The Early Years

American Football was not well known to a group of 2nd formers at Bournemouth School until the 1986 Superbowl (which Chicago won with William 'The Fridge' Perry at the fore). This captured the imagination of this group of 12 year olds and we decided to play American Football at lunch-times instead of traditional football. We started off playing 6-a-side ball (2 linemen (!), QB, RB with 2 WR's, but it largely depended on numbers. Somedays we had 10 people, some days 20 or more!

The first game we played was on the lunchtime of the 4th June 1986 with Goult passing for 86 yards and a TD. Over the years the number of people at the school playing the game increased from the original ten to a total of 55, with a record 27 participating on the 24th of January 1989.

The first season started in June 1986 and ran through to Xmas of that year. Original players from the first game we ever played were as follows. The ones in BOLD represented the Raiders at some point:

MATT HEASMAN
MARK ELLIOTT
JOHN GOULT
OWEN PARKIN
ANDREW ROBERTS
ALEX DAVIES
ALEX MIDDLETON
NEIL TARCHETTI
ANDREW LONG
SIMON OSBORN
RICHARD WILSON
MATTHEW WEST

Games were normally very high scoring (scores of 49-42 or thereabouts were not uncommon!). As more people understood the rules, the standard rose and the scores became lower as defense became more important.

Lunch-time games!

Players became defined in their favourite positions. Matt Heasman and Rich Wilson vied as number 1 quarterbacks. Mark Elliott and Andrew Roberts the no.1 running backs. Owen Parkin and Alex Davies showed their class as wide receivers.

On the 31st January 1987 we played our first game against a mixture of pupils older and younger than us. We triumphed 7-0.

The seasons that we played at School were as follows:

Autumn-Winter 1986
Spring 1987
Autumn-Winter 1987
Spring 1988
Autumn-Winter 1988

Through Mark Elliott's contacts with the local junior two touch side (whom he used to play), he managed to set-up a match between the cream of the players who played at school in the lunch-times and the local two touch team, the Bournemouth Bearcats (who were the youth team of the Bournemouth Bobcats)

Bournemouth Bobcats playing at the King's Park stadium that we would play at against their youth team, the Bournemouth Bearcats

The Bournemouth Deckchairs (as we called ourselves!) had no formal coaching but there was a core of us (Mark Elliott, Matt Heasman, Rich Cleveland, Danny Mobbs and John Goult) who knew an awful lot about the game and went about making up plays and teaching those who were not so informed on the game. This would be a massive challenge for us, considering we would be playing a side that had had proper training for years.

Saturday, September 24, 1988

Bournemouth Bearcats 12 Bournemouth Deckchairs 12

The Deckchairs turned up at the King's Park Athletics Stadium to play the Bournemouth Bearcats in our inaugural fixture. What we did not expect was the sizeable crowd that had turned up as part of the Bournemouth Bobcats open day that they were hosting at the stadium that day. The Bobcats were an extremely well supported club at that time and conservative estimates would put the crowd at approximately 500.

The Kings Park stadium

In terrible conditions both sides took to the field, but despite all bar one of the players having never played in an official match before the Deckchairs responded well.

The Deckchairs elected to receive the opening kick-off which was returned 40 yards by Roberts into Bearcats territory. The Deckchairs opened up with a few runs which yielded a first down. Then on second down from the Bearcats 30, Heasman hit Owen Parkin on the right hand touchline who spun off his marker and raced into the endzone to give the Deckchairs an early 6-0 lead. The 2 PAT attempt failed, but we had taken the lead. We did not expect this as the Bearcats were an extremely well drilled outfit and judging by the reaction of their coaches they would have to improve.

Sure enough on the next drive QB Luke Sanders (a future Raider himself and future England Senior QB) drove the Bearcats down the field, mainly on sweep's which the Deckchairs seemed powerless to stop. The Bearcats duly ran the ball into the endzone to tie the scores at 6-6, although Danny Mobbs was convinced that he had tackled his man. Their 2 PAT also failed.

There followed a series of dour drives by the Deckchairs, whose O-Line was consistently swamped by the Bearcats D-rush. Heasman was sacked on numerous occasions, but we kept the ball and punted to put the Bearcats out of scoring position. The Bearcats in turn were running the ball on most downs and gaining yardage, but each time they looked to take the lead, someone on the Deckchairs defense would come up with a big play. The linebacking corps of the Deckchairs were having great games with Cleveland, Heasman, Elliott and the inspirational Mobbs stopping the Bearcats constantly.

Late in the first half, the Deckchairs took over on the Bearcats 40 following a Cleveland interception. Heasman connected to Davies and Osborn on short out patterns to gain a first down. Elliott then picked up another first down ghosting down the left. Heasman then dropped back, was flushed out of the pocket but put a perfect pass in for Parkin who caught the ball over his shoulder and ran in untouched for his and our second TD connection of the day to put the Deckchairs 12-6 up. The PAT was muffed and the Deckchairs went in at half-time leading!

The Deckchairs came under enormous pressure in the second half from the Bearcats as we failed to move the ball well with only the occasional short pass succeeding and no drives to speak of. The Bearcats on the other hand were moving the ball well, but as per the first half the Deckchairs linebacking corps kept coming up trumps.

Midway through the 4th quarter, Luke Sanders got his troops going and the Bearcats tied the scores once again at 12-12 following a short pass across the middle. The Bearcats narrowly missed taking the lead as the smallest player on the Bearcats roster caught the 2 PAT after toasting Richard Wilson, only for him to be ruled out of bounds.

The Deckchairs again had to punt and the Bearcats had one final chance to win the game. Another good drive led the Bearcats to the Deckchairs 1 yard line with just 2 minutes remaining. Danny Mobbs then defied the Bearcats on three separate attempts in a tremendous goal-line stand to prevent the Bearcats from scoring. The Deckchairs then just about managed to run out the clock and the scoreline finished 12-12.

Despite efforts by the Bearcats to continue the game into over-time, the Deckchairs were more concerned with getting home to their tea!

TEAM: HEASMAN, WILSON, ELLIOT, MOBBS, PARKIN, CLEVELAND, WEST, WINSHIP, BERRY, RUMSEY, OSBORN,
CONSTANT, GOULT, ROBERTS

STATS

PASSING

HEASMAN  7-16-1-78-2TD's-1 INT
WILSON  0-3-0yds

RUSHING

ELLIOTT  15-71
HEASMAN 2-9

RECEIVING

OSBORN 3-18
PARKIN 2-40-2TD's
DAVIES 1-7
ELLIOTT 1-6

INTERCEPTIONS

CLEVELAND 1-9
CONSTANT 1-6
WEST 1-0

SACKS

WINSHIP 1.0
BERRY 1.0
OSBORN 1.0

KICK RETURNS

ROBERTS 1-40
ELLIOTT 1-23

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 12 1998

BOURNEMOUTH DECKCHAIRS 13 BOURNEMOUTH BEARCATS 0

The Bournemouth Deckchairs (!) as we were known accepted an invitation by the Bearcats for a replay of their dramatically drawn game back in September.

Played on our 'home' ground of the Bournemouth School playing fields , the Deckchairs were apprehensive as there was a belief that we were lucky to get away with a 12-12 draw last time round.

The Bearcats received the opening possession but were forced to punt. A sign of things to come came on the Deckchairs second play from scrimmage. Heasman handed off to Mobbs on a sweep and he gained 35 yards down the left hand touch-line before inexplicably running out of bounds! The Bearcats D toughened up after that play and the Deckchairs were forced to punt after losing 6 yards on the next three plays.

Superb pass coverage (the Bearcats did not complete a pass from 9 attempts in the first half) led to the Deckchairs quickly getting the ball back, and scoring their first touchdown of the day.

Action from the game against the Bournemouth Bearcats (13-0)

Elliott took a handoff from Heasman, and following the lead blocking of Mobbs ran in from 64 yards. The Deckchairs had taken a 6-0 lead. Cleveland tacked on the PAT from Goult's snap and Heasman's hold and the score was extended to 7-0.

Elliott opens the scoring for the Deckchairs

The second half started with the Deckchairs taking the kick-off and Heasman being promptly sacked (one of 7 times during the game). Heasman then connected with Davies on a 20 yard pas, but on 4th and short Elliott was stopped in his tracks and the Deckchairs turned the ball over on downs.

Andy Roberts then intercepted Sanders, but the Deckchairs stuttering offense again flattered to deceive. A first down was earnt on Mobbs 9 yard run followed by a 6 yard pass to Elliott from Heasman, but they were again unable to move the ball further and were forced to punt by
Cleveland (who made great distance on all his punts). The Bearcats again turned the ball over on downs. Elliott lost 8 yards following good penetration by the Bearcats D, but Heasman put the Deckchairs back in position with a 15 yard pass to Davies down the left hand touchline. On 4th and 3, a fake punt was called, but Cleveland's completion to Elliott was a yard short.

Heasman then intercepted Luke Sanders (who was having a dreadful day) on the Bearcats next possession to get the Deckchairs back in position, especially as he was hit late and the resultant personal foul penalty put the Deckchairs on the Bearcat 12 yard line. Heasman was again sacked prior to again completing to Davies for 15 yards to give the Deckchairs on the 3 yard line but facing 4th down. The kicking team came on, but the ball was snapped directly to Cleveland, who under pressure from the rush was forced out of the pocket. Off balance, his pass was caught by Roberts who ran in for a score. The PAT was wide of the left hand upright, but the Deckchairs led 13-0.

As the 4th quarter started, the Bearcats were looking increasingly desperate. Three straight incomplete passes was followed by a hail-mary pass on 4th down which was intercepted by Mobbs on the half-way line who returned it 15 yards.

Wilson stepped in as QB and promptly fumbled the ball as he was about to throw. He was then intercepted on the next play. The game then petered out with both sides accepting that there would be no additional scoring.

Alex Davies was voted MVP after catching three passes for 51 yards.

STATS

PASSING

HEASMAN  5-13-57-0-0
WILSON  0-1-0-1INT
CLEVELAND  2-2-5-1TD

RUSHING

MOBBS  8-55
ELLIOTT  11-45-1TD
HEASMAN 1-3
WILSON  2-2

RECEIVING

DAVIES   3-53
ELLIOTT 1-8
ROBERTS  1-3-1TD
CONSTANT  1-2

INTERCEPTIONS

MOBBS   1-15
ROBERTS   1-10
HEASMAN  1-5
CLEVELAND  1-2

SACKS

WINSHIP 1.0

PUNT RETURNS

LONG 1-4
ROBERTS 1-0
MOBBS 1-1
ELLIOTT 1-3

KICK RETURNS

DAVIES 1-0


As we started revising for our G.C.S.E.'s in the early part of 1989, we stopped playing American Football. Indeed the popularity of the sport appeared to be flagging somewhat with only a handful of the original members still being fans of the game.  In April of 1989 we accepted an invitation to play the Bearcats who wanted to play us in a pre-season match for their upcoming season in the National League. They were favourites this time, especially with players such as Mark Elliott, Rich Wilson, Stu Winship and Mark Constant not playing. Matt Heasman was injured and unable to start as quarterback so we had inexperienced Paul Keeley in at quarterback.

NOVEMBER 1988

BOURNEMOUTH DECKCHAIRS 6 BOURNEMOUTH SCHOOL UNDER 15's 6

STATS

PASSING

HEASMAN  14-23-0-123-1TD
GOULT 0-1-1-0-0
WINSHIP 1-2-0-21-0
ELLIOTT 4-6-0-25-0

RUSHING

ELLIOTT 17-97
HEASMAN 7-21
CONSTANT 1-(-2)

RECEIVING

OSBORN 9-98
CONSTANT 4-34-1TD
ELLIOTT 3-22
LONG 3-19

INTERCEPTIONS

none

SACKS

BERRY 2.5
WINSHIP 1.5
ELLIOTT 1.0
SIMPSON 1.0

PUNT RETURNS

OSBORN 1-4

KICK RETURNS

CONSTANT 1-11
BRICE 1-1

SUNDAY, APRIL 9, 1989

BOURNEMOUTH BEARCATS 0 BOURNEMOUTH DECKCHAIRS 6

As the Bournemouth Bearcats prepared for their forthcoming season in the National Two Touch League, they asked the Deckchairs for a pre-season match.

The Deckchairs accepted but struggled to get 11 eleven players out. Danny Mobbs, John Goult and Mark Elliott were all absent, and Matt Heasman with an injured shoulder had to step down from his QB position and play line. The Bearcats were hot favourites for this one.

Meyrick Park was the venue for this match

Paul Keeley stepped in at QB but was unable to get the offense moving much. Rich Cleveland was calling the shots from RB, but the Deckchairs just could not effectively move the ball. The defense on the other hand were excellent, not allowing the Luke Sanders Offense to move an inch. Indeed
the Bearcats did not enter the Deckchairs half throughout the game. Both teams went into the break with a 0-0
scoreline on the board.

The Deckchairs defense continued their good work from the first half, with Stuart Winship and Ian Snook picking up a couple of sacks each. The offense though was not clicking. The Deckchairs continued their strategy of running the ball but with little effect. Late in the 3rd quarter, Keeley (who only completed 2 passes all day) threw a bomb down the left hand touchline to Andy Long, who caught the ball over his head and ran down the touchline for a 74 yard TD, which turned out to be the only score of the match. The 2 PAT was dropped, but the Deckchairs were 6-0 up.

In absolute stalemate after that, the clock ran out to preserve the Deckchairs unbeaten record against the Bearcats. The impressive thing about this game was the team's defense, which would hold us in good stead for the coming seasons.

In a forgettable game, Andy Long was voted MVP for his excellent catch and run TD.

TEAM:  KEELEY, CLEVELAND, OSBORN, LONG, CONSTANT, RUMSEY, HEASMAN, SNOOK,
WINSHIP

STATS

PASSING

KEELEY 2-11-4-81-1TD

RUSHING

CONSTANT 6-6
CLEVELAND 6-2
KEELEY 5-3

RECEIVING

LONG 1-74-1TD
CONSTANT 1-7

INTERCEPTIONS

CLEVELAND 1-5
HEASMAN 1-3
CONSTANT 1-1

SACKS

WINSHIP 2.0
SNOOK 2.0

PUNT RETURNS

CONSTANT 3-13

KICK RETURNS

CONSTANT 1-12

Our Final Stats versus the Bearcats:

Then that was it as far as American Football went at School. Many people left Bournemouth School at the end of that school year, and everyone had stopped playing American Football.

Out of the blue Mark Elliott called Matt Heasman from a telephone box in Bournemouth to let him know that he had been sent some application forms for the national two-touch league. The problem was to find the then huge sum of £80 to register the team!

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