The year opened with the sad loss of two Britball coaches. George Aguado, the former coach of the Manchester Spartans, Wirral Wolves and Prestatyn Panthers contributed so much to the Britball game in the 1980's and early 90's and he gave so much passion to the game we all love. Coach John Gurga started in Britball with the Lincoln Bombers in 1986, and went onto to coach Scunthorpe Steelers, Lincoln Saints, Leeds Cougars, Leicester Panthers and Nottingham Hoods. In 1998 he took the Position of Head Coach at Sheffield, leading the Saxons to the Quarter finals. That year he was awarded Allstars Coach of the Year. John's final port of call was in 2004 with the Doncaster Mustangs leading the team to the BSL Division 2 Bowl.

The BSL expanded again. Despite the Sabres pulling out, the Manchester Titans rejoined the league for competition after a year’s absence and new sides in Scotland (West Coast Trojans), Colchester and Andover all joined. 2005 saw 35 senior kitted sides take part – the most since 1997.

The British Senior League (BSL) took the decision to re-brand under the new name, the British American Football League (BAFL). The re-brand came at an exciting time for the sport in Great Britain with Sky Sports including a round-up of results and conference standings from the British American Football League in a new weekly two-hour programme dedicated solely to American Football.

The BAFL had 6 players selected to play in NFL Europe for the 2005 season. Daniel Watts and Neil Baxter joined the Berlin Thunder. Jeff Brown and Marvin Allen were selected to join the Frankfurt Galaxy with Aden Durde and Scott McCready joining the Hamburg Sea Devils.

Over 20 years previously the Streatham Olympians were born. The name changed to the London Olympians after a move to Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, but in the mid 1990’s due to legal complications, it was decided that the name would be changed to London O’s. In 2005, the O’s moved back to Crystal Palace, and changed their name to the London Olympians (2005). On the reasons for the change of name Head Coach and team owner, Coach Ayub explained, "The Return to the London Olympian name, has been something that has been discussed for a number of years, we felt for 2005 the time was right, we are back at Crystal Palace, London is bidding for the 2012 Olympic Games, and it was a great way for us to signify the start of a new era of football for the club, a time where the club is moving not one, but a number of steps forward, on and off the field."

Moving onto the BAFL 2005 season, the reigining champion PA Knights opened their season with intent with a 47-7 away clubbing of the Bristol Aztecs, and the East Kilbride Pirates lost their opener 25-14 away to the Gateshead Senators. The Pirates were suffering the loss of several players to the newly formed West Coast Trojans and lost 13-0 in their second fixture against Birmingham the following week. As early season turned into mid-season, the front runners became clear. Bulls kept up their impressive start to the season with a 38-25 away win over Gateshead. The Southern Sundevils caused a huge upset in May with an impressive win over the Olympians, and the Olympians then blew the Southern conference wide open with an impressive 27-6 win over PA Knights. The Bulls 41-14 away win over Pirates cemented their place in the playoffs, and the Knights took the divisional title with a 22-21 win over Olympians at home. Gateshead’s 36-0 away win over a depleted Pirates side, and the Olympians 62-0 win over Ipswich sent the Sundevils on a journey to Gateshead to face the Senators in the wild card game where they won 6-3. The Sundevils almost made it to the Bowl Game but for a last gasp PA Knights win 15-14. The Olympians blasted away the Bulls in the semi-final first half and had to hold off a furious second half rally to win 27-22.

In Division One A, Bristol took the Bowl despite only scrapping into the playoffs. They thrashed Nottingham 34-0 in the wild card game, with Chiltern surprising the Staffordshire Surge 18-12 away from home in the other wild card. Into the semi-finals, and the Cheetahs were the surprises again with a 9-6 away win at London Blitz. The Aztecs marched on with a 41-16 thrashing of Doncaster away from home.

In Division Two, Colchester Gladiators lost a thriller 21-20 in a local derby with Essex, and newboys Andover lost their opener 22-0 against the Plymouth Admirals. The other newboys, the Trojans, bucked the trend with a 12-6 away win at Dundee. Coventry then sent an early marker of their intentions for 2005, with a stunning 57-0 win at East Midland in week 2. The Coventry Jets proved unstoppable setting numerous records along the way. The wins kept coming for them as they went through shut out win over shut win, averaging over 60 points a game. Only a Norwich TD in the last regular game of the season prevented them going the whole season without conceding any points. West Coast (in their first season) wrapped up the Scottish title early on eventually finishing 9-1 after a strong showing from QB McNey with almost 2000 yards passing. The Jets went 10-0 in the Central Division scoring over 600 points and only Norwich scoring a TD in the last regular season game preventing a complete white wash of all opponents. The Kent Exiles went 10-0 also, conceding just 23 points and had high hopes for the playoffs, and the Oxford Saints (9-1) and South Wales Warriors (8-2) went to the final game of the season with the Saints winning 18-12 and taking the title.  In the playoffs, three teams recorded shutouts. West Coast thrashed Manchester 56-0, Coventry 35-0 vs Dundee and Oxford shut out Essex 20-0. Kent Exiles had a decent 30-16 against the South Wales Warriors. After what seems like a season of hype, Coventry took on West Coast in the first semi-final in front of a 4 figure crowd and proceeded to destroy the Trojans 55-6. Kent were equally impressive with a 35-6 win over Oxford in the other semi-final.

Onto Britball 2005 at Sheffield’s Don Valley Stadium, played under floodlights on Saturday evening, the Aztecs battled to put up a 7-0 score-line through MVP Adam Sparrow off a twenty-one yard interception return. The game then developed into a spectacle worthy of the caveat ‘Defense wins titles’ as the Aztecs soaked up drive after drive from the Cheetahs to clinch the championship!

On the Sunday, the Division Two final turned into a real battle between Kent Exiles and the Coventry Jets. Early in the second, Mark Cohen put down the first score for Coventry. The Exiles were quick to reply and put the Jets behind for the first time this season with two touchdowns from Sean Starwind and one from Glen Boyle (two PAT’s by Matthew Tompsett) to lead 20-6 at the half. The Jets came back in the third quarter with two touchdowns from MVP Tony Perkins and another from Mark Cohen who then added a further TD early in the fourth quarter to take the Jets back into the lead at 20-24 – a lead they were to hold until 2.03 on the clock when Alex Campbell received a twenty-seven yard pass from Matt Duncan to turn the game back to the Exiles. But the joy was short-lived as Tony Perkins returned the kick-off for eighty yards to clinch victory for the Jets.

In the show piece event, the Knights stamped their authority over the Olympians with a touchdown from Paul Attia (PAT by Steven Belcher) in the first quarter followed by field goal, touchdown and PAT from Steven Belcher in the second quarter. However, a resurgent Olympians never gave up the fight and in the third quarter they mounted a monumental comeback with a touchdown from Andrew Boyle in the third quarter and two touchdowns from MVP, Jermaine Allen – the final one coming with only 43 seconds on the clock (both PAT’s were converted by Andrew Boyle).


Riq Ayub (far right) picks up the Britbowl trophy for the Olympians

Other notable Britball facts and figures for 2005:

• Essex Spartans and Norwich Devils took part in 5th highest scoring tie (32-32) in Britball history
  
• Coventry Jets became only the 4^th side to score more than 600 regular season points (the record being the 676 Bristol scored in 1987)
  
• Coventry condeded just 7 pts in the regular season – the 3^rd lowest
  
• Kent Exiles conceded just 23 pts in the regular season – ranking them 7^th on the alltime list
  
• Tim Spaull passed for 7 TDs vs Merseyside on the 7^th August
  
• Marc Cohen caught 1246 yards on the season placing him 8^th on the alltime list for receiving yards in 1 season
  
• Marc Cohen broke the UK record for most receiving TDs in a season with 33
  
• Owen Roberts ran for 312 yards and 8 TDs vs Plymouth on 7^th August. His 8 TDs places him 3^rd on the alltime list of rushing TDs in one game
  

In European club football, the PA Knights (in front of 570 fans at Aldershot Football Club) defeated the Templiers Knights of France 20-6 in the 1^st leg of the 1^st round of the EFAF Cup. The first time a British side had defeated a French club in competition. A month later in the return leg QB Perez Mattison roasted the Knights secondary for 332 yards and 3TDs, as the Knights tumbled out of the competition after a 32-6 defeat. 


PA Knights vs Elancourt

The Marburg Mercaneries won the EFAF Cup with a 49-14 over the Knights conquerors in the final. Eurobowl XIX was won by the Vienna Vikings with a 29-6 win over the Bergamo Lions.

Kent Exiles also travelled in Europe for the first time for an end of season tour of Austria. Their sole game being against the hometown St Polten Invaders, which resulted in a 42-14 defeat.

In November, preparations for the 2006 NFL Europe League season started when the potential European-based national players for the upcoming season got together for the first national player camp since World Bowl in June. The BAFL players selected to attend were:

Emanuel Akah (OL) London Olympians
Jermaine Allen (RB) London Olympians
Marvin Allen (WR) London Olympians/Frankfurt Galaxy
Andrew Boyle (K/P) London Olympians
Jeff Brown (DB) Birmingham Bulls/Rhein Fire
Steve Clements (LB) London Olympians
Tom Jenkins (RB) Southern Sundevils
Lorn Mayers (DL) London Blitz/Berlin Thunder/Oakland Raiders
Onoh Ozongwu (DB) London Olympians/Rhein Fire
Shaun Smith (LB) Southern Sundevils
Daniel Watts (DL) London Olympians/Berlin Thunder

Two new sides met the joining criteria for the 2006 BAFL league by the December deadline – East Kent Mavericks and the Reading Renegades. Thirty seven sides will battle it out for Britbowl XX in 2006.

 GB Bulldogs

GB Bulldogs held trials at the end of the BCAFL season, and competed in what was meant to be a three team tournament with Team USA Gladiators and Team Canada. The Bulldogs took on the powerful Team USA Gladiators and fell to a 20-63 defeat, but bounced back to win 23-12 against a strong Team Canada.




Bulldogs QB Ted Baynham's underhand pass for a TD vs Team Canada

Senior Flag

The English Senior Flag League expanded again in 2005, with more games taking place on their 5man circuit than in any previous year with 8 tournaments. Team England competed in the World Cup in Miami and also took on Scotland in 5man internationals, and the Leicester Eagles competed in both Amsterdam and Dublin in friendlies.

Leicester Eagles flew to Amsterdam to take on the Amstelland Panthers, the Utrecht Dominators and the Amersfoort Untouchables (Netherlands) and, from Düsseldorf, Germany, the Rhein Weasels in February.The Eagles represented the ESFL superbly as they cruised through their group with wins against Amstelland Panthers (19-6), Amersfoort Untouchables (27-0), Utrecht Dominators (27-0) and the Rhein Weasals (13-12). The Final saw the Eagles facing hosts Amstelland who had improved as the tournament went on. A Broughton interception got the Eagles off to a promising start and Pimperton hooked up with him to put the Eagles 6 – 0 ahead. Manger’s extra point catch made it 7 – 0. As the game wore on the Eagles increased their lead to 14 – 00 with an O’Sullivan TD and extra point. Trying to defend their lead the Eagles gave up a quick score to the Panthers and held on to win 14 – 6 as their defense held firm against Dutch pressure.

75 teams took part in the 6th World Cup of Flag Football in Miami. Teams from Cayman Island, St Croix and England stepped up and competed fiercely against the big three (Canada, USA and Mexico). Team USA ,considered the strongest unit with home soil advantage, were given a run for their money by both England and the Cayman Island while in the other group Canada scrapped through with a winning record beating Mexico and the under dogs St Croix. England lost their first two games after playing extremely well against USA and the Cayman Isles, but they did bounce back to win friendly encounters against Honduras (12-0) and the Cayman Isles (12-6).

On the 5man circuit, Leicester Eagles claimed their first 5man title with a stunning record of 19 wins from 22 games. Chichester Sharks took the runners-up spot with an impressive record of 26 wins from 34 games, and the Barbarians finished third. Kirkcaldy Bulls came down from Scotland for the league’s flagship event, Beach Bowl V, and promptly carried the trophy away after defeating allcomers.

Changes to the way the title will be decided in 2006, mean the top four ranking sides will playoff for the English championship at the end of 2006 season.

Leicester Eagles won the only two 9man matches played in 2005 against their perennial rivals the Fen Harriers and thus claimed the 9man title for a 4^th straight season.

In Scotland, the Kirkcaldy Bulls finished their 2005 season with the astounding achievement of the "threepeat"; picking up the title of Senior Scottish Flag Football Champions 2005 and thus retaining the title they had won in 2003 and 2004! The National Programme in Scotland also announced in March that Glasgow Tigers Coach Mark Fletcher was appointed Head Coach of the Scotland Senior Flag Squad. National Director for Flag, Stuart McKay said, "I believe Mark is by far the best coach for the job and will carry on the approach of fair, competitive and passionate football.", he continued, "I would ask that Mark be given time to organise the squad considering the lack of movement on this front in the last few months."

Scotland took on England in a senior flag international at Stirling University. Scotland got the win by a 33-21 margin, with Carlos Yanes-Roca scoring 3 TDs and Scott Couper and Jim Burns also featuring for the Scots.

The cream of Scotland and England came together in Helsinki in the Autumn under the GB Lions banner and lifted the Bronze medal in the European Championships. After coming so close to upsetting the powerful Germans in the opening game (27-32), the Lions turned over Sweden 20-18 and then Dayle Kirby’s PAT gave them a 27-26 win over Italy. In the semi-finals, a well drilled French side defeated GB 27-12, but a 21-20 win over Austria gave them the bronze medal.

 
The Bronze medalists from L-R are:

Back row - Defensive co-ordinator Mark Bramwell, WR Peter Steel,  WR/FS Dayle Kirby, C/SS Tim Smith, QB Nick Watson, LB Justin Handley, C Paul Jeffries, WR Andy Leane
Front row - Headcoach Stuart McKay, CB Simon Hood, CB/SS Peter Riazi, WR/CB Gurkinder Mann, WR David Mooney, Manager Stevie Maxwell

BYAFA

The Coventry Jets American Football Youth Academy celebrated its first ever trophy with a breath taking smash & grab raid on the NFL’s ‘International Peewee Bowl’ in Amsterdam, Holland. After a 13-hour coach ride, travelling throughout Friday night, the three Coventry U12 teams from Bishop Ullathorne, Woodlands and Whitley competed, and it was Bishop Ullathorne who would fly the Coventry flag, sweeping all before them to go 4-0 and earn a place in the final with the pre-tournament favourites the Amsterdam Crusaders. The final was a tense, cliff-hanger of a game, as the Jets opened up a 6-0 lead when QB Everett combined with Luke and Tom Yardley for the first TD. Back came Amsterdam behind their excellent QB and tied the game on a 30-yard bomb. The final then swung between both teams, with Coventry playing superb zone defense. The Jets began to mount a drive that took them deep into Crusader territory and the Yardley twins combined for the go-ahead score. Behind 12-6 Amsterdam could not breach the Jets defense, who held firm when their backs were to the wall. At the final whistle parents, players, coaches and officials of the Jets all celebrated a huge win. Coach Etheridge said: "What a journey. Despite many gruelling hours on the coach our boys were magnificent. 5 straight wins is quite an achievement".

At the annual Euro Flag tournament played in Spain, Great Britain Under 135’s finished 3^rd with a 2-2 record. The Under-15’s came third in their group with a 1-2 record, and then defeated Spain 47-31 to finish 5^th.

Ten sides competed for the BYAFA Youth Kitted title in 2005, and it was Glasgow Tigers who would emerge as the Northern champions to take on the Southern Champions, the London Olympians. In BYAFA Bowl XVII, the Olympians took the championship with a 38-14 win. The Tigers took an early lead on a 48 yard pass from Kris Kennedy to Derek Russell, but the Olympians hit back with QB Jerome Allen hitting Williams Bryce over the middle from 30 yards. Star RB Gayle added three scores for the Londoners in the second half to ice the win.

In the Junior Kitted season, 16 sides competed with the final being contested between the Clyde Valley Falcons and Milton Keynes Pathfinders. The long awaited match up between the two separate conference powerhouses resulted in a well-earned 36-6 victory for the high flying Falcons.

In the BYAFA flag season, Coventry Jets won the Cadet championship with a 20-12 win over the Chorley Buccaneers. The Heeley Tomahawks won the Junior Championship with a 26-24 over the South Wales Rebellion. The Rebellion totally dominated the Youth championship with their "A" side defeating their "B" side in the final 47-19.

Scotland Youth Flag

The Scotland Development Squad came together to take on their English counterparts at all three age levels. At Youth level, the SDS have an established program running youth teams for three years and this experience showed during the game. Whilst the English players showed individual skill this was their first time playing together. The Scots capitalised on this and through crisp and organised execution of their game plan quickly moved into a lead which they maintained throughout the game finally running out winners 45-12. The English squad were looking for revenge in the second game against the B squad and certainly ran them close, but the depth of the Scots squad was too much them and the Scots won again 32-28.

Both nations have long established programs at Junior level and this always promised to be an exceptional game. The English took the upper hand early on by stopping the Scots’ opening drive and then scoring on their opening drive. The Scots’ next drive was then brought to a dramatic stop when the ball was intercepted by England who went on to score again and open up a 14 lead. The remainder of the game swung back and forward between the teams but the Scots could never regain the ground that they had lost so early on and Team England ran out winners 45-32. Scotland B tried to revenge their A team counterparts and held England very close but the English were too strong for them and again ran out winners 33-25.

There is a tremendous rivalry between the two nations at Cadet level with the 2 GB Cadet coaches being split on either sideline. The Scots offence was productive from the outset and quickly established their ability to score on every drive. England on the other hand struggled offensively due to constant blitzing from the Scots which never let them settle and by half time the Scots had established a 3TD lead in the game. England were not for giving up though and a change in offensive tactic saw them start to exploit the Scots heavy blitzing by passing over the blitzer to their Wide receivers on post routes. The Scots defence adjusted to counter this and the tone was set for the remainder of the game. England offence found it difficult to penetrate the defence whilst the Scottish running game gave them an edge which they never lost. Scotland ran out winners with a score of 26 - 54.The Scotland B team were determined to emulate their A team colleagues and through solid play established a 2 point lead 12-14 at the half. The English Cadets were not finished though and they went on to show tremendous spirit and fought back and with the only score of the second half clinched the game 19-14.

 12 Cadet, Junior and Youth squads playing for 5 clubs from around Scotland treated supporters and spectators to spectacular displays of flag footballing skills in their endeavours to achieve the title "SFFA Scottish Champions 2005" and pick up the coveted "Wallace Shields". At Cadet level the semi-finals would see clashes between Glasgow "Siberian" Tigers and Inverness Rockets followed by Grangemouth Broncos versus Glasgow "Bengal" Tigers. With scores of Siberians 65 –0 Rockets and Broncos 67- 12 Bengals, the scene was, once again, set for a final between the Broncos and the Siberians and a 3^rd and 4^th place play-off with Rockets versus Bengals. Glasgow "Bengal" Tigers took 3^rd place with a 38 – 30 win against the Inverness Rockets. In a thrilling final match up between the two teams who had met the previous year, the Glasgow "Siberian" Tigers came out the eventual winners; beating the Grangemouth Broncos by 48 – 37 to be crowned the "Cadet Scottish Flag Football Champions" for a second year.

Junior semi-finals gave us match-ups between Clyde Valley Predators and Grangemouth Broncos followed by Inverness Rockets versus Glasgow Tigers. Scores of Predators 46 - 12 Broncos and Rockets 37 – 12 Tigers meant Predators would face Rockets in the final with Broncos and Tigers fighting it out for 3^rd and 4^th place. The 3^rd and 4^th place play-off turned out to be one of the closest matches of the day. After 40 minutes of play the Tigers had forced the game into overtime with a superb drive in the dying seconds. The Tigers’ defence dominated the overtime period after their offence scored thwarting any danger of the Broncos scoring. With a final score of Tigers 32-26 Broncos, Glasgow Tigers took 3rd place. Clyde Valley Predators were to fight it out against Inverness Rockets in another superb final match-up. At SFFA Finals Day 2004 the two teams had met at the semi-final stage with the Predators coming out on top on that occasion and going on to become the 2004 Scottish Champions. So the Rockets were out for revenge whilst the Predators were aiming to retain their title. This time round though the Clyde Valley squad were unable to maintain their winning form and the Rockets took the match with a score of 43 – 37. Inverness Rockets were, therefore, crowned "Junior Scottish Flag Football Champions 2005"

At Youth level, match-ups between Grangemouth Broncos and Glasgow Hornets followed by Clyde Valley Predators versus Inverness Rockets would give us the highest scoring, most competitive and most closely run semi-finals of the day. In a "to and fro", "nip and tuck" game against the Hornets, the Broncos would go up by one point in the final seconds: score Broncos 45 – 44 Hornets whilst Rockets would outscore Predators 51 – 37 to set up the final of Broncos v Rockets and a 3^rd and 4^th play-off between Predators and Hornets. This play-off became a good-natured romp with both teams out to enjoy their experience at SFFA Finals Day where the result was almost incidental but, for the record, ended in a Predators 31 - 14 Hornets score giving Clyde Valley Predators the 3^rd place position. The final saw another gripping encounter between Broncos and Rockets. Where in the end the Grangemouth Broncos outstripped the Inverness Rockets with a score of Broncos 39 – 15 Rockets to become the "Youth Scottish Flag Football Champions 2005"

Ireland

Six sides competed for the IAFL title in 2005, with the Belfast Bulls leading the way at the end of the regular season with 14 points from their 8 games. Dublin Rebels finished joint second with the Carrickfergus Knights and were joined in the end of season playoffs by the Cork Admirals who finished fourth. In the playoffs, Belfast made home field advantage count against Cork with a thumping 31-0 win, and Dublin Rebels edged the Carrickfergus Knights 26-20 in the other semi-final.

In Shamrock Bowl XIX, the Dublin Rebels won the title by a score of 26-19 in a very exciting game played at the Grafton Arena in Belfast. The result of the game was not decided until the final play of the game when the Bulls were stopped on the Rebels 5 yard line. The game is one of the most memorable in Irish American football history and is the second consecutive Shamrock Bowl to be decided by a score inside the final two minutes. Both teams had periods of dominance in the game – the Rebels in the first quarter and early second quarter and the Bulls from late in the second quarter and the third quarter. Both teams seemed evenly matched in the final quarter.

The Adrian College Bulldogs from Michigan USA won the second annual Celtic Classic game against a spirited Ireland team at Greystones RFC. The Ireland team was chosen from the 6 amateur teams which make up the Irish American Football League. Running back T.J. Williams was the star of the Adrian College side scoring three rushing touchdowns including the Bulldogs opening two scores in the first quarter of the game which came on the Bulldogs first two possessions. . It is hoped that the Global Football organisation, who ran the game in partnership with the IAFL, will bring more teams to Ireland in future years.

The Irish American Football Association decided to enter a team into Group C of the European Championships. The decision was made during the recent AGM/EGM meetings in Dublin. Group C comprises of Ireland, Netherlands, Austria, Norway, Switzerland, Belgium, Ukraine, Moldova, Luxembourg and Estonia. The Group C tournament is due to take place in 2007 at a venue yet to be determined. This will be the first time that an Irish National Team has entered an official EFAF tournament for National Teams.