29th May 2019
American Football
Born out of Rugby in the United Sates collegiate system, American Football, has never really taken off as a sport in the UK. Several UK league formats have existed since the 1980’s but none have really had any longevity. Unfortunately, teams like the London Monarchs, latterly, the England Monarchs and the Scottish Claymores no longer exist.
The GB Lions international team won the European Championship twice in the late 1980’s.
Today, American Football is yet again in the ascendancy with teams and clubs up and down the country representing all age groups which include many ladies’ teams as well. One area where the sport in certainly expanding is in the UK collegiate system where most Universities now have a gridiron team.
The Sandwell Steelers who are based in Tipton were formed in 2013. They have recently been promoted to Division One, and operate 4 teams. They have an Adult 18+ team, a Women’s 17+ team, a Youth team of 13-16 year olds and an Adult Flag team.
Good luck to the Sandwell Steelers for next season and you never know, perhaps the UK will have its own NFL team in the not too distant future!!!