British Universities American Football League

British Universities American Football League
BUAFL logo
Sport	American football
Founded	2007
No. of teams	83 (2016-17 season)
Country	United Kingdom
Most recent champion(s)	Birmingham Lions

The British Universities American Football League (BUAFL), is an American football league contested by university teams in the United Kingdom as part of the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) organisation. The league was formed by the British American Football Association (BAFA), the national governing body of American football in the UK, in 2007 as the successor to the British Collegiate American Football League, after BAFA withdrew its recognition of the British Student American Football Association which ran that league.^[1]^[2] The BUAFL has been credited with reviving interest in American Football in the UK.^[3]

From 2008, the BUAFL was officially associated with the National Football League (NFL), through its partner organisation NFL UK.^[4] In 2012, BUAFL's league and teams were absorbed into BUCS after American football became an official BUCS sport.^[5] Over the period 2007 to 2014, the BUAFL grew from 42 teams and 2,460 participants to 75 teams and over 4,100 people involved.^[6]

The reigning national champions are the Birmingham Lions (11-0), who secured the championship by defeating the Stirling Clansmen 19-13.^[7]

League structure

Over the course of the regular season, each team in the Premier and Tier 1 plays between eight regular season games. Each team plays everyone in their division twice; once home and once away. For the 2016/17 season, Tier 2 is broken down into six conferences, five of seven teams and one (South East) of eight; teams in Tier 2 play a six game season (seven in the South East division), playing each other only once.^[8]

Current Structure

The latest structure for the BUAFL system was announced by BUCS on the 26th of August 2016. It consists of two Premier divisions, six regional Tier 1 divisions and six regional Tier 2 divisions.^[8] This differs from the standard BUCS structure of five geographical regions below Premier level.^[9]

Premier Divisions

North	South
Derby Braves Durham Saints Loughborough Students Nottingham Trent Renegades Stirling Clansmen	Bath Killer Bees Birmingham Lions Hertfordshire Hurricanes Kingston Cougars Swansea Titans

Tier 1 Divisions

North	North West	Midlands
Glasgow Tigers Hull Sharks Newcastle Raiders Northumbria Mustangs Sunderland Spartans	Leeds Beckett Carnegie Manchester Tyrants Sheffield Sabres Sheffield Hallam Warriors UCLan Rams	Liverpool John Moore Fury Nottingham Staffordshire Stallions Warwick Wolves Worcester Royals
South	South East	South West
Brighton Tsunami Portsmouth Destroyers Reading Knights Surrey Stingers Sussex Saxons	Cambridge Pythons East Anglia PIrates Imperial Immortals Kent Falcons 1st Royal Holloway Bears	Cardiff Cobras Exeter Demons Oxford Lancers Southampton Solent UWE Bullets

Tier 2 Divisions

Borders	North	Midlands
Edinburgh Predators Edinburgh Napier Knights Lancaster Bombers Teesside Cougars West of Scotland Pyros York Centurions Heriot-Watt	Bangor MudDogs Bradford Bears Keele Crusaders Leeds Celtics Edge Hill Vikings Liverpool Raptors Chester Romans	Conventry Jets DMU Falcons Huddersfield Hawks Leicester Longhorns Lincoln Colonials Manchester Met Eagles Northampton Nemesis
South	South West	South East
Brunel Burners BNU Buccaneers Chichesters Spitfires City College Sentinels King's College Regents Southampton Stags UCL Emperors	Aberystwyth Tarranau Bath Spa Bulldogs Bournemouth Bobcats Bristol Barracudas Gloucester Gladiators Oxford Brookes Panthers Plymouth Blitz	Anglia Ruskin Rhinos Canterbury Chargers East London Titans Essex Blades Greenwich Mariners LSBU Spartans Queen Mary's Vipers Westminster Dragons

Earlier structures

The first two full seasons of BUCS American Football preserved the single tier, eight conference structure inherited from BUAFL. In 2014-15, this was changed to a two tier system with the formation of two Premier divisions (North and South), each of five teams. The eight regional conferences, slightly reorganised (in particular, the small Scottish conference became the more balanced Borders conference, including teams from northern England) to contain 8 or 9 teams each, became the second tier. At the same time the Championship was reduced to the top two teams from each Premier division and the Challenge trophy was replaced eith cup competitions for North and South Tier 1 divisional winners, with the winners being promoted to the appropriate Premier division.^[9]

For the 2015-16 season, the league was split in three tiers. The premier remsined organised into North and South, although the top four (of five) in each division now entered the Championship playoff, with the fifth being relegated. The second tier contained 6 geographic division, three Northern (Scottish North, Northern and Midlands) and three Southern (Western, South and Southeastern). The Trophy playoffs took the top two from each division plus the top two remaining teams with the best record from the northern and southern regions, the playoffs were structured with a "northern semifinal" and a "southern semifinal", with the semifinal winners promoted to the respective Premier division regardless of the result in the final. The third tier was organized into 8 divisions, four Northern (Scottish North, Northern, Midlands and North Midlands) and four Southern (Western, South, Southeastern and London).^[9]^[10] The major change for the 2016-17 season was the reduction to six divisions (and a consequent increase in the number of teams per division) in the third tier (Tier 2), although not fully matching the geographical regions in the second tier (Tier 1).^[8]

2015-16 Final Standings

Championship qualification is shaded in green, and relegation is shaded in red; position in the Championship bracket is based on final positions in the two divisions. League position is based on number of points scored, with 2 points for a win, 1 point for a tie and 0 points for a loss

Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	Pts
Premier North^[11]
Stirling Clansmen	8	0	0	1.000	268	88	16
Durham Saints	5	2	0	0.714	189	132	10^[12]
Derby Braves	4	4	0	.500	144	163	8
Loughborough Students	2	6	0	.250	104	160	10
Hallam Warriors	0	7	0	0.000	62	224	0^[12]

Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	Pts
Premier South^[13]
Birmingham Lions	8	0	0	1.000	232	45	16
Hertfordshire Hurricanes	5	3	0	0.625	190	109	10
Kingston Cougars	4	4	0	0.500	102	134	8
Bath Killer Bees	3	5	0	0.375	143	163	6
Imperial Immortals	0	8	0	0.000	46	262	0

2014-15 Final Standings

Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	Pts
Premier North^[14]
Durham Saints	7	1	0	0.875	233	119	14
Stirling Clansmen	6	2	0	0.750	271	68	12
Loughborough Students	5	3	0	.625	178	150	10
Derby Braves	1	7	0	.125	68	211	2
Sheffield Sabres	1	7	0	.125	60	262	0^[15]

Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	Pts
Premier South^[16]
Birmingham Lions	7	1	0	0.875	259	30	14
Hertfordshire Hurricanes	7	1	0	0.875	275	56	14
Bath Killer Bees	4	4	0	0.500	140	170	8
Imperial Immortals	2	6	0	0.250	50	133	2^[17]
Brighton Tsunami	0	8	0	0.000	15	350	0

2013-14 Final Standings

Championship qualification is shaded in green, and Plate qualification is shaded in orange. Seeding is based on number of points scored, with 2 points for a win, 1 point for a tie and 0 points for a loss

Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	Pts
Saltire (Scottish)^[18]
Stirling Clansmen	8	0	0	1.000	622	13	16
Glasgow Tigers	5	3	0	.625	176	264	10
Edinburgh Predators	4	4	0	.500	130	201	8
Edinburgh Napier Knights	3	5	0	.375	125	244	6
UWS Pyros	0	8	0	.000	42	373	0
Big North Western (BNWC)^[19]
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	Pts
Sheffield Sabres	7	1	0	.875	197	61	14
Derby Braves	7	1	0	.875	320	42	14
Hallam Warriors	7	1	0	.875	274	96	14
LJMU Fury	6	2	0	.750	246	129	12
UCLan Rams	5	3	0	.625	254	90	10
Bangor MudDogs	3	5	0	.375	140	208	6
MMU Eagles	3	5	0	.375	121	193	6
Lancaster Bombers	3	5	0	.375	174	294	6
Staffordshire Stallions	2	6	0	.250	140	229	4
Manchester Tyrants	0	7	0	.000	61	200	0
Keele Crusaders	0	7	0	.000	6	386	0
North Eastern (NEC)^[20]
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	Pts
Durham Saints	7	0	0	1.000	316	41	14
Sunderland Spartans	7	1	0	.875	229	115	14
Leeds Carnegie	6	2	0	.750	135	59	12
Hull Sharks	6	2	0	.750	155	87	12
Newcastle Raiders	5	3	0	.625	140	134	10
York Centurions	4	4	0	.500	140	215	8
Northumbria Mustangs	3	5	0	.375	104	114	6
Huddersfield Hawks	2	5	0	.286	146	144	4
Leeds Celtics	2	6	0	.250	100	162	4
Bradford Bears	1	7	0	.125	42	187	2
Teesside Cougars	0	8	0	.000	69	312	0
Midlands Athletics (MAC)^[21]
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	Pts
Birmingham Lions	8	0	0	1.000	206	21	16
Loughborough Students	7	1	0	.875	340	76	14
NTU Renegades	6	2	0	.750	214	117	12
Nottingham	4	4	0	.500	122	99	8
Warwick Wolves	4	4	0	.500	193	145	8
Coventry Jets	3	4	0	.429	149	190	6
DMU Falcons	3	5	0	.375	87	176	6
Worcester Royals	3	5	0	.375	77	213	6
Lincoln Colonials	3	4	0	.429	52	113	6
Wolverhampton Wildcats	1	6	0	.143	58	153	2

Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	Pts
South Western Athletics (SWAC)^[22]
Bath Killer Bees	7	0	0	1.000	253	47	14
UWE Bullets	6	1	0	.857	211	65	12
Swansea Titans	6	1	0	.857	288	88	12
Exeter Demons	4	3	0	.571	198	175	8
Gloucester Gladiators	3	4	0	.429	63	97	6
Cardiff Cobras	2	3	0	.400	81	86	4
Plymouth Blitz	1	3	0	.250	56	141	2
Tarannau Aberystwyth	1	5	0	.166	88	127	2
Bristol Barracuda	1	6	0	.143	89	210	2
Bath Spa Bulldogs	0	5	0	.000	13	322	0
Oyster Card (London)^[23]
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	Pts
Imperial Immortals	8	0	0	1.000	145	36	16
Kingston Cougars	7	1	0	.875	186	21	14
Royal Holloway Bears	6	2	0	.750	228	82	12
Brunel Burners	5	3	0	.625	224	80	10
King's College Regents	4	4	0	.500	87	141	8
Greenwich Mariners	3	5	0	.375	97	172	6
Westminster Dragons	1	6	0	.143	60	142	2
London City Sentinels	0	8	0	.000	24	320	0
LSBU Spartans	1	6	0	.143	38	106	-2**
South Coast (SCC)^[24]
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	Pts
Brighton Tsunami	8	0	0	1.000	236	40	16
Southampton Stags	7	1	0	.875	236	48	14
Portsmouth Destroyers	6	2	0	.750	197	47	12
Surrey Stingers	5	3	0	.625	82	106	10
OBU Panthers	4	4	0	.500	96	103	8
Reading Knights	2	5	0	.286	86	155	4
Solent Redhawks	2	6	0	.250	209	217	4
Sussex Saxons	1	6	0	.143	102	218	2
Oxford Lancers	0	8	0	.000	31	294	0
South Central (SCC)^[25]
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	Pts
Hertfordshire Hurricanes	8	0	0	1.000	384	6	16
Cambridge Pythons	7	1	0	.875	243	67	14
Kent Falcons	5	2	0	.714	122	65	10
UEA Pirates	5	3	0	.625	142	65	10
Northampton Nemesis	4	3	0	.571	129	158	8
BNU Buccaneers	3	5	0	.375	67	143	6
Canterbury Chargers	1	6	0	.143	46	180	2
Anglia Ruskin Rhinos	1	7	0	.125	42	224	2
Essex Blades	0	7	0	.000	13	270	0

National Championship Games

Season	Winning team		Losing team
2007-2008	Southampton Stags	54	Staffordshire Stallions	20
2008-2009	Birmingham Lions	42	Newcastle Raiders	2
2009-2010	Birmingham Lions	27	Loughborough Aces	16
2010-2011	Portsmouth Destroyers	20	Birmingham Lions	19
2011-2012	Hertfordshire Hurricanes	37	Birmingham Lions	19
2012-2013^[26]	Birmingham Lions	17	Hertfordshire Hurricanes	13
2013-2014^[27]	Stirling Clansmen	20	Birmingham Lions	15
2014-2015^[28]	Stirling Clansmen	46	Hertfordshire Hurricanes	6
2015-2016^[29]	Birmingham Lions	19	Stirling Clansmen	13

Challenge Trophy/Divisional Cups/National Trophy

The Challenge Trophy was replaced by the two Divisional Cups for the transitional 2014-15 season, which were replaced in turn by the National Trophy from 2015-16.

Season	Winning team		Losing team		Notes
2008-2009	Bath Killer Bees	13	Sheffield Hallam Warriors	8
2009-2010	Greenwich Mariners	12	Stirling Clansmen	0
2010-2011	Cardiff Cobras	20	UCH Sharks	0
2011-2012	Sheffield Sabres	25	Bath Killer Bees	8
2012-2013^[30]	NTU Renegades	42	Southampton Stags	28	MVP: NTU QB Danny Miller
2013-2014^[31]	Swansea Titans	38	Royal Holloway Bears	12	MVP: ST QB Simon George
2014-15 (North)^[32]	Sheffield Hallam Warriors	26	Glasgow Tigers	6	Sheffield Hallam promoted to Premier North
2014-15 (South)^[33]	Kingston Cougars	42	Surrey Stingers	9	Kingston promoted to Premier South
2015-2016^[34]	Swansea Titans	21	NTU Renegades	16	Swansea promoted to Premier South, NTU promoted to Premier North

BUAFL Most Valuable Players

Season	League MVP	Offensive MVP	Defensive MVP
2008-2009		Tristan Varney (Birmingham Lions)	Ed Butcher (Southampton Stags)
2009-2010	David Saul (Sheffield Hallam Warriors)	Tristan Varney (Birmingham Lions)	Ed Butcher (Solent Redhawks)
2010-2011		Adam Hope (Loughborough Aces)	Russ Waddell (Bristol Barracuda)
2011-2012	Joe Thompson (Hertfordshire Hurricanes)
2012-2013	Dan Conroy (Birmingham Lions)

References

↑ "BSAFA Operations Suspended". British American Football Association. 25 July 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-07-24. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
↑ "BAFA Launches BUAFL". British American Football Association. 25 July 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-07-24. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
↑ Ben Halls (30 September 2016). "Riding the Second Wave: The Resurrection of the NFL in the UK". VICE Sports. Vice Media. As any wannabe dictator will tell you, revolution simply cannot happen without grassroots action. That is it true in sport, too. For American football, that movement came not from the NFL itself, but was home-grown at British universities.
↑ "NFL announces partnership with BUAFL". 12 November 2008. Archived from the original on 2011-01-08.
↑ http://www.bucs.org.uk/sport.asp?section=16641tab=1
↑ Zander Swinburne (1 February 2014). "Super Bowl 2014: Move over, Wayne Rooney – gridiron's here". The Independent. The British Universities American Football League (BUAFL) had 42 teams before the first Wembley game in 2007 and 2,460 participants; now 75 universities are registered, with more than 4,100 players, coaches and officials
↑ "Lions and Titans triumph in Leeds". British American Football. 21 March 2016.
1 2 3 "#BUCSball Conference Structures Released!". 2016-08-26. Retrieved 2016-09-20.
1 2 3 "American Football – Moving to three tiers". BUCS. 9 June 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
↑ "BUCS American Football 2015-16". BUCS. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
↑ "BUCS American Football 2015-2016 - Premier North". BUCS. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
1 2 Sheffield Hallam vs Durham match void
↑ "BUCS American Football 2015-2016 - Premier South". BUCS. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
↑ "BUCS American Football 2014-2015 - Premier North". BUCS. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
↑ Penalised 2 points for conceding walkover vs Durham
↑ "BUCS American Football 2014-2015 - Premier South". BUCS. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
↑ Penalised 2 points for conceding walkover vs Birmingham
↑ "BUCS American Football 2013-2014 - Scottish". BUCS. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
↑ "BUCS American Football 2013-2014 - North Western". BUCS. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
↑ "BUCS American Football 2013-2014 - North Eastern". BUCS. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
↑ "BUCS American Football 2013-2014 - Midlands". BUCS. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
↑ "BUCS American Football 2013-2014 - Western". BUCS. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
↑ "BUCS American Football 2013-2014 - South Eastern B". BUCS. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
↑ "BUCS American Football 2013-2014 - South". BUCS. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
↑ "BUCS American Football 2013-2014 - South Eastern A". BUCS. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
↑ "BUCS American Football 2012-2013 - Championship - Men's". BUCS. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
↑ "BUCS American Football 2013-2014 - Championship - Men's". BUCS. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
↑ "BUCS American Football 2014-2015 - Championship - Mixed". BUCS. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
↑ "BUCS American Football 2015-2016 - Championship - Mixed". BUCS. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
↑ "BUCS American Football 2012-2013 - Trophy - Men's". BUCS. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
↑ "BUCS American Football 2013-2014 - Trophy - Men's". BUCS. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
↑ "BUCS American Football 2014-2015 - North Divisional Cup - Mixed". BUCS. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
↑ "BUCS American Football 2014-2015 - South Divisional Cup - Mixed". BUCS. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
↑ "BUCS American Football 2015-2016 - Trophy - Mixed". BUCS. Retrieved 29 October 2016.

External links

Official BUAFL Website

American football in the United Kingdom

BAFANL Premiership

NFC Premiership	Coventry Jets East Kilbride Pirates Lancashire Wolverines Merseyside Nighthawks Sheffield Predators Tamworth Phoenix

SFC Premiership	Bristol Aztecs Farnham Knights London Blitz London Olympians London Warriors South Wales Warriors

BAFANL Division 1

NFC	Clyde Valley Blackhawks Edinburgh Wolves Gateshead Senators Manchester Titans West Coast Trojans Yorkshire Rams

MFC	Birmingham Bulls Doncaster Mustangs Nottingham Caesars Ouse Valley Eagles Peterborough Saxons Sandwell Steelers

SFC	Bury Saints Colchester Gladiators Hertfordshire Cheetahs Kent Exiles Solent Thrashers Sussex Thunder

BAFANL Division 2

NFC North	Aberdeen Roughnecks Carlisle Sentinels Dundee Hurricanes Glasgow Tigers Newcastle Vikings Northumberland Lightning

NFC West	Chester Romans Crewe Railroaders Halton Spartans Leeds Bobcats Walney Terriers

NFC South	Humber Warhawks Leicester Falcons Lincolnshire Bombers Shropshire Revolution Staffordshire Surge

SFC West	Bristol Apache Cornish Sharks Jurassic Coast Raptors Oxford Saints Swindon Storm Torbay Trojans

SFC South	Berkshire Renegades Bournemouth Bobcats East Kent Mavericks Hastings Conquerors Maidstone Pumas Portsmouth Dreadnoughts

SFC East	Cambridgeshire Cats Essex Spartans Ipswich Cardinals London Blitz B London Hornets Wembley Stallions

Defunct/Inactive Teams

BUAFL Premiership

North	Derby Braves Durham Saints Loughborough Students Hallam Warriors Stirling Clansmen

South	Bath Killer Bees Birmingham Lions Kingston Cougars Hertfordshire Hurricanes Imperial Immortals

BUAFL Division 1

Scottish/Northern	Glasgow Tigers Newcastle Raiders Northumbria Mustangs Sunderland Spartans Lancaster Bombers

Yorkshire	Leeds Beckett Carnegie Sheffield Sabres UCLAN Rams Hull Sharks Huddersfield Hawks

Midlands	NTU Renegades Staffordshire Stallions Warwick Wolves Nottingham Outlaws Worcester Royals

Western	Swansea Titans Cardiff Cobras UWE Bullets Exeter Demons Aberystwyth Tarannau

South	Surrey Stingers Royal Holloway Bears Solent Redhawks Reading Knights KCL Regents

South East	Brighton Tsunami Sussex Saxons Kent Falcons UEA Pirates Cambridge Pythons

BUAFL Division 2

Scottish/Northern	Edinburgh Napier Knight Edinburgh Predators Teesside Cougars Heriot-Watt UWS Pyros

North West	LMJU Fury Bangor Muddogs Edge Hill Vikings Liverpool Raptors Keele Crusaders

Northern	Manchester Tyrants York Centurions Bradford Bears MMU Eagles Leeds Celtics

Midlands	Coventry Jets DMU Falcons Leicester Longhorns Northampton Nemesis Lincoln Colonials

Western	Bath Spa Bulldogs Bristol Barracuda Gloucestershire Gladiators Plymouth Blitz Bournemouth University Bobcats

South	BNU Buccaneers Chichester Spitfires Portsmouth Destroyers Southampton Stags Brunel Burners

London	Greenwich Mariners London City Sentinels LSBU Spartans Westminster Dragons UEL Titans

South East	ARU Rhinos Canterbury Chargers Essex Blades OBU Panthers Oxford Lancers

National Football League in the UK: NFL International Series; American Bowl; London Monarchs; Scottish Claymores; Potential London NFL franchise

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