In the flat fields of Lincolnshire, a crowd gathers. Decked out in bright red, the swarms of people can be heard chanting their ritual. ‘Defence! Defence! Defence!’ This isn’t a call to arms. This is the Lincolnshire Bombers, a grassroots American football team in the heart of rural England.
This modern iteration of the Lincolnshire Bombers have been playing ‘The Great American Game’ on England’s own sodden pitches since 2005. With April marking the start of the American Football season, I spoke to team recruiter John Milford about getting people involved in the game:
“Over the last two years we’ve seen. 30 new players to the sport join us that have never played before (…) but since the start of the season, getting the guys out on the field for their first reps of meaningful game time has been a cool thing to see.”
American football has been launched into the public zeitgeist now more than ever. Over 127 million people tuned into Super Bowl LIX and interest in the game has been particularly strong in the UK with London being the only city in Europe to host all 32 Nation Football League (NFL) teams.
John agrees that this growth has been spurred by the NFL. He said: “Having the Super Bowl covered on free platforms and then obviously NFL games on the likes of Sky Sports that has definitely helped.”
I went along to The Bombers home game against the Leicester Panthers. Arriving to a full car park, the atmosphere was electric. The teams stood opposed on each side-line, opposing factions preparing for war. John, playing cornerback, dons his helmet. He mutters the play to his teammates, his brothers in arms:
“It’s definitely a mental game, people underestimating you is always good fun and gets you going on the game day.”
Photo courtesy of willowflorence.photography
One of the captains for this year’s men’s team is Adam Simeoni. A Line-backer for the team, Adam has played American football for over 11 years and during the game he won the MVP award for his contributions on the offensive side. He explained how the side is a home for people from across the Midlands:
“We’ve got 60 guys signed on this year which is fantastic. It’s never easy in Lincolnshire because it’s such as dispersed county population so it’s hard, like last season we had guys playing from Middlesbrough coming down. We have people from Nottingham, Scunthorpe, Peterborough, all over the place.”
We talked after the game. The Bombers had lost 3-40 but pride still enveloped the players faces, as the home team had managed to pick up their first points of the season. Measuring up the offensive and defensive lines, Adam explained how he thought the inclusivity of the sport aided its success. He said: “Look around on our team. You’ve got who probably weigh about 11 stone and they’re 5-foot-4 and then you’ve got guys who probably weigh 25 stone and they’re 6-foot-5. There’s definitely something for everyone.”
Lincolnshire is not the only place seeing the sport blossom. Research suggests that American football has garnered popularity and a range of fans across the UK. A survey by the Student Sport Company found that over 4000 University students are competing in the sport across 80 different UK University teams.
Chad Ehlertsen is CEO of the British American Football Association (BAFA), in a statement he said:
“We are incredibly excited with the ongoing emerging growth of American Football across the UK. Fuelled by the incredibly successful NFL London games and the emergence of Flag Football as an Olympic sport at LA28, we are seeing a significant opportunity to inspire the next generation of players, coaches, officials and volunteers to grow the sport.”
This increased interest has been especially beneficial to clubs like the Lincolnshire Bombers who have received funding from Sport England as John describes:
“We basically had to do a fundraiser and then they (Sport England) matched what we what we raised. So that was super useful, that paid for I think 30 new team helmets which is a huge step in the right direction because those are valid for 10 years.”
With increased interest, the level of quality has also seen an unprecedented rise. BAFA coach Jason Scott believes that the upcoming LA Olympic games will also be important for the sport of flag football, on non-contact version of the game:
“I’ve been fortunate to be involved in Grassroots American Football in the UK since 1998, and the growth I’ve seen – particularly over the past five years – has been staggering.
“With a clear goal of qualifying and succeeding at the LA games, we have the ability to showcase the number and depth of British Athletes on the International Stage. A great metric to the growth and quality of the sport in the UK would be a medal at the Olympics.”
While it could take decades for the sport to gain a similar presence to the behemoth that dominates the US, this steady rise displays that the gap across the pond is becoming just that little bit smaller.
