![]() BUAFL logo | |
Sport | American football |
---|---|
Founded | 2007 |
Divisions | 3 with a total of 14 conferences |
No. of teams | 83 (2022–23 season) |
Country | ![]() |
Most recent champion(s) | Premier: UWE Bullets
Division 1: Filton College Pride Division 2: Liverpool University Raptors & Bournemouth University Bobcats |
The British Universities American Football League (BUAFL) is an American football league contested by university teams in the United Kingdom as part of the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) organisation. The league was formed by the British American Football Association (BAFA), the national governing body of American football in the UK, in 2007 as the successor to the British Collegiate American Football League, after BAFA withdrew its recognition of the British Student American Football Association which ran that league.[1][2] The BUAFL has been credited with reviving interest in American football in the UK.[3]
From 2008, the BUAFL was officially associated with the National Football League (NFL), through its partner organisation NFL UK.[4] In 2012, BUAFL's league and teams were absorbed into BUCS after American football became an official BUCS sport.[5] Over the period 2007 to 2014, the BUAFL grew from 42 teams and 2,460 participants to 75 teams and over 4,100 people involved.[6]
As any wannabe dictator will tell you, revolution simply cannot happen without grassroots action. That is it true in sport, too. For American football, that movement came not from the NFL itself, but was home-grown at British universities.
The British Universities American Football League (BUAFL) had 42 teams before the first Wembley game in 2007 and 2,460 participants; now 75 universities are registered, with more than 4,100 players, coaches and officials