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Review of 2008
Coventry Jets take their first national title
Olympians pull out
Rookies win Division Two promotion
GB Lions defeat France
Domestic football
The British American Football League expanded
again with five new teams joining in 2008 – the Tamworth Phoenix,
Leicester Falcons, Bedfordshire Blue Raiders, Milton Keynes City
Pathfinders, London Cobras. Two of these rookie teams would cover
themselves in glory in 2008.
The 46 clubs registered for the 2008 season being the most senior clubs
since the 1996 season. Four teams changed their names with the East
Midland Saxons becoming the Peterborough Saxons, the Chiltern Cheetahs
becoming the Watford Cheetahs, the Andover Thrashers turning into the
Hampshire Thrashers and the Doncaster Mustangs becoming the South
Yorkshire Mustangs.
BAFL continued their leagues with 3 divisions. The 8 team elite
National Premier Division which was introduced in 2007 remained with
the Southern Sundevils being replaced by last season’s Division
1A champions, the Farnham Knights. The league received a blow in March
as the London Olympians announced that due to internal issues they may
not be in a position to compete. This was confirmed in April when they
formally withdrew for the 2008 season, but kept in training with the
aim of returning in 2009.
The loss of the Olympians meant that the league had to consider the
Premier Division make up for 2008 at very late notice. First of all the
league confirmed that moving a team up from BAFL 1 was not a viable
option at this stage as it would directly effect the schedules of no
less than 23 different teams across all three tiers.
After considering the potential options the clubs agreed that each of
the northern teams would drop one game from the schedule so that each
team will now play an eight game regular season. This was considered to
be the least intrusive option. East Kilbride's trip to Coventry on 4
May and Birmingham's trip to Gateshead on 8 June were withdrawn from
the schedule.
Onto the season itself and the Coventry Jets bounced back from the
disappointment of losing the 2007 Britbowl by posting a perfect 8-0
regular season record and conceding just 64 points along the way. Their
true intentions were shown in May with a thumping 41-15 win over last
years champions, the London Blitz. Their route to the perfect season
also included 2 thrashings of their Midland rivals, the Birmingham
Bulls, by 67-0 and 54-0 scorelines. Last years champs, the London Blitz
came second with their only other defeat being against the Farnham
Knights. The Knights, promoted from Division 1A, finished third with a
5-3 record and Bristol qualified for the semi-finals in 4th place.
In the playoffs, the Blitz won 28-15 against the Farnham Knights and
the Jets won a real ding-dong of a game against the Bristol Aztecs
31-28.
Onto Britball XXII which featured one of the best British American
Football finals of all-time. The Blitz led 25-14 at half-time, and
still led 32-27 going into the final quarter. With just 4 ticks left in
the game the Jets rookie kicker Fraser Houston kicked a 40 yard field
goal to win BritBowl XXII for the Jets.
In BAFL1, the changes from 2007 were Dundee Hurricanes swapping places
with the Chester Romans. Norwich were promoted from Division 2 with
Colchester going the other way. Southern Sundevils dropped in to
replace Farnham Knights. The standard of football in 2008 was highly
competitive with very few games resulting in blow-outs. In the Northern
Conference a three way battle emerged between the Redditch Arrows,
Yorkshire Rams and Dundee Hurricanes for the title. Yorkshire defeated
Redditch earlier in the season 13-7 at home, but crucial victories by
the Arrows in July over both the Hurricanes (26-14 away) and the Rams
(14-3 at home) enabled them to edge the division with a 7-2-1 record.
In the Southern Conference, a four way battle emerged between Sussex
Thunder, Southern Sundevils, the Oxford Saints and the Kent Exiles. The
Saints (4-5-1) chances were blown with two late season defeats to the
Sundevils (6-28) and the Ipswich Cardinals (20-21), and the Exiles
(6-4-0) lost two of their last three matches to condemn their chances
– both 12-16 defeats to Ipswich and Sussex Thunder. The division
was decided on the penultimate weekend of the season when the Thunder
triumphed 20-7 at home against the Sundevils. Both teams advanced to
the semi-finals.
In the semi-finals home teams prevailed as the Redditch Arrows won
30-22 against the Southern Sundevils and the Thunder defeated Yorkshire
23-16. In a thrilling final, the Thunder won promotion with a 20-18
victory.
In the BAFL2, the number of competing teams increased from 22 to 27 and
a new Eastern Conference was created with rookie teams Bedfordshire
Blue Raiders and Milton Keynes Pathfinders being joined by Watford,
Cambridge and Peterborough.
The year also saw BAFL 2 South expand to three conferences (South East,
South West and East) to accommodate the growth of new teams entering
the sport.
The London Cobras dominated the regular season with the perfect regular
season record scoring 382 points in the process and coneding just 9.
The Nottingham Caesars also went undeated in the Central Conference
with just a 12-12 tie with Tamworth blotting their copybook. South
Wales Warriors (9-1) won the South West, with Merseyside Nighthawks
(8-2) and the Cambridgeshire Cats (9-1) sowing up the North and East
Conferences respectively.
In the playoffs, the Cobras rolled over the Cornish Sharks 42-3, and
Tamworth caused a major surprise winning 12-0 away to the Nighthawks.
The Phoenix proved that was no fluke by winning away at Nottingham in
the semi-finals 16-10 to reach the Div.2 final in their rookie season.
The Cobras stood in their way and asserted their dominance with a 30-6
victory. Both teams would be promoted at year end.
Ireland
In Ireland, the Dublin Dragons dropped out and were replaced with the
Rhinos in the Central Division. The Belfast Trojans improved on their
2007 performance and took the Northern Division. The Dublin Rebels and
the UL Vikings retained their Conference titles to make the playoffs.
Cork Admirals won the wild-card match with DCU Saints 34-2, and
progressed to the semi-finals where they fell 19-12 to the Dublin
Rebels. In the other semi-final, the UL Vikings were convincing 42-8
winners over the Belfast Trojans.
The IAFL announced that Shamrock Bowl XXII would be hosted in the city
of Cork for the first time at the newly constructed CIT Stadium
In that final, the UL Vikings won the Shamrock Bowl with a 14-12 win
over the Rebels.
Cork Admirals won the inaugural DV-8s title with a 30-0 win over Dublin
Rebels. The Celtic Classic V was played on the 28th June, and resulted
in the traveling Midwestern Allstars winning 72-8 against the Dublin
Rebels.
Europe
The Coventry Jets became Great Britain’s first representatives in
Europe’s premier club competiton, Eurobowl, since 2001. In the
group stages of the competition, the Jets were drawn at home to the
Valencia Firebats whom they defeated 36-16 and then won 21-13 away to
Oslo Vikings to secure their progress to the quarter-finals of the
competition. There they faced the might of the Tyrolean Raiders where
they put up a solid display in Austria before succumbing 49-20.
The Raiders went on to win the Eurobowl for the first time with a 28-24
win over the Vienna Vikings in an all-Austrian final. This was the 5th
year in a row that an Austrian club side won Eurobowl. The Berlin Adler
broke the Austrian dominance in the EFAF Cup with a 29-0 victory in the
final against the Parma Panthers.
Youth
Off the pitch, and before the start of the season, BYAFA formally
resigned as a member organisation from the BAFA, and effectively handed
over the 'day-to-day' management of youth football business to the BAFL.
BAFL Chairman, Gary Marshall, commented, "The BYAFA has been a valuable
member association of the BAFA for many years and have done an
outstanding job delivering the sport of American Football for young
persons in Great Britain". Gary concluded, "We would like to thank all
those involved, past and present, for all their hard work over the
years".
BAFL Bowl XX was won by the London Warriors for a third straight year
with a 48-28 win over the Gateshead Senators. Clyde Valley Hawks won
the BAFL Junior Kitted title with a 37-33 win over Glasgow Tigers.
Flag
In BAFL flag action, the BAFL Cadet flag champions were the Coventry
Bears, the Junior Champions were the Woodham Warriors A who defeated
the Glasgow Hornets 13-12 and the Youth Flag champions were also the
Woodham Warriors A who defeated the South Wales Sharks 46-19.
BAFA had previously announced in late 2007 that BAFL Flag were the
appointed representative body to deliver the non contact version of the
sport for adults with both the ESFL and SFFA. The inaugural season
kicked off in 2008 with an 8 team English Conference and a 10 team
Scottish Conference. Leicester Eagles won the English Conference with a
12-2 record (tied with the Coventry Jets) and Kirkcaldy Bulls roared to
a 16-0 perfect regular season. Carluke Cobras upset the Eagles in the
semi-finals and met Kirkcaldy in the first BAFL National Championship
game with the Bulls recording a 48-13 win.
College
The British Universities American Football League (BUAFL) commenced its
inaugural season in October 2007 with 42 teams taking part - an
increase of 3 from the previous year – Huddersfield Hawks,
Bristol Barracuda and Durham Saints.
The first BUAFL title was won by the Southampton Stags after an
imperious performance in the Doncaster snow. Their victory against the
Staffordshire Stallions meant that they had achieved a perfect record
for the season.
Following a very public dispute with BSAFA (of the former BAFA member
association that represented university football) in 2007, BAFA
announced the recovery of debt from the former officers of BSAFA. The
full payment was received (out of court) including BAFA's court costs.
GB Lions/International
In international competition, the European Championship Pool B
competition was due to take place in Italy but the competition was
postponed after the Italian federation was declared bankrupt and
successfully sued by Italy's National Olympic Committee, EFAF had no
choice but to reschedule the event and ask for new candidates to host
it. Austria subsequently won the right to host Pool B in 2009.
As a result the EFAF announced that the 2009 European Championships
Pool A in Finland – at which, the Great Britain Lions team was to
compete – would be moved to 2010.
In light of this announcement, BAFA confirmed the GB Lions would be
participating in the 2010 Championships and Riq Ayub was subsequently
appointed Head Coach.
BAFA also published it’s aims and goals for the GB Lions American
Football teams and appointed BAFA Director, Jim Messenger, as Lead
Director for the National Programme. BAFA also appointed Jon Tait as
Head Coach for their Junior and Youth flag Lions teams.
Adult contact
Maintain Group A status in the 2010 European championships
Win the European championships in 2013
Student contact
To develop current all-star activity to NP regional activity in 2009 and subsequent years
BAFA to lobby EFAF and IFAF to develop student international competitions
Youth contact
Deliver an NP regional game in 2008 and subsequent years
Deliver a GB Lions game in 2009 and subsequent years
BAFA to continue to lobby EFAF to amend rules to permit GB Lions to
compete in the European Junior Championships without compromising
British athlete’s welfare
Junior contact
Deliver an NP regional game in 2009 and subsequent years
Adult flag
Deliver NP regional activity in 2009 and subsequent years
To win the European championships in 2010
BAFA to lobby EFAF and IFAF to amend the rules to permit mixed-gender competition at local and international level
Youth flag
Deliver an NP regional game in 2009 and subsequent years
Junior flag
Deliver an NP regional game in 2009 and subsequent years
Cadet flag
Review and consider delivering an NP regional game in 2010 and subsequent years to support Long Term Athlete Development
The projected GB Lions games against Sweden in April and then Denmark
in August both hit the rocks due to the logistical difficulties of
arranging international fixtures. In their place, BAFA announced that
they would play the French national team in a challenge game on 15th
November in Amiens.
BAFA National Programme Lead Director, Jim Messenger, said, "We are
delighted to have confirmed this fixture with the FFFA. We hope this
will be the first of a regular series of annual games against our close
neighbours in France."
Under the floodlights of the National American Football Academy Stadium
in Amiens, the Great Britain Lions pulled off a 13-6 victory over
France. Gareth Dauley scored on a 4-yard TD run to tie the scores at
6-6, and Stuart Franklin’s winning 25 yard pass to WR Ian Jacquet
made the score 13-6.
Great Britain Head Coach, Riq Ayub, said, "I am very honoured to be
part of the achievement of this team. The players and staff have been a
privilege to work with and it's their hard-work and dedication that has
made this result possible. What we must do now is build on this
achievement as we work towards the next European Championships in 2010."
BAFA National Programme Lead Director, Jim Messenger, said, "Head
Coach, Riq Ayub, and his team have achieved amazing results with very
limited resources. The dedication and resourcefulness of everyone has
been outstanding. We are very lucky to have such skilled and committed
volunteers. With the European championship just twenty months away, we
will all be working hard to give the team the best opportunity to win
in Frankfurt."
NFL
After playing a highly-successful game in London in 2007, the NFL
announced it would return to the United Kingdom for a competitive game
in 2008 as part of the league’s International Series of
regular-season games.
“The game in London was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the
entire 2007 season,” said NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodel.
“The fan interest was tremendous. The passion they
demonstrated for our sport that day continued throughout the season, as
television viewership in the UK has grown by 40 percent since the game.
We had an overwhelmingly positive response to the event from all
involved – the teams, our sponsors and business partners and of
course the fans themselves. We look forward to another
spectacular event in 2008.”
The game chosen was New Orleans versus San Diego Chargers, and the Saints triumphed 37-32 in front of 83,226 fans at Wembley.
Five British players took part in the 2008 NFL season as part of the
NFL International Player Practice Squad program. The five British
players made up part of a total of 16 International players who
participated in the program – which was now in its fifth year. In
2007 12 players were involved, including three Brits. The players
selected were Jermaine Allen (New Orleans Saints), Jason Brisbane (San
Diego Chargers), Marvin Allen (Pittsburgh Steelers – he had
spells with the Steelers in 2006 and the Miami Dolphins in 2007), Aden
Durde (Kansas City Chiefs – he was a member of the Carolina
Panthers in 2005) and Shaun Smith (Carolina Panthers).
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