took the 2001 Shamrock Bowl with a 28-7 win against the Carrickfergus Knights. The Rebels took the lead on the opening kick-off with a 90 yard return by RB Brian Dennehy, and never looked back. They led 22-7 at half-time, and extended the lead to 28-7 late in the third quarter.

A new structure is being put in place and the new regular season will run from late February 2002 to May 2002 with the play-offs and Shamrock Bowl taking place in June.

The 2001 BSFL season was a tremendous success. After a disappointing 2000 when no league season was actually played due to the small amount of 'active teams', the decision was taken to go with a league at the AGM in January, in 2001 with games being played on a tournament basis during a summer season.

Advertising was stepped up and when the league started in March, there were nine teams entered in the competition.

New teams from Bournemouth, Canterbury, London, Orpington, Birmingham all joined the league that already contained the established clubs of UCLA, Leicester, Fen and Sheffield. The London Gators posted an early warning sign to the rest of the league that they meant business as they dismantled the Leicester Eagles 30-0 in their very first game in Bournemouth in March. The Bournemouth Raiders, playing their first games since 1992, lost their first flag game 16-6 to Leicester, and then posted 20 points on the London Gators, but conceded 48! Canterbury Coyotes played their first league games in April, and won their opening game 14-12 against another new team, Hurricanes. In dreadful conditions, the Coyotes succumbed 30-0 to the London Gators (who defeated Hurricanes 14-0).

Bournemouth jumped into the Southern Conference playoff race with a last minute 14-8 home win against Canterbury, but successive defeats to London (26-0) and crucially Canterbury 22-6 (on the last game of the southern conference season) cost them. Canterbury and London fought out a thrilling 14-14 tie to thwart London's attempts for a perfect season, but they still took the conference title, with Canterbury finishing a deserved second.

The first result in the Northern Conference to raise eye-brows was UCLA Renegades 14-12 home victory over the defending champion, Fen Harriers. Matt Dean's 66 yard bomb to Chris Henry proving the difference. Fen Harriers responded by winning the tournament hosted by the Birmingham Raiders.

They defeated the Raiders (who were playing again after 3 seasons out) 34-0 and then defeated the Leicester Eagles 30-15. Leicester then surprisingly defeated UCLA 26-0, but a 40-8 loss to the Harriers severely dented their playoff ambitions. Even more so when UCLA got the better of the Sheffield Lightning twice to finish with a 5-1 record, and take the conference championship. Leicester defeated Fen Harriers 8-0 on the final day of the season, but the Harriers 28-6 win over Sheffield clinched a semi-final spot in the playoffs at Leicester's expense.

The London Gators proved themselves the BSFL's best team in 2001, as they maintained their unbeaten record by clinching the BSFL trophy Sunday with two hard fought victories. QB Brett Barash was again their star throwing for 5 TD's and running for another himself on the day,  in the Gators 22-8 semi-final win over the defending champion Fen Harriers and then in the 22-14 win over Canterbury in the final. The Canterbury Coyotes (in their first season in the league) did themselves proud, as they made it a Southern Conference one-two, after walloping the Northern Conference champion team UCLA Renegades 34-0 in the other semi-final.


London Gators with the BSFL 2001 trophy
Photos: BritballNow

The West Coast Offence, from Glasgow, traveled to Belgrave RFC in Leicester to take part in a 4-team 5 on 5 senior flag tournament, and they returned north with the trophy after winning 5 of their 6 games. In a great day of football, the winner of the whole tournament (played on a league basis with each team playing 6 games) wasn't decided until the very last game of the day, with the Offence defeating the Leicester Eagles 7-6 in a winner-takes-all match. The North Devon Dogs (playing their first games of flag football) were very competitive and defeated Leicester early on in the tournament, and the Birmingham Raiders were similar competitive scoring over 50 points on the day.

13 sides entered the BYAFA Youth Kitted league in 2001 - a 100% increase in teams compared with 2000. The defending champion London O's competed in an 8-team Southern Conference, and the runners-up from last season (the Lancashire Wolverines) took part in a 5-team Northern Conference. The teams were whittled down to 4, who competed in the semi-finals. Handforth Hammerheads (from Manchester) defeated the Dundee Storm 8-6, and the Southern Sundevils (who had gone 100% throughout the regular season) edged out the London O's 20-18. The final proved to be one way traffic, as the Sundevils took the Hammerheads apart 62-0. Handforth 


Hammerheads on offense
Photo courtesy of Nigel Payne via BYAFA

At the tail end of 2001, the Bournemouth Raiders hosted a senior flag 5 on 5 tournament, which was won by the Southern Sundevils with a perfect 4-0 record. The Bournemouth Raiders finished second, and Brockenhurst Exiles third. Other participants included the Leicester Eagles, North Devon Dogs, Sussex Thunder and the Birmingham Raiders.


Southern Sundevils 2001 Beach Bowl champions
Photo courtesy of www.nfleurope.com

The England U-19's gained revenge for their loss to the Scots in 2000, with a 14-0 win in Leicester.

'The victorious England team'

The EFAF published their EuroBowl and newly created Europa Cup schedules, and there was no British or Irish representative amongst them. A surprise was announced, when GB were selected to host the European Junior Kitted Championships in 2002. Glasgow beat off the challenge of Berlin to host the prestigious event.

2002

Highlights of the year: 

Aces take College crown
GB host European Junior Championship - GB slump
O's win 7th straight national title
Youth kitted league expands
Lions three-peat in Eurobowl
 
The Surrey Stingers and the Bristol Bullets emerged with the only unbeaten records of a regular season in the BCAFL. When it came to playoff action, both sides were knocked out at the first hurdle. Defending champions, the Oxford Cavaliers, defeated Bristol 16-0, and the Hertfordshire Hurricanes accounted for Surrey 34-27 in a classic confrontation.  In the semi-finals, Oxford defeated Hertfordshire 14-9, and Loughborough took the UCH Sharks apart 38-13 to set up a repeat of the previous years College Bowl. This time though it was Loughborough who would take their revenge on their defeat to Oxford a year previously with an entertaining 39-22 victory.

In the BSL, two news sides entered the league. The Cambridgeshire Cats were formed by Chris Wallis and entered Div.2 South, and the East Midlands Saxons (which were the UCLA Renegades in the BSFL and BYAFA Youth Kitted Leagues previously) joined Div.2 North. After a number of years of being called the Strathclyde Sheriffs, they changed their name to the Glasgow Tigers.

In Division One South, both promoted clubs performed great guns. Ipswich Cardinals and the PA Knights both qualified for the playoffs. The London O’s went through the season unbeaten, and in the North, the East Kilbride Pirates did likewise to set up what looked likely to be repeat of their 2001 Bowl showdown. Come the playoffs, in the quarter-finals the O’s shutout the Gateshead Senators 31-0, the PA Knights struggled past the London Mets 17-16 and the Birmingham Bulls ground out a 14-3 win over the Ipswich Cardinals. After playing the East Kilbride Pirates earlier in the season in Glasgow and being on the receiving end of a hiding the Chester Romans declined to travel for a repeat match up and the Pirates received a bye into the semi-finals. 

In the semi-finals, a classic match up between the O’s and the Bulls was the on the cards, but a disappointing game ensued as the O’s coasted to a 42-0 victory against their depleted opponents. In the other semi-final, the Pirates (with home field advantage) were expected to clinch the other Bowl spot against the PA Knights. However, the team from Guildford shocked their Scottish hosts with a stunning 15-12 victory. In the final, the London O's won their 7th straight National title when they defeated the PA Knights 42-15 in the Div.1 Britbowl on Sunday. Trailing 15-14 at the half, the O's came out fired up in the second half and took control. 

In Division Two, the Cambridgeshire Cats performed superbly to make the playoffs where they were joined by Norwich, Glasgow, Plymouth, Nottingham, Sabres, Yorkshire and Staffordshire. In the North, the Yorkshire Rams and the Nottingham Caesars were nip and tuck all season, but it was the Rams who would take the conference title. In the quarter-finals, Norwich received a bye over the Glasgow Tigers and the Yorkshire Rams shutout the Staffordshire Surge 10-0. Nottingham Caesars defeated the Sabres 26-8, and the Plymouth Admirals qualified for the semi-finals with a 36-25 win over the Cambridgeshire Cats. 

Kent Exiles (white) in action against the Cambridgeshire Cats in BSL Div.2

In the semi-finals, the Yorkshire Rams met their old adversaries the Nottingham Caesars. The Yorkshire club came out on top again. Again it was close, 19-14. In the other semi, the Plymouth Admirals sunk to a 23-0 at the hands of the powerful Norwich Devils. 

In the Div.2 Bowl, the Norwich Devils won their first title since their win over the Ipswich Cardinals in the BNGL National Bowl in 1989, with a close 17-14 win over the Yorkshire Rams. Britbowl 2002 was a well supported event with 1,224 people attending. 

At the end of 2002, the BSL made their realignments for the 2003 season. After disappointing Division One seasons in 2002, the Redditch Arrows and the Bristol Aztecs were relegated to Division Two, and the Southern Sundevils took the decision to join them. Division Two champions, the Norwich Devils were promoted where they look forward to further encounters with their East Anglian rivals, the Ipswich Cardinals. The Yorkshire Rams were promoted back to Division One, after one year in Division Two. The decision was taken to realign Division Two into three conferences instead of two. The reason being the welcome increase of new sides. Eight new sides would take to the field in 2002 – Doncaster Mustangs, Dundee Hurricanes, Edinburgh Wolves, Maidstone Pumas, Manchester Titans, Nene Valley Hybrids, Sussex Thunder and the Tees Valley Cougars. 


Sussex Thunder returned in 2003 after friendlies in 2002

In Ireland, a new structure was put in place and the new regular season ran from late February 2002 to May 2002 with the Shamrock Bowl taking place in June. Four sides entered the league, the Dublin Rebels, Dublin Dragons, Carrickfergus Knights and the University of Limerick Vikings. At the end of an exciting season, the Carrickfergus Knights crushed the University of Limerick Vikings 66-0 at the University Bowl in Shamrock Bowl XVI. 46-0 up at the half-time interval, the Knights kept on piling on the points in the second half.  

Carrickfergus Knights - 2002 Shamrock Bowl winners

A further 4 teams - Belfast Bulls, Cork Admiral, Coleraine Chieftains and Dundalk Razorbacks joined the IAFL in 2002 with the intention of playing in 2003.  

After the IAFL regular season ended, the 2001 Shamrock Bowl Champions, the Dublin Rebels took part in the Charleroi Trophy in Belgium. They performed superbly  beating the Charleroi Cougars in the final This was the first time an Irish club side had won an International tournament abroad. Marcus Naylor of the Rebels won Offensive MVP for the tournament. In the final, the Rebels defeated the Cougars 22-0 thanks to two TD passes from QB John Durrad to Feargal O’Donnchu. Marcus Naylor had opened the scoring for the Rebels with a 21 yard interception return in the 1^st quarter. In the semi-finals, the Rebels had defeated the Forbach Taupes of France 26-8.

Later in the summer, the Irish Champions, the Carrickfergus Knights played against Team Canada at Trinity College Sports Grounds, Santry, Dublin. Team Canada are an under-21 squad consisting of some of the best young players in Canada. The Knights gave a good account of Irish American football by putting up a solid performance against their highly regarded opponents. McDowell threw a TD to McKillop, but the Canadians ran out 34-6 winners. Team Canada then travelled to England where they defeated the Chester Romans 48-0. 


The BSFL 5-on-5 league was played over the course of 2002, with results from all BSFL tournaments counting towards the final league table. Tournaments were played in London, Chichester and Southampton, and at the end of the year only half a game separated the Bournemouth Raiders on top and their old adversaries the Leicester Eagles.

At the tail end of 2002, Beach Bowl II took place. In bitterly cold weather conditions in 2001, the Beach Bowl should have been called the Ice Bowl. In 2002, undoubtedly, it should have been called the Mud Bowl! The photo below does not do the conditions justice as nine teams (an increase on last years numbers) entered the senior flag 5-on-5 tournament which is growing in stature. Held in Southampton (many thanks to Russ Hewitt for organising the pitches at late notice), teams travelled from Bournemouth, Derby, Leicester, Birmingham to join a number of other local sides in a fantastic tournament. With the 9 teams drawn into 3 groups of 3, each team was guaranteed two games before being placed into another group of 3 to decide finishing positions. Southern Sundevils entered two sides, and each one topped their qualifying group to take their places in the Championship where they were joined the Chichester Sharks. in a thrilling final at Cumbernauld's Broadwood Stadium. They defeated Germany 26-20, scoring on a trick play with 20 seconds remaining. 

The British Senior Flag League was a success again. One of their clubs (UCLA Renegades) had progressed to the BSL, but new clubs from Chichester and Brighton joined. The Invicta Coyotes, Fen Harriers and the Bournemouth Raiders (who had recruited heavily in the off season), each stated their intent for the championship with two crushing early season victories against the two new clubs. In week 3, Invicta defeated the Harriers 6-0 in a one-sided affair to take the running for the championship. Leicester entered the fray with back to back wins over the Harriers to stay unbeaten also in what was turning out to be a cracking season. In week 5, the Raiders really lit the blue touch paper with a tie with the Coyotes (who then went on to tie with the Harriers) and a win against the Fen Harriers 8-6. Leicester, however, were the force to be reckoned with and they confirmed this as they shut out Bournemouth (10-0) and Chichester (30-0) in week 6. The following week they travelled to Maidstone, where they tied 12-12 with the Coyotes to clinch number one seeding in the playoffs. The Coyotes finished as number 2 seeds, Bournemouth number 3, and the Harriers as number 4 seeds. In BSFL Finals day, the Eagles destroyed the Fen Harriers 32-6 in a one-sided semi-final, whereas the Bournemouth Raiders defeated the Invicta Eagles with a trick play in over-time to win 6-0 and qualify for their first national final. In the final, the Eagles had too much as they cruised to a 45-21 victory. 


Leicester Eagles - 2002 BSFL Champions

It was the Southern Sundevils B side that emerged triumphant. Led by QB Ted Baynham, they shutout Sundevils A (18-0) and then Chichester Sharks (27-0) to take the title for the second year in succession. Kevin Shergold led the team in scoring with 31 points, followed by his brother Steve with 21.

Southern Sundevils B with the trophy
From left to right: Kevin Shergold, Stephen Shergold, Rajinder Johal, Ted Baynham, Matt Coppinger, Surjinder Johal 

BYAFA’s 2002 flag regular season came to its conclusion in the summer with three memorable finals and two impressive playoff games. Overall the skill, dedication and competitive nature of the day meant it was probably the best Finals Day ever. At Cadet level, Don Valley Vipers earned a final spot with an overtime victory over the Birmingham Bulls, and in the finals they saw off the challenge of Leicester with a 18-8 win. In the Junior age bracket, the Leicester club gained their revenge with a 28-25 win over the Vipers. In the Youth category, the Leicester Eagles defeated Birmingham Bulls 40-34 in a thrilling final.  

At the end of the season, the GB Lions Cadet team finished runners-up in the EFAF Euroflag Championship, whilst the Juniors came fifth in their age group. 

In the BYAFA Youth Kitted league, there were a number of new teams. For the first time, BYAFA split the league in two to have a Scottish championship and an English championship. In the Scottish league there were 6 sides competing for the title – Inverclyde Sharks, Clyde Valley Hawks, Paisley Panthers, Moray Firth Dolphins, Glasgow Tigers and the North Lanarkshire Rams. At the end of a highly competitive season, Clyde Valley took the title with a 23-20 win over the North Lanarkshire Rams.  

In England, the Southern Sundevils carried off from where they left off in 2001. In the previous season they finished the year with a 100% record. This continued in 2002 as they again won every game on their way to a second straight final where they would face the Lancashire Wolverine Colts (the most successful Youth Kitted side ever). With the scores tied at 12-12 in the 4^th quarter, the Sundevils QB Ted Baynham faked a hand off and then sprinted in to score virtually untouched on a keeper from 15 yards out to seal the Sundevils second consecutive championship. 

In 2001, the honour to host the 2002 European Junior Championship was given to the United Kingdom. The first EFAF tournament to be held in the Isles since Eurobowl II in 1988! The tournament was played in Scotland, and they proved superb hosts. Great Britain were drawn to play in a group composed of France, and the reigning champion German team in the group stage of the European Junior Championship. Alas, home field advantage did not help GB into the final stages as they lost a tight opening match 21-14 to France (in front of approx 600 fans) and then 34-6 to Germany. In the 5^th/6^th place playoff, the Lions lost a tight game 29-26 to the Czech Republic. Russia won the European Junior Championship

In December, the Scotland U-19's Youth Kitted side gained revenge for their loss to England in 2001, with a 30-20 win in Stirling in December. England led 7-6 at half-time, but Scotland’s Martin Wallace turned the game round with a 85 kick off return, and Squire’s link up with Wilson killed off any chances of an English win with a 4-yard TD pass near the end. 

Alas, 2002 was to be a year where there would be no British representative in European Competition, after the London O’s declined to enter the EuroBowl. The Bergamo Lions won their third Eurobowl in a row with a 27-20 victory over the Braunschweig Lions in EuroBowl XV. The German side took the lead early on, but Bergamo returned the resulting kickoff over 90 yards to tie the game at 7-7. Bergamo led by 2 TD’s going into the 4^th quarter but Braunschweig came back with a TD Pass from Kelvin Love and had the chance to tie the game. Bergamo deflected the last pass going to the endzone on a fourth down with only seconds to play.

The Graz Giants claimed the EFAF Cup, with a convincing 51-20 win over the Badalona Drags. However, there was to be British representation in 2003 European competition, with the PA Knights in the EFAF Cup where they will face the Tyrolean Raiders, Graz Giants and Zurich Renegades.

At the end of 2002, the BSL made a stunning announcement that eight new sides would take to the field in 2003 - Doncaster Mustangs, Dundee Hurricanes, Edinburgh Wolves, Maidstone Pumas, Manchester Titans, Nene Valley Hybrids, Sussex Thunder and the Tees Valley Cougars. Football in the UK was taking off again..