London Olympians First Practice

The South London side now call Goals Beckenham North, on Copers Cope Road, home and head coach Riq Ayub could not be happier.

“We've been looking for a facility for about three years, for something we could be permanent with and somewhere we could call home,” Ayub said. “This is our first year, but it's a five-year plan.”
The ground ticks many boxes the club have been looking for, including: easy access, good quality practise surfaces (grass and astroturf, good locker room facilities, good quality field to host games, classroom access, storage and a social area.

Shamrock Bowl Conference North Preview

The new Irish American Football League season is almost upon us and so it’s time to preview the newly reshuffled League.

First off we have the reigning champions, the Belfast Trojans. The Trojans are still a relatively new team, having formed in 2006, but their mix of strong defence, dynamic offence and great off-field organisation saw them quickly rise to the peak of Irish American Football.

Their large squad, and great offseason recruiting, will be vital since they’re taking part in the EFAF Atlantic Cup as well as the League this year. The stars of the team, the Colvin brothers, Shamrock Bowl MVP Neil Montgomery and the strong offensive and defensive lines, will need to be on top of their game if they’re to repeat though!

The Belfast Trojans lift the Shamrock Bowl in 2012 (photo courtesy of Nathan James Sharrocks)

American Football as Art

Some excellent art work depicting how American Football games would look if the teams names were real! From: http://imgur.com/a/9VdIW

Week Nine Predictions

Saltire

Edinburgh Predators (2-3) vs. #19 Glasgow Tigers (4-1)

Game of the week in the Saltire. If Glasgow wins, it’s all over as far as the top 2 seeds are concerned and the Tigers, with the Clansmen, advance to the playoffs.

The Predators will be buoyed by last weekend’s 30-0 win in the Varsity game but were effectively gift wrapped the victory by their cross town rivals.

What remains to be seen is if, like last year, the Pred’s can use their Varsity victory to launch a comeback charge at a playoff run. The Tigers eked out a 6-0 victory over UWS last weekend in what were described as Glastonbury-like conditions. The Tigers remain the form team but this could be a close one and we’re going with the upset

Prediction: Predators by 2

Rivalry Report: Leeds Carnegie Conquer Celtics

The sun rose over a city divided on Saturday as Leeds Met Carnegie prepared to host the Leeds University Celtics in a varsity match of epic proportions. The Celtics had won 3 of their 5 games and stood 3rd in the division, eager to take the place of their bitter rivals in 2nd, whilst Carnegie sought to affirm their reputation as one of the premier teams in the northeast.