The British American Football Association (BAFA) have announced a further expansion of Division 1 of the National League from 20 to 24 teams for the 2018 season, and sees the Eagles remain in the SFC1 Central Conference.

Joining the Eagles in SFC1 Central this year are 2017 opponents Oxford Saints, Solent Thrashers and Sussex Thunder, as well as Berkshire Renegades and Bristol Apache – both promoted from Division Two.

Each team will play each other twice during the regular season (once at home and once away). Details of the regular season schedule are expected to be announced in the coming weeks but will take place between Sunday 15th April and Sunday 19th August.

2017 Play-Off Structure

As per the 2017 season eight teams in Division 1 will progress to the play-offs, consisting of the top two teams in each of the four conferences (NFC1 North, NFC1 South, SFC1 Central and SFC1 East).

The first round of the play-offs will see the #1 seed in the SFC/NFC face and #4 seed, and the #2 seed meet the #3 ranked team.

The Division 1 Championship will be decided between the NFC1 and SFC1 winners.

2017 Divisional 1 Alignments

NFC1 North

– Gateshead Senators
– Glasgow Tigers
– Lancashire Wolverines
– Leeds Bobcats
– Newcastle Vikings/Lightning
– Yorkshire Rams

NFC1 South

– Coventry Jets
– Doncaster Mustangs
– Leicester Falcons
– Nottingham Caesars
– Sandwell Steelers
– Shropshire Revolution

SFC1 Central

– Berkshire Renegades
– Bristol Apache
– Oxford Saints
– Ouse Valley Eagles
– Solent Thrashers
– Sussex Thunder

SFC1 East

– Cambridgeshire Cats
– Colchester Gladiators
– East Kent Mavericks
– Kent Exiles
– London Hornets
– Wembley Stallions

Super Bowl Sunday Open Session

Start your Super Bowl Sunday the right way!

Our Senior Team are holding a further Open Session on Sunday – 4th February at the University of Bedfordshire on Polhill Avenue between 11am and 12:30pm.

American Football is one of the fastest growing sports in the country, and with the success of the NFL International Series interest in the game has never been higher.

If you are aged 18 or above and have always fancied having a go why not try it out and see how you get on? No previous experience is necessary, as our team of qualified coaches will put you through your paces running a series of passing, catching, running and blocking drills designed to give you a real taste of American Football.

What to expect

If you want to know what to expect at the session, check out this highlights video from our previous Bedford session in November:

What you’ll need

There are a few things you’ll need to bring with you to the session:

– Water (recommended 2L but the more the better).
– Rugby or football boots as the session will be taking place on grass
– Shorts/Joggers or similar
– Top of some kind: sweatshirt, t-shirt or similar
– Gumshield

How to get there

Register your interest

To register your interest in the session, please respond to our Facebook event, complete the form below, or get in touch via Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Before the session you will be asked to complete a simple registration form (registrations open at 10.45am). If you would like to download a registration form and complete it ahead of the session, you can do so here.