BAFA National Leagues
 | |
| Sport | American football |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2010 |
| CEO | Martin Cockerill |
| No. of teams | 70 (Adult Contact league) |
| Country | England, Scotland, Wales |
| Official website | http://britishamericanfootball.org |
The BAFA National Leagues (BAFANL, formerly the BAFA Community Leagues) are the primary American football competition in England, Scotland and Wales. They were formed by the British American Football Association in 2010 to coordinate contact football and flag football across all age ranges. A total of 70 teams compete within the leagues.
Teams
Like most sports in Europe, but unlike most American sports leagues, the BAFA senior league uses the system of promotion and relegation, with the league divided into three divisions; "Premiership", "Division 1" and "Division 2".[1]
Premier
The BAFA's Premier Division for the 2017 season comprises eleven teams, split into the North and South conferences. Within each conference, each team plays each other twice. There will be 2 rounds of playoff football. The top ranked team in the NFC will host the second ranked team in the SFC whilst the top ranked team in the SFC will host the second ranked team in the NFC. The winners will compete for BritBowl.
| Premier North | Premier South |
|---|---|
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Division One
For the 2017 season, the second tier has expanded to 20 teams, now divided into 4 conferences: the Northern North, Northern South, Southern Central and the Southern East. Each team plays the others in their conference twice during the regular season as well as all teams playing two opponents on three occasions. There is no inter-conference play until the playoffs.
Top 2 in each of the 4 conference enter North Semi Final & South Semi Final. N#1 v N#4 & N#2 v N#3 (Same in South). North Champ v South Champ for Div 1 Championship. The two teams reaching the final will both win promotion to the Premier.[2]
| NFC 1 North | NFC 1 South | SFC 1 Central | SFC 1 South |
|---|---|---|---|
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Division Two
The third tier consists of two conferences, the Northern and Southern Football Conferences, which are further geographically subdivided into three regions each: the NFC North, Central, and South, and the SFC West, South, and East.[3][4] Each team plays the others in their region twice during the regular season. Within each conference, the playoffs are structured identically to the Division One system described above, with the NFC 2 Bowl and SFC 2 Bowl deciding separate champions.
| NFC 2 North | NFC 2 Central | NFC 2 South | SFC 2 West | SFC 2 South | SFC 2 East |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Associate Process
New teams must undergo an indefinite associate period before they are granted full member status of the national leagues. A number of criteria must be met, involving successfully completing a number of games, recruiting an amount of new players, proof of required finances and the creation of a club committee.[5]
Current associate teams:[6]
- Burnley Tornados
- Colburn Black Cats
- Dunfermline Kings
- Farnham Knights B
- Highland Wildcats
- Inverclyde Phoenix
- Kings Lynn Patriots
- Northants Knights
- Norwich Devils
- Redditch Arrows
- Somerset Wyverns
- Welwyn Hatfield Mosquitos
Britbowl champions
- 2010 London Blitz
- 2011 London Blitz
- 2012 London Blitz
- 2013 London Warriors
- 2014 London Warriors
- 2015 London Warriors
- 2016 London Warriors
References
- ↑ "BAFANL Adult Contact Standings". BAFA National Leagues. Archived from the original on 28 June 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
- ↑ "BAFANL League Expansion – Update". Double Coverage. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
- ↑ "BAFA confirms National League 2016 structure". British American Football. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
- ↑ "BAFANL Standings 2016". Double Coverage. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
- ↑ Establishing a club
- ↑ BAFA Announces New 2017 League Alignments