To all who dont know me, let me introduce myself, Im Phill Deakin (Grabarc) from a small town of Bourne in Lincolnshire in Blighty! Now Lincolnshire is known for its Agriculture of crops and cows.sounds like somewhere else I know!

I am sure everyone is well versed in how Soccer is the predominate sport in the UK, But what I want to talk about over the coming articles is the ever growing involvement and interest in Football. For myself I will be participating during my senior year in my college football team: The Nottingham Trent Renegades in the British University American Football League (BUAFL), to which there is also the British American Football League (BAFL). Now when I conjure up images of college football..I can only imagine stadiums packed out with fans and students. The true fact of UK college football is 2 teams having to get random passers by to come get involved in the chain gangs and struggling to get referees and the inevitability of the English weather, but this is the appeal of the sport. Its the feeling of having something unique to the players and coaches. That it is away from the spotlight apart from the Superbowl of the final game which is sometimes aired on Satellite TV. [url=index.php?name=Pro_News&aid=110]full article[/url].

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Thanks Grabarc.. looking forward to seeing the game from a player on the other side of the world. +1.


EDIT.. to make sure it is clear.. Grabarc wrote the article, I just posted it on his behalf. Sorry for any confusion.

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Cool logo...

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I went to Nottingham Trent, good days! I wasn't even aware their was a football team, albiet I wasn't actually looking.....

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Well there is a Nottingham Trent team now that the joint team with the University of Nottingham has been disbanded by the buafl (if i remember correctly) so the University of Nottingham keep the Outlaws name and Nottingham Trent became the renegades.

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That is certainly true.

And i missed out my obvious typo of my alias haha. But oh well.

Waiting for the freshman to arrive and see how many fatties we get signed up to sit on the OLine!

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As my signature says I used to play for the Merseyside Nighthawks having founded the team in early 86

Absolutely loved playing.

Started off not knowing a thing about the game, I didn't even know that every play was designed, I just thought the QB and the RB's made up the plays on the fly. i'e after the snap he just gave the ball to the RB who tried to get as many yards as possible not knowing where he was going until he got the ball.

Learning the playbook on offense was hard at first but once it clicked and then practicing it made the game even more enjoyable.

Then came putting what you learned into practice in actual games. When it worked it made all that hard work in practice seem worthwhile.

I started off as RB / WR but as more experienced players joined the team I converted to defense finally ending up as CB.

I also played gunner on kick off team. Now THAT is fun!!!! Big hits and utter mayhem!!!!!!!

My best play ever was in a game against Bury Pumas. We had only a small squad at the time and I was asked to play OLB.

On the play the QB dropped back to pass and I was on a OLB blitz. I got to the QB sacked him, stripping the ball at the same time and then recovering the QB's fumble.To say I went mad is an understatement.

It all came to fruition for me and the Nighthawks when in 1992 we were British National Gridiron League Premier Division Champions beating the Crawley Raiders 23 - 20 in the final at Saffron Lane in Leicester.

The Nighthawks are still playing today and are one of the most longest surviving teams in the UK. Many teams have come and gone but the Nighthawks play on. It makes me so proud that the team I formed with my freind on a whim all those years ago survives to today.

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