The Birth Of Britball

What we’re going to do here is go back…way back, to 1985 and the first season of competitive league football in the UK. To set the scene we need to go back a further year to 1984 and drop in at a meeting being held at the USAF base at Chicksands in Bedfordshire. The fledgling teams from around the country had come together to debate and determine the structure for the American Football League UK’s inaugural season, which was set to start in April ’85. If you looked around the room, based on the comments the team representatives were making, you would soon develop theories regarding which would be the stronger teams. Some, notably the London Ravens, Birmingham Bulls, Northampton Stormbringers, Manchester Spartans and Milton Keynes Bucks had played some ad-hoc matches in ‘83 and ’84. Would their experience pay dividends? Unlike today, the teams were allowed to have “Imports”, so the teams who had American players and Coaches (mostly from the US air force bases in the UK) would definitely have an advantage. With the talking over there were 37 teams, split across six geographical divisions ready to take to the UK’s gridirons to battle it out. Let’s take a journey around the country, and see how things were set.

The Midlands division had seven teams, the Birmingham Bulls were the clear favourites. With running back Mark Willams keying the offense and big hitting linebacker Dave Chambers leading a fierce defense they would dominate the division. The big question here, would be who would join them in the play-offs. Milton Keynes Bucks, headed up by league president Radcliffe Phillips had a talented roster of British players to complement their US personnel. The Stormbringers from Northampton thought they had a chance. The Titans from Walsall had a future Great Britain star in running back Trevor Carthy. The Nottingham Hoods had an American player coach and were well organised. All these teams were in the mix. Filling out the division were the Bears from Warwickshire (later to become the Coventry Bears) and the Patriots from Kings Lynn (who were re-formed recently).

A further seven teams made up the South Western Division. Leading the pack here were the Oxford Bulldogs whom it was rumoured had more US players than Brits in some games! Their talisman was US running back Kip Brady. The Thames Valley Chargers looked great, having acquired a set of uniforms from their namesakes in San Diego, they also had a US quarterback called Ron Dubie who could be a game changer. The Portsmouth Warriors were based at a gym, so had some big units on their roster. The Dorset Broncos, Heathrow Jets and Southampton Seahawks had NFL style nicknames, but unfortunately for them no NFL style talent. Rounding out the group were the Wyverns from Taunton.

Even at this early stage of the games development in the UK, teams were having “internal differences” and splinter teams were forming. This was evidenced in the Southern Division in the shape of The Rockingham Rebels (ex Stormbringers) and Southampton Wolverines. The Rebels didn’t make it to the starting line and pulled out to join a minor league set up. The Wolverines had a Miami Dolphins trialist at QB (Jim Fleming) so they were expected to do well. A future Britball powerhouse resided in this division, namely the Streatham (later London) Olympians. They were another team based at a Gym. The Gladiators from Colchester and the Sabres from Southend were the other outfits in this division of five.

London was a big catchment area with lots of potential players, the cream of which gravitated to playing for the undefeated London Ravens. They had American coaches and a fearsome four headed running back committee that featured Britball Legend Victor Ebubedike Muhammad, Joe St Louis, Mark Wynnick and Mark Walcott. There was only going to be one team that would win the Capital Division! The other members of this group had struggled to secure any wins in their warm up games, but the Ealing Eagles looked the most likely for the runners up spot. Crawley Raiders, Harlow Warlords, Greenwich Rams and the excellently named Stock Exchange Stags would be lining up to get a good pecking by the Ravens.

The fifth grouping was the Northern Division with four English teams and three Scottish outfits. The team from Manchester had started life as the Northwich Spartans, but switched out the “Northwich” for the bigger geographic moniker. Their head honcho was Bernie McDerra, an entrepreneur who owned a football equipment shop, having been established the longest, they were favoured to take the division title. Over the Pennines were the Leeds Cougars who had an ex high school QB called Glen Stevens under centre, he clearly had relevant experience, he also had the biggest handlebar moustache ever to take to a British gridiron. The Trojans from Tyneside and the Falcons from Fylde (Blackpool) were the other English teams. North of the border there was a big “auld school” rivalry in Glasgow between the Lions and the Diamonds. The third point of the Scottish triangle, were the Edinburgh Eagles.

The final (North Central) division was a bit of a stretch geography wise, including the Staffordshire Stampeders, Manchester AllStars, Mansfield Express , Leicester Panthers and (owners of one of the all- time best Britball team names) Newcastle Browns. This was seen as probably the weakest division. With Leicester not having played any warm up games in ‘84 (a smart strategic manoeuvre some would say), nobody knew what to expect, but when the games started their transatlantic influences (from the US Mildenhall base) on the field and the sideline, showed them to be streets ahead. US quarterback Ron Pereira destroyed teams.

The regular season had a twelve game schedule, let’s see who the early leaders were. In the week one games the Stags from the stock exchange didn’t reap many dividends as the Ravens put 48 points on them. The Leicester Panthers mauled the Wolverines by 62-0 and Milton Keynes were all over the Greenwich Rams to win 42-0. In week two Birmingham continued their expected progress with two TDs from WR Maverick Logan helping them to a 38-0 shut-out of Warwickshire. Down south the Gladiators spanked the Wolverines 58-0, and a 56-12 scoreline showed that the Bulldogs were way too strong for Portsmouth. Week three saw the Nottingham Hoods enter the fray with an impressive 46-0 win over Kings Lynn including four TDs from running back Andy Smith, the Bulls turned the Stormbringers into a “light drizzle” beating them 83-7 and The Olympians did the business 36-0 over Staffordshire.

As the second quarter of the season got underway, the cream was rising to the top. All around the league there were talented British athletes at the running back position. Milton Keynes had two of the best in Tony Jordan and Gladstone McKenzie who combined for seven TDs against a struggling Walsall Titans in week four. Streatham upped the ante with an 81-0 demolition of Southend and the Spartans led the way in the North despatching Fylde 39-0. The Bulldogs were about to chow down on a 100 burger! but could only manage 96-0 against Taunton in week five. Elsewhere the Ravens cruised to a 30-0 win against Crawley thanks to a hat-trick of TDs from the elusive Joe St Louis. There had been some very one-sided games so far, but in week six, two of the top teams met in the Midlands, in what was billed as the decider for the divisional title. The Bucks and the Bulls squared off and at the end of the game it was Birmingham who won the day. A convincing 30 -0 result with Mark Willams notching two scores and TE Martin Reid dazzling on a sixty yard pass and catch score.

At the half -way point in the season the divisional leaders were the Ravens, Olympians, Bulldogs, Bulls, Panthers and Cougars. Kip Brady from Oxford led the league scoring chart with 16 TDs, with Mackenzie closing in on him having notched 13.

Week seven saw the stronger teams pulling away and asserting their leadership positions. Birmingham slapped 59 points on the Patriots and Streatham edged Colchester 14-0 in a battle between two of the stronger teams in the south. Tyneside showed some promise defeating the Diamonds 43-6. Week eight saw the Ravens edge the improving Rams 14-6, the Bulls dominate the Hoods 53-7 and the Bulldogs hold on to sneak past the Chargers 14-12. The Midlands division was the closest fought in the whole league and the week nine encounter between Nottingham and Northampton proved it. The Hoods needed the win to keep their play-off hopes alive and came from behind to do it, with GB kicker Steve Raven making the game winning field goal as time expired for a 11-10 win!. Receiver Sammy Price was bagging plenty of TDs for the Leeds Cougars and they stayed on top in the North with a 51-6 beat down of the Falcons. Over in the North central division Leicester were cruising towards the title with Pereira and running back Norman Green racking up the points as they saw off the All-Stars 46-8.

Into week ten, and with some teams already qualified, others were determined to secure themselves a spot in the play-offs .The Manchester All-Stars pulled off a 34-21 victory over Colchester to bolster their chances but Northampton and Nottingham both lost, as they strived for the number three spot in the Midlands. The Glasgow Lions showed some grit, and were rewarded with a 12-12 tie against the division topping Cougars. Week eleven saw some off the field action when, with player numbers dwindling the Southampton Wolverines and Dorset Broncos merged to form the Wessex Wildcats. After a tied game against the Lions, the Cougars subsequently suffered their first loss of the season to a surging Tyneside 12-35. In the South West the top two couldn’t find a way to beat each other, the Bulldogs and the Chargers stalemating at 20-20. The Lions continued their good form, this time despatching Manchester 26-0. Streatham were well ahead in the Southern division and dominated the Sabres 53-0 during the week twelve matches. Glasgow came unstuck against Tyneside 12-28 and the All-Stars did the double on Colchester with a 44-21 win.

One of the shocks of the season came in week thirteen as the newly formed Wildcats beat the hitherto undefeated Olympians 12-0! Week fourteen witnessed two teams racking up over eighty points, Leicester put 85 on Newcastle and Birmingham notched 87 on Kings Lynn. The Spartans kept themselves in the race with a 44-8 defeat of the Diamonds, following that up with a week fifteen win 39-6 over Tyneside. The Hoods continued their challenge with a 62-8 demolishing of the Patriots in the long grass of Clenchwarton. In another shock, the Bulldogs suffered their first loss 14-28 to Southampton. In the penultimate week of the regular season Manchester and Leeds squared off for a chance at the division title. In a close encounter of the Northern kind, the Spartans edged it 36-34. Oxford and Thames Valley were neck and neck in the South West and both had narrow victories. Warwickshire and Kings Lynn were facing each other to see who would take the wooden spoon in the Midlands, the Bears first win of the season was secured 16-8. Week sixteen would decide the final line up for the play-offs. Birmingham laid down a marker squeezing past the Bucks 22-19, Nottingham made the post season on the back of a 20-0 win at Walsall, and despite only tying with Ealing, Greenwich were in. Sixteen teams would enter the post season vying to claim a spot in the inaugural Summerbowl, to be played at Villa Park.

In the first round of the play-offs the confident Bucks were despatched by the Panthers 6-26. The battle of Manchester was won in overtime by the All-Stars 26-20. The Bulldogs put the bite on the Eagles 29-7. Streatham had enough to muscle past the Chargers26-20, and in London, the Rams downed the Jets 19-13, also in overtime. Nottingham went down 20-7 to the Cougars, whilst the Bulls had way too much for the Lions, securing a 49-6 win. When it mattered, the Ravens stepped it up a gear demolishing Colchester 66-0.

In the quarter finals though, the Ravens struggled to get the better of Oxford who lost star rusher Kip Brady to injury. The final score was 20-0 London. The confident Cougars travelled to Leicester in good spirits, only to be dismembered by the rampant Panthers 46-0. The Bulls fired on all cylinders to get the better of Greenwich, scores from Colin Nash and Maverick Logan setting them up for a 3313 victory. In the final match-up the dogged All-Stars succumbed to the Olympians 10-0.

So it’s semi-final time and the heavily favoured Bulls square off against Streatham. A heroic defensive display from the Olympians saw them edge a nail biting finish to earn a spot in the final 15-13. The second semi-final pitched the two best-drilled teams in the country against each other, as the Ravens travelled North to take on the Panthers. Despite Norman Green and Ron Pereira’s heroics, Leicester couldn’t contain the power of the London outfit, who ran out winners by a score of 40-14.

The Summerbowl final would be held in Birmingham, but contested by two teams from London. A crowd of over 7,000 looked on as the best teams in British Football took to the field. The tone for the day was set on the opening kick-off when Streatham fumbled the ball. The Ravens took advantage, and never let up. Receiver Mark Delaney opened the scoring when he snagged a 21 yard pass from QB Ario De Cruz. Victor Ebubedike Muhammad burst 49 yards for TD number 2. Streatham got a foothold in the game when Earl Livermore ran in a short yardage score, but the Ravens soon came back with scores from Wynnick and De Cruz to give them a half-time lead of 25-7. De Cruz sneaked in again to stretch the lead, and then Ravens head coach Lance Cone unleashed Joe St Louis! He carried eight times for 106 yards and two TDs. His dazzling 77 yard romp for his second score secured him the game MVP award.

It had been an incredible season. The better teams had played to a high level, with a combination of British athletes, and some key import players providing spectacular action. In an effort to ensure more competitive games, the following season would see a restructure of the league based on the ability the teams had shown. Everyone who played in “Britball season one” will doubtless have cherished memories, and for some it was the start of a lifetime of dedication to their chosen sport. Many are still involved in the game today in some capacity. Whatever their role was in that 1985 season, player, coach or administrator, they are all Britball Legends.