BUAFL Predictions: Midweek SEC and Borders

Three games are taking place today, here's a look at our predictions!

BUAFL Match Report: Stingers Stung by Buccaneers

Another quality report from BNU including video highlights

BUAFL Match Report: EN Knights vs Sunderland Spartans

Match report from deepest darkest Border division

Week 11 Powerless Rankings: Rankings 15-1

 Worcester's season gets worse as they struggle to get their star jumps in sync...

Once again it’s time for our powerless rankings as we bring shame to the fifteen worst teams in BUAFL so far this year. With a number of teams on last week’s powerless rankings winning, we see quite a bit of movement around, but only the Lancaster Bombers who scraped to a 3-0 win over Huddersfield, and the Staffordshire Stallions who dismantled the Worcester Royals, managed to avoid being on this week’s list!

Enough badgering around, onwards to the rankings!

BUAFL Updated Playoff Picture

With the end of the regular season fast approaching, we take a quick look at the updated playoff picture.

In the first round, the #3 and 4 seeds have home field advantage, with the #3 team hosting the #6 team and the #4 seed hosting the number #5 team.

In the second round, the #1 and 2 seeds return from their byes to host the winners of the previous round. The number 1 seed will host the lowest ranked team that advances, with the number 2 seed hosting the highest ranked team that advance.

The third round (semi finals) is where the national rankings come into place. The highest two seeds nationally will have the home field advantage over the two lower ranked teams.

Meme of the week

This weeks Meme!

Double Coverage: Photography Competition!

It's that time again!

Last month we asked you, the British American Footballing community, to submit your best photographs to feature on our Facebook Page.

The competition was a rousing success with Denzil Byron becoming the face of the Double Coverage franchise for a month with this picture:

Week 11 BUAFL Rankings: Rankings 1-15

The second half of our power rankings sees a number of teams in the early teens moving around, but the conference champs remain in the same position for another week.

Week 11 BUAFL Rankings: Rankings 16-25

Several teams featured in last week’s power rankings lost this week to shake things up and the added influence of the midweek games sees some old face return to the only weekly power rankings for British American Football. 

BUAFL Week 11 Results

Saturday 24th

NTU Renegades 7 @ 34 Loughborough Aces

Sunday 25th

Stirling Clansmen 48 @ 8 Northumbria Mustangs

Sunderland Spartans 0 @ 34 EN Knights 

Edinburgh Predators 14 @ 0 Durham Saints 

Teesside Cougars 26 @ 12 UWS Pyros

Newcastle Raiders 12 @ 0 Glasgow Tigers

BAFANL Fixtures Released

Earlier today, BAFANL released the fixtures for the 2012 season. All the fixtures can be found below, dates may be subject to change nearer the date of the fixture.

Premier North Date	Kick-off	Home	Away
15/04/2012	14:30	Doncaster Mustangs	East Kilbride Pirates
22/04/2012	14:30	Leicester Falcons	Yorkshire Rams
28/04/2012	16:00	Birmingham Bulls	East Kilbride Pirates
29/04/2012	15:00	Tamworth Phoenix	Doncaster Mustangs
06/05/2012	14:30	Birmingham Bulls	Yorkshire Rams
06/05/2012	15:00	Tamworth Phoenix	East Kilbride Pirates
13/05/2012	14:30	Birmingham Bulls	Leicester Falcons
13/05/2012	14:30	Yorkshire Rams	Tamworth Phoenix
20/05/2012	14:30	Doncaster Mustangs	Leicester Falcons
20/05/2012	16:00	East Kilbride Pirates	Tamworth Phoenix
27/05/2012	14:30	Doncaster Mustangs	Yorkshire Rams
02/06/2012	16:00	Yorkshire Rams	Birmingham Bulls
09/06/2012	14:30	Yorkshire Rams	East Kilbride Pirates
09/06/2012	14:30	Birmingham Bulls	Tamworth Phoenix
09/06/2012	16:00	Leicester Falcons	Doncaster Mustangs
17/06/2012	14:30	Doncaster Mustangs	Birmingham Bulls
17/06/2012	16:00	Leicester Falcons	Tamworth Phoenix
24/06/2012	12:00	East Kilbride Pirates	Leicester Falcons
24/06/2012	14:30	Yorkshire Rams	Doncaster Mustangs
24/06/2012	15:00	Tamworth Phoenix	Birmingham Bulls
08/07/2012	14:30	Tamworth Phoenix	Yorkshire Rams
08/07/2012	14:30	Birmingham Bulls	Doncaster Mustangs
08/07/2012	16:00	Leicester Falcons	East Kilbride Pirates
14/07/2012	15:00	Tamworth Phoenix	Leicester Falcons
14/07/2012	18:00	East Kilbride Pirates	Birmingham Bulls
22/07/2012	14:30	East Kilbride Pirates	Doncaster Mustangs
22/07/2012	14:30	Yorkshire Rams	Leicester Falcons
28/07/2012	16:00	Leicester Falcons	Birmingham Bulls
28/07/2012	17:00	East Kilbride Pirates	Yorkshire Rams
29/07/2012	14:30	Doncaster Mustangs	Tamworth Phoenix

BUAFL Week 11 predictions: MAC & Borders

Our final batch of predictions for the week with the MAC and Borders games.

BUAFL Week 11 Predictions: Northern

We look north in our next set of predictions.

BUAFL Match Report: The Steel Bowl

Match report from the Steelbowl game between Sheffield Hallam Warriors and the Sheffield University Sabres.

Both teams pose together after a game for the ages.

BUAFL Predictions: TVC

Another day, another load of predictions. Later today we have a match report from the Steelbowl and the MAC, Northern and Borders predictions!

BUAFL Week 11 Predictions: SWAC

 A MAMMOTH effort by our SWAC writer in a full schedule for the SWAC this week.

BUAFL Week 11 Predictions: SEC

We are starting to get into the meat and potatoes of the season now, so schedules are piling up! First set of predictions this week are from the SEC

BUAFL Game Report: Let's talk about SEC baby!

Yet another excellent game report written by Charlie Harris of UEA.

BUAFL: The South Coast Triumvirate

By now most people are aware of the teams, three perennial playoff contenders who between them have accounted for three of the last seven BCAFL/BUAFL Championships. But the complex rivalry between the three sides is more than just a case of familiarity breeding contempt; leading coaches from all three staffs have played/coached and in some cases lived together.

BUAFL Match report: Solent's Run Continues

The BNU Buccaneers took a small squad ravaged by injuries to the in form Solent Redhawks last Sunday to try and kick start their season. With the regular season starting to enter the final straight in the BUAFL's most competitive conference, all was on the line.

Both teams are full of quality, but had come away unlucky losers in a few of their contests.  BNU sitting with a record of 2-3 having lost some cracking matches like the 52-48 shootout with the undefeated Southampton Stags.  Solent were looking to build on their form after toppling the national champions and were hunting for a 4th win in a row.

BNU wore a special number 79 decal on their helmets in Solent red and white in memory of fallen Redhawk Rich Baker.

BAFANL: The Rule Changes – What you need to know.

Every year BUAFL adopt most of the rule changes from the previous year’s NCAA competition. BAFANL are even quicker on the uptake in that they adopt the rules a couple of months after the NCAA is over. There have been some significant rule changes, so make sure you’re clued up before you take the field come October this year, or even sooner come April.

Top 5 upsets of the season (so far)

With the year of the upset getting into full swing, this week’s top 5 looks at the best upsets of the season so far. With there being quite a lot of upset’s in this year’s BUAFL season, we can’t mention all the games (such as Exeter beating Cardiff, Leeds beating the unbeaten Sabres and Reading beating Pompey), but nevertheless – let’s head on to the games that didn’t quite make the cut!

Glasgow Tigers 0 - 7 EN Knights – Up until last weekend, the Glasgow Tigers seemed to be destined for a spot in the championship playoffs whilst the 1-4 Knights seemed to be heading for a sub .500 season, but then the Knights pulled off the shock upset victory to claim their second win of the season and all but ended the Tigers hopes of making the championship playoffs. This was also the first time Glasgow had been shutout this season.

Sunderland Spartans 20 - 28 UWS Pyros – After seasons of going winless, who seriously expected UWS to upset the 2-2 (now 3-4) Sunderland Spartans? We certainly didn’t so we were very surprised when we saw this overtime result. With the Teesside Cougars left on the schedule, the Pyros could end up finishing with a 2-6 record, whilst the best the Spartans can hope for is 4-4.

BUAFL Match report: SEC Upset!

The garden of England provided a beautiful day for Football when the 2-3 Cambridge Pythons travelled to Canterbury to face the 4-0 Kent Falcons on Sunday. The Falcons were heavily favoured going into the game, with an undefeated streak at home that stretches back to 2010, whilst the Pythons had their tails up  following  a dramatic fourth quarter victory against LSBU the week before.

BUAFL Midweek Predictions

Predictions for the midweek games taking place today.

Week 10 Powerless Rankings: Rankings 15-1

With a request from a mysterious anon on the unofficial forum, we have decided to begin a powerless ranking! It's time to name and shame the worst teams in BUAFL! A message to all teams on this list, if you’re not happy with your ranking – stop sucking!

BUAFL: Playoff Permutations

So with some big upsets this week, how do the playoffs stand for the main contenders?

BUAFL Game Report: Renegades royally rout Worcester

Not exactly a glamour fixture, but an interesting report on a playoff hopeful and a team that hasn't shown any improvement in it's 3 years of competitive play.

BUAFL Game Report: Borders Upset

Match report on the huge upset in the Borders conference as the title challenging Glasgow Tigers took on the EN Knights.

Week 10 Power Rankings: Rankings 1-15

The movers and shakers continue as we now see two - yes, two - rookie teams enter our top 15 and a new number one!

1. Birmingham Lions (6-0)

And your new number one team in the country is the Birmingham Lions! We’re guessing that everyone involved in britball will say that the Lions deserve to be on the top spot after their eight point victory over the number three team in our rankings. Birmingham will need to remain focused for the task at hand as they head to Warwick next week.

2. Hertfordshire Hurricanes (6-0)

Do Herts deserve to drop down this week? They'll probably feel hard done by, but because the Lions beating the number three team in our rankings and the Canes not having yet played a team of high quality, Hertfordshire drop down because of bad luck from the weather. Not to worry though as Gareth Davies gets extra praise for causing this fantastic moment! 

Week 10 Power Rankings: Rankings 16-25

2012 – Year of the upset – Nothing else needs to be said for this week’s rankings – That is all.

BUAFL Week 10 Results

Saturday 18th

Loughborough Aces 13 @ 21 Birmingham Lions

 FAUK Game Report.

Football America UK Bowl – Birmingham Lions vs. Loughborough Aces

Despite the cold, wet weather, the Double Coverage team were still willing to make the journey to the University of Birmingham to report on the biggest game of the season. Aren't we just brilliant?

BUAFL Week 10 Predictions: Northern & Borders

Northern Predictions, plus the Borders predictions tacked on at the end (still no writers)!

BUAFL Week 10 predictions: SWAC

To sate your thirst for BUAFL banter, we present to you the SWAC predictions!

Jim Blinkhorn Statement on MMU

After reporting on his departure from MMU with the statement from the club we were contacted by Jim Blinkhorn himself who wanted to give a statement himself.

BUAFL Week 10 Predictions: MAC

Our Predictions from the MAC (not including our FAUK predictions found here)

BUAFL Week 10 Predictions: TVC

Our BUAFL predictions for week 10's TVC fixtures.

FAUK Bowl Game Preview

Our Big game preview for the biggest game of the season so far!

Loughborough Aces @ Birmingham Lions

FAUK Bowl Buildup: Interview with Paul Sherratt

An interview with Loughborough Aces head coach Paul Sherratt ahead of the FAUK Bowl this Saturday.

MMU Eagles Statement on Head Coach Jim Blinkhorn

A statement from the MMU Eagles with regards to Jim Blinkhorn stepping down as head coach.

BUAFL & BAFANL Match Reports

With the increasing amount of match reports we are receiving every week we have decided to make this statement to let you guys know how we want to receive them and to give you some pointers as to what we are looking for.

1) We ask that all match reports sent to us are attached as a Microsoft word document, with 12pt Calibri font as the body text and 12pt Calibri bold font as the header text.

2) We can only guarantee publishing match reports we receive by Wednesday lunchtime (12pm). After this our schedule is full of predictions and other weekend related content, so there can be no guarantee your work will be published (and we do hate leaving good work behind).

3) Try and mention as many names as possible, including the opposition teams names (all it takes is a quick email or facebook message)! One of our goals at Double Coverage is to give British American Football a "face" people recognise. Every team has their stars and legends, so give them an opportunity to be recognised through us.

4) Always try and add a photo (also attached) to the report. This also plays into giving Britball a face. If you can't get a photo then we will still publish your article, it just might not get as much attention as one full of photography.

If you are using a photographers photos please ask permission first and also ask how they want to be credited on the site. We are trying hard to work with the communities photographers, who are a crucial part of getting the image of American Football in the UK out to the world.

5) Details! The more detail the better! If you can include stats from the game we can edit them in or add them where we think appropriate. Any time you can get comment from head coaches or players is also great and adds to the depth of a reprot.

Thankyou for taking the time to read this and we look forward to reading your match reports!

BAFANL: Farnham Knights take a year out! What now?

With the sad news yesterday that the Farnham Knights would be closing down senior operations for the 2012 season and returning in 2013 in division 2 one huge question was thrown into the spotlight.

How else could BAFANL have changed the league and/or schedule in the Premier League?

We've been discussing this at Double Coverage and have come up with 4 possible permutations for you to mull over:

EDIT: AFTER WRITING THIS ARTICLE WE FOUND THAT IT HAS ALREADY BEEN DECIDED WHAT BAFANL ARE GOING TO DO. THEY HAVE ANNOUNCED THAT EACH TEAM PLAYING FARNHAM WILL BE AWARDED A 1-0 WIN (Option 2)!

BUAFL Week 10 Predictions: SEC

RHUL Bears @ Canterbury Chargers
Wow, the bears got a real beat down from BNU this past week. I’m in no doubt the ground was probably terrible to play on, which usually lends itself to low scoring affairs, that is when you’re not facing a team that runs a double wing and is used to running. It seems the bad weather brings out the DW in everyone! I personally thought the Bears were making a comeback this year, revamping their image with the new logo. Although looking back now, the only two wins were against a rookie programme in the Westminster team, and the bottom end of our bottom 10 programme Surrey.

FAUK Bowl Buildup: Interview with Wayne Hill

A short interview with Birmingham Lions head coach Wayne Hill as he prepares for the Football America UK Bowl this Saturday in Birmingham.

BUAFL Game Report: The Snowbowl

With the BNU – Holloway rivalry sitting at 1 apiece the 2 teams met for a snow bowl at a neutral ground.  Originally scheduled to be played at The Cove BNU received the call to say the council pitch was unplayable.

A local grammar school was found roughly halfway between the 2 sides and on Saturday the BNU team set to work clearing snow and spraying the field markings.  By kickoff the snow was around an inch or two thick on the ground at worst with the majority of melting away, but this didn’t stop come spectacular tackles sliding for abnormal distances though.

BAFANL: Farnham Knights take a year out!

Earlier today our sources reported a rumour that the Farnham Knights had decided to take a year out. Reaction to this at first was shock, but when asked for official comment the Knights confirmed and said a press release was pending. Below is their release:

BUAFL Top Five: FAUK Bowl Top 5 things to watch out for

A few weeks ago we covered what we thought would be the top 5 most fun bowl games. With the jovial nature of our top 5 we missed out more serious contenders, with the most obvious being the annual meeting of two of the BUAFL's most storied franchises.

This Saturday at 1pm on the Birmingham University campus (Facebook event here) these two giants will battle once again in a game that most presume will decided the winner of the MAC and Double Coverage will be on site tweeting live from the event. We thought it best to give anyone venturing down for the biggest game of the season so far a guide to our top 5 things to look out for in the game. So without further ado we start the list with a couple of things you may want to look out for, but didn't quite make the cut:

GB Lions: The next Step

From BAFA.org

Following the recent successful junior and senior GB open trials, players who are through to the next stage have now been contacted.

Over 500 players from across the UK attended open trials for both age groups in Doncaster, Bristol and Hertfordshire – a huge pool of talent for the GB coaching team to select from.

The next step in the journey for the new national programme will be invitational one day camps, held at Loughborough on March 17, May 19 and August 18. The events will host both junior and senior players.

As well as the open trials, players have been selected for invites on the basis of film, discussions with coaches and performance in the last year’s games.

BUAFL Match Report: Edinburgh Napier Knights @ Newcastle Raiders

A bruised Edinburgh Napier Knights travelled to the division leading Newcastle Raiders on Sunday with the thoughts of an upset at the front of their minds. However the Knights were the masters of their own downfall with 5 first half turnovers that saw the Raiders flex their muscles and rack up 36 points.

An interception in the first quarter from Napier QB Euan Rennie led to points for the Raiders, as they passed the ball in from 12 yards out to take an early lead they would never look back from. The traditional 2 point conversion was added to give Newcastle and 8 point lead.

A 6 Touchdown 2^nd quarter saw some great offensive play from both teams. Newcastle blew into the lead with a couple of touchdown runs, one almost half the length of the field. The Knights replied with a 38 yard pass from Euan Rennie to Neale Lees to get their first points on the board. 

BUAFL Match Report: Northumbria Mustangs @ Edinburgh Predators

Due to a postponement in the first week after the holiday period, Northumbria headed north on Sunday to match up against the Edinburgh Predators for their first action of the new year.

The Predators entered the game as the favourites, after the previous week’s victory over cross town rivals, the Napier Knights.

The Predators received the ball to start the game. Opting to spread the Mustangs’ Defense out, Edinburgh came out in three and four wide sets, looking to put the pressure on the secondary. Northumbria’s Defense has played well through the first four games and this game was no exception. An interception by rookie Linebacker Danny Bomken halted the first Predators possession abruptly, handing the ball over to QB Leonard Birnie and the Offense.

A quick 25 yard TD run by WR Dan Leather, followed by a two point conversion by RB Tega Diegbe put the Mustangs up 8-0 early.

Week Nine Power Rankings: Rankings 1-15

Part two sees a lot of teams affected by the weather, a new team in our rankings due to the loss of a former top 15 team and a rookie team continuing to rise!

1. Hertfordshire Hurricanes (5-0)

Another week, another cancelled game for the Hertfordshire Hurricanes as their game against Kent was postponed due to the poor weather. Other than the fact they have yet to play in 2012, there’s nothing extra to add about the Canes without repeating what I’ve said other the last few weeks. Hopefully this weekend’s game against Brighton can go ahead.

2. Birmingham Lions (5-0)

As we revealed on our Facebook page (albeit before the teams did), the Lions game against the Braves was eventually called off. Just like the team above them, Birmingham hasn’t played a game in 2012 meaning there isn’t much more to add. In case you didn’t know, this Saturday see’s the #2 team take on the #3 team in our power rankings. BIG GAME!

BUAFL Week Nine Power Rankings: Rankings 16-25

 *Sigh* I don’t know about you guys, but all of us at Double Coverage are fed up of the damn snow! For the second week straight a lot of the weekend’s games fell victim to the weather, but we still had enough games go ahead to cause some moves on our power rankings!

Anyway, onwards to the rankings!

BUAFL Week 9 Scores/Predictions/Postponements

Latest scores from around the BUAFL, including the postponed games!

BUAFL Predictions: MAC

Birmingham Lions @ Derby Braves (17:00)

With their first game of 2012 cancelled by the Colonials and the Aces on the horizon, the Lions will be hoping to use this game to make sure they’re firing on all cylinders in a week’s time. A win over the Braves would lock up a playoff spot for the Lions, whilst keeping the pressure on the other two unbeaten teams in the MAC.

Despite being considered one of the big three teams in the MAC, all the signs suggest that the Braves may be missing out of the post season this year. Whilst outsiders may claim the early season losses were Derby’s downfall, the news of injuries throughout the team including key losses to their defence may be the reason for the Braves eventual undoing.

Birmingham to win by four scores.

BUAFL Predictions: Northern Conference

UH Sharks @ Leeds Celtics

Two of the oldest teams in British collegiate football face off in this match-up. Hull are having a great season thus far, having been the only team to score on conference power house Hallam. They will be looking to put their error-riddled performance against Huddersfield behind them and show they are a playoff calibre force to be reckoned with. 

Leeds have been a bit slow of the mark this season, posting two scoreless losses to Hallam and Bradford. They will be aiming to send shockwaves round the league with an upset in this week’s game. Expect to see two well drilled and varied offences facing off against two aggressive defences. We may even see some passing!
UH Sharks by 22