The British Collegiate American Football League (BCAFL) was an American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 league consisting of players from various colleges and universities in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.

In 2007 it was succeeded by the British Universities American Football League

British Universities American Football League

-2009-10 Challenge Trophy results:-2010 league MVPs:League MVP: David Saul Offensive MVP: Tristan Varney Defensive MVP: Ed Butcher...

.

The league officially began in the 1985-1986 season with 4 teams, and celebrated its 20th anniversary with 37 teams competing the 2005-2006 campaign. The final season was contested by 39 teams, with some teams consisting of players from more than one institution.

Throughout its existence, BCAFL was plagued by the fact that some of its teams played at a vastly higher skill level than others. During its final years the British Student American Football Association (BSAFA), who was responsible for the operations of BCAFL, made great strides towards competitive balance; increasing the skill level on the field and expanding the game throughout the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. However after extended public disagreements with the policies of the games governing body the British American football Association(BAFA), the BAFA dissolved the BSAFA with all the teams benig forced to transfer to the new British university American Football League (BUAFL).

Rules

BCAFL largely followed the rules of American college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 (though there were restrictions on the number of North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

n players allowed on the field at any one time). As opposed to the conference and "bowl game

Bowl game

In North America, a bowl game is commonly considered to refer to one of a number of post-season college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals and the games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating...

" set-up used in American college football BCAFL divided itself into two conferences and used a season-ending playoff

Playoff

The playoffs, postseason, or finals of a sports league are a game or series of games played after the regular season by the top competitors, usually but not always with a single-elimination system, to determine the league champion or a similar accolade.In the U.S...

 system, similar to the NFL (however, it should be noted that below the Bowl Subdivision of Division I, the NCAA uses a season-ending playoff system to crown national champions). At the end of an 8-game regular season, 16 teams would advance to the playoffs (the playoffs expanded from 12 to 16 teams in the 2004-2005 season), with the 4 division champions and 4 "wild card

Wild card (sports)

The term wild card refers broadly to a tournament or playoff berth awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal play.-International sports:...

" teams from each conference participating. The playoffs culminated with a championship game, called the "College Bowl" which features the champions of the Northern and Southern Conferences.

Full Member Records

Teams are listed within their divisions, with their all-time regular season record listed (records include ONLY official BCAFL regular season games through the 2006-07 season, as recorded in the BCAFL official all-time records).

Team	Conference	Division	W	L	T	Winning Pct.	Division Champ.	Conference Champ.	BCAFL Champ.
Caledonian Roughriders	Northern	Scottish	10	21	1	.328	0	0	0
Edinburgh Timberwolves	Northern	Scottish	10	14	0	.417	0	0	0
Glasgow Tigers	Northern	Scottish	92	55	13	.616	9	3	1
Paisley Pyros	Northern	Scottish	20	60	6	.267	0	0	0
Stirling Clansmen	Northern	Scottish	67	70	15	.484	5	1	1
Leeds Celtics	Northern	Eastern	97	26	10	.767	7	3	1
Newcastle Raiders	Northern	Eastern	65	80	8	.451	1	1	0
Sunderland Kings	Northern	Eastern	19	72	5	.224	0	0	0
UT Cougars	Northern	Eastern	74	76	13	.494	6	3	2
UCH Sharks	Northern	Western	78	72	13	.518	5	3	4
Lancaster Bombers	Northern	Western	62	59	7	.512	2	0	0
Lincoln Colonials	Northern	Western	0	7	1	.063	0	0	0
Sheffield Sabres	Northern	Western	46	62	10	.432	1	0	0
Sheffield Hallam Warriors	Northern	Western	13	16	3	.453	1	0	0
Derby Braves	Northern	Central	31	52	3	.378	0	0	0
UEA Pirates	Northern	Central	77	75	5	.506	2	1	0
Leicester Longhorns	Northern	Central	67	87	9	.439	1	2	0
Loughborough Aces	Northern	Central	121	27	2	.813	12	6	3
Nottingham Outlaws	Northern	Central	44	43	1	.506	1	0	0
Tarannau Aberystwyth	Southern	Central	52	64	4	.450	3	1	0
Birmingham Lions	Southern	Central	93	41	10	.681	7	2	1
Oxford Cavaliers	Southern	Central	65	58	5	.527	4	2	1
Staffordshire Stallions	Southern	Central	63	47	10	.567	3	1	0
Warwick Wolves	Southern	Central	52	81	9	.398	1	0	0
ARU Phantoms	Southern	Eastern	2	30	0	.063	0	0	0
Essex Blades	Southern	Eastern	19	25	3	.436	1	0	0
Greenwich Mariners	Southern	Eastern	13	10	0	.565	1	0	0
Hertfordshire Hurricanes	Southern	Eastern	72	26	6	.721	7	5	4
Kent Falcons	Southern	Eastern	29	60	0	.326	0	0	0
Royal Holloway Vikings	Southern	Eastern	4	12	0	.250	0	0	0
Bath Killer Bees	Southern	Western	61	48	11	.554	3	0	0
Bristol Bullets	Southern	Western	46	61	13	.438	2	1	1
Cardiff Cobras	Southern	Western	103	41	14	.696	11	2	1
Plymouth Blitz	Southern	Western	14	32	2	.313	0	0	0
Brighton Tsunami	Southern	Southern	14	16	2	.469	0	0	0
Portsmouth Destroyers	Southern	Southern	1	6	1	.188	0	0	0
Reading Knights	Southern	Southern	27	121	8	.199	0	0	0
Southampton Stags	Southern	Southern	89	44	11	.656	5	3	3
Surrey Stingers	Southern	Southern	50	49	5	.505	2	0	0

Defunct Teams

• Aberdeen Steamroller (0-8-0, .000)
• Aston Rhinos (10-43-3, .205)
• Cambridge Pythons (38-16-2, .696)
• Dundee Bluedevils (1-7-0, .125)
• Manchester MPs (3-12-2, .235)
• Strathclyde Hawks (64-41-15, .596)

BCAFL/College Bowl History

• 1986 - Hull Sharks (5-0)
• 1987 - College Bowl I: Hull Sharks def. Newcastle Scholars 23-6
• 1988 - CB II: Cardiff Cobras tie Hull Sharks 0-0 (declared Co-Champions)
• 1989 - CB III: Hull Sharks def. Cardiff Cobras 7-6
• 1990 - CB IV: Teesside Demons def. Birmingham Lions 21-20
• 1991 - CB V: Teesside Demons def. UEA Pirates 19-0
• 1992 - CB VI: Southampton Stags def. Glasgow Tigers 53-0
• 1993 - CB VII: Southampton Stags def. Leeds Celtics 19-0
• 1994 - CB VIII: Glasgow Tigers def. Leicester Lemmings 26-0
• 1995 - CB IX: Loughborough Aces def. Cambridge Pythons 23-20
• 1996 - CB X: Leeds Celtics def. Cardiff Cobras 14-8
• 1997 - CB XI: Loughborough Aces def. Tarannau Aberystwyth 28-19
• 1998 - CB XII: Hertfordshire Hurricanes def. Leeds Celtics 16-7
• 1999 - CB XIII: Hertfordshire Hurricanes def. Loughborough Aces 7-3
• 2000 - CB XIV: Hertfordshire Hurricanes def. Leicester Lemmings 20-6
• 2001 - CB XV: Oxford Cavaliers def. Loughborough Aces 26-23
• 2002 - CB XVI: Loughborough Aces def. Oxford Cavaliers 39-23
• 2003 - CB XVII: Stirling Clansmen def. Hertfordshire Hurricanes 22-17
• 2004 - CB XVIII: Hertfordshire Hurricanes def. Staffordshire Stallions 27-6
• 2005 - CB XIX: Birmingham Lions def. Glasgow Tigers 34-7
• 2006 - CB XX: Southampton Stags def. UT Cougars 79-8
• 2007 - CB XXI: Bristol Bullets def. Loughborough Aces 31-14

Playoffs

All-star game

Each season BCAFL held an All-Star game between the Northern Conference Cougars and the Southern Conference Wildcats. Trials for these All-Star teams are open to all players in the league. Along with the accolades of competing for their conference, All-Star players are also eligible to try-out for the Great Britain Bulldogs, a national college team that competes with North American and other European American football national teams.