Britball Playoff Recap and Britbowl Preview

The sun is setting on another British American Football season, and a rematch for the ages is the final treat before the 2025 season enters the history books and the 25/26 British University American Football season can be born out of its ashes.

A new playoff format for those competing in Divisions 1 & 2 means that no teams from those divisions will be loading their car with pads and helmets to take the field at the home of British American Football at Butts Park in Coventry, though I am sure that instead of bottles of Gatorade, the D1 and D2 players will be drinking bottles of another variety on September 7th. Some in celebration and some in commiseration as BAFA instituted Promotion/Relegation games for those two divisions, and for the first time, we’ll already know who is on the way up before Britball’s biggest game. 

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D1 & D2 Playoff Recap

The new format for the D1 & D2 Playoffs has been an interesting experiment, now having the lowest seeds competing with the winners from the division below.

 (Apart from the Northern Premiership with Edinburgh Wolves folding and Newcastle Vikings taking a walkover, which means instant promotion for both the Scunthorpe Alphas and Merseyside Nighthawks)

First, let's head to the D2 South, where two teams who were just relegated back down to D2 bounce straight back up as the Oxford Saints and Hereford Stampede claim promotion with the Saints trouncing the Berkshire Renegades 28-0 and the Stampede relegating the Somerset Wyverns with a score of 17-7. 

In the North, one of Britain's oldest American Football teams finds itself in D2 now, as the Birmingham Bulls fall to the formerly Premiership Leicester Panthers as they begin their climb back up the American Football pyramid with a score of 49-8 and promotion into D1 next season. 

Whilst in the other Division Two Northern “gulag” game, the Sheffield Giants managed to stamp themselves into the record books by being the only team in the relegation position to save themselves by beating the Lancashire Buccancers 20-8. 

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Cheetahs vs Stallions

In the only Premiership Relegation/Promotion game the winners of the undefeated winners of Division One South, the Wembley Stallions, travelled to Watford for a date with destiny, the 1-9 Hertfordshire Cheetahs.

A game that seemed commonplace, with no rivalry attached, but that changed when a video surfaced of a Cheetahs coach undermining the undefeated season of the Stallions, leading to both teams playing for more than just a spot in the Premiership. 

A sweet victory went the way of the Stallions, proving doubters wrong as they smashed the struggling Cheetahs 53-7, sending Hertfordshire down to Division 1 and making themselves the third London-based playing in the Premiership next year.

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Britbowl XXXVII

Competing in the 37th celebration of all things Gridiron in the UK will be the same as the 36th but though the team names have stayed the same, everything else has changed. 

Firstly, the defending and seven-time Britbowl Champions, the London Warriors have displayed their textbook dominance over the Premiership South…Well, almost textbook. Having four shutout victories, two over the Hertfordshire Cheetahs, one over Rushmoor and another over the London Blitz and maybe most importantly a 24-13 victory over the Aztecs in Week 5.

Stacking together a point differential of +377 over the season with their overwhelming offence, with stars such as Quarterback Dee Williams and Running Back Andy Owusu, who had a stint at the ELF’s Madrid Bravos partway through the season, leading the offensive charge. On top of their impressive defence, which only allowed 73 points this season, the challenge to the Warriors' throne once again seems like it could be too much to bear for most teams. 

Their journey through the playoffs saw them take place once again as the winners of the Premiership South, welcoming their old foes, the Coventry Phoenix and the Warriors dispatched Coventry with a 41-0 beatdown to claim their place in Britbowl 37.

“Almost textbook” is the term I used to describe the Warriors' regular season as once again the London Warriors' regular season ended without losing a game; however, it was not a perfect record.

In the final week of the Britball regular season, we were treated to another thrilling battle between the Warriors and Aztecs, this time at the Aztecs' home, which ended in a captivating 24-24 draw. This presented itself as a morsel of the game that we expected to see on the 7th of September. 

I spoke with a few of the Aztecs after that game, and the words were all positive. “It’ll keep us hungry” being the main phrase used. 

The Bristol Aztecs' Britball regular season record, finishing at 7-2-1, may raise red flags, but when you consider just how busy the Aztecs have been this season, there is still a groundswell of support for Bristol potentially being able to take their first Britbowl Championship home on September 7th. 

As mentioned above, the Aztecs suffered an early loss to the Warriors when they visited the University of Greenwich, but arguably the most surprising result for the Aztecs was their 26-24 loss to the London Blitz at their home pitch in Week 11 after defeating the Blitz 20-7 in Week 7. 

For my money, anyway, that loss to the Blitz acted as a slap to the face of the Aztecs and woke them up. From the point the Aztecs lost to the Blitz, they stormed through two meetings with the Cheetahs, thrashed the Rushmoor Knights and ended up with that draw against the Warriors.

Then for the fourth year in a row the Aztecs found themselves having to endure the almost four-hour trip up to BelleVue to take on the two-time Britbowl Champions in the Manchester Titans, though the game had points of the two squads being able to go shot for shot, the Aztecs pulled ahead with a staggering offence showcase thanks to RB Joey Ampomah and spectacular catches by Noah Clack and AJ Carr, winning the game 38-28.

But Britball was not the only league the Aztecs found themselves in this year, as the CEFL came calling and Bristol answered. Welcoming the Amsterdam Crusaders to Dings Rugby Club, and for the first time in years, a British American Football team defeated a squad from the continent 46-7. 

Their journey then took them to Carlstad to face another band of Crusaders, with the team from Sweden dispatching the Aztecs with a 35-0 shutout victory.

Bristol have played more football than anyone this season, and it begs the question, are they worn out or battle tested? A question I am sure we will get the answer too when they try and find redemption from their 31-10 loss to the Warriors at Britbowl 36.