Oxford Saints

Oxford Saints
Established 1983
Based in Oxfordshire
Home stadium Tilsley Park, Abingdon
Head coach Andrew Day
League BAFA National Leagues
Division BAFANL Division II South West Conference
League titles 3 (1995, 2006, 2016)
Website http://www.oxfordsaints.com

Oxford Saints American Football Club is an British American football club that competes in the BAFANL (British American Football Association National League). Currently the team competes at senior level in the South West Conference. The club is based in Abingdon and plays its games at Tilsley Park in Oxfordshire. Their games are played at weekends from April through August, usually on Sunday's. Set up in 1983, Oxford Saints are one of the oldest American football teams in the UK and have competed every year since their inception.

In May 2016, the Oxford Saints launched a separate women's team.

History

Oxford Bulldogs

The brainchild of Steve Abbott, the team began life as Oxford Eagles, but following a Radio Oxford phone-in competition the team was renamed Oxford Bulldogs, and they began playing in 1984. Bulldogs contemporaries at the time were such illustrious Britball names as the London Ravens, Heathrow Jets and Stock Exchange Stags. Bulldogs first three organised games were won and set the tone for a long and successful future.

As American football's popularity increased the first British league was formed, and in 1985 Bulldogs officially joined the AFL. Bulldogs stormed through their first season with an 8-1-1 record, being defeated only by the London Ravens at the quarter final stage of the playoffs. In 1986 the AFL became the Budweiser League and for the next three seasons Bulldogs played with mixed success, once again reaching the quarter finals in 1987.

In 1989 Bulldogs were joined by local rivals Abingdon Pharaohs, strengthening the squad and broadening its local fan base. The Budweiser League then morphed into the Combined Gridiron League and then the CMAA, an unsettled period in Britball's history matched by Bulldogs' distinctly average 4-6 records over each of those two seasons.

1991 saw a quantum leap in the structure of American football in the UK as the British National Gridiron League (BNGL) was formed. It was a period of stability within the game that was matched by Bulldogs' increasing success. Instrumental in this success was American head coach, and former Chicago Bear, Steve Conner. Conner led the team to a 9-1 record and the club's first playoff appearance for four years, defeated once again at the quarter final stage in a thriller against Sutton Coldfield.

Oxford Saints

1992 saw Bulldogs move into a new era as they became Oxford Saints. Driven forward by their general manager, Roger Hedges, the club secured their first major sponsorship deal and moved to a new home at the Oxford Stadium in Cowley. Another 8-2 season followed but yet again Saints fell at the quarter final hurdle, this time to the DeLonghi Knights in Farnham. It was the same story the following year as the Knights and the quarter finals proved too big to overcome.

Prior to the 1994 season Coach Conner returned to the US leaving a legacy of professionalism, pride and talent that would serve Saints well. Richard Emerick, another experienced US coach picked up the reins and although Saints failed to make the playoffs after a 6-4 season things were beginning to take shape.

An experienced squad led by the inspirational BJ Johnson at quarterback featured myriad offensive talents; running backs Nick Whitford, Billy McMahon and Jason Lowe ran behind a huge and powerful offensive line of Steve Abbott and Everett McLean, and Steve Belcher led a fleet receiving corps. The defence was equally potent with no-nonsense Saints hall-of-fame defensive lineman Morris Coleman (who styled himself on retired Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Mean Joe Green), the Whitford brothers, Nick and Paul, joined by a young Andrew 'Snake' Day, Danny Hawkey and a talented secondary featuring Nick Wykes, Iain Noakes, Kevin Joseph and American Airman Scott Grady.

The wheels threatened to come off during the 1995 season when Emerick was forced to return to the US for family reasons. Long-time Bulldog/Saint and defensive co-ordinator Chris Janes stepped up and took the head coaching role midway through the 1995 season. Finishing the season with a 6-3-1 record in BNGL Division 3, which featured a last gasp tie with London Blitz, Saints made the playoffs albeit facing every game away from home.

After the (now defunct) Invicta Eagles were swept aside in the first round the highly fancied London Blitz and then Colchester Gladiators were vanquished in epic confrontations leaving Saints to face Gwent Mustangs in the final at Leicester's Saffron Lane Stadium. A 14-6 victory, inspired by MVP Andrew 'Snake' Day followed and the Oxford Saints were finally champions.

The Saints' subsequent promotion saw them placed in BNGL Division 2 for 1996, and after a respectable campaign league restructuring saw them competing in Division 1 in 1997. A superb 9-1 season behind second-year quarterback Wayne Mayers had Saints going all the way to the semi finals where they were defeated by the Nottingham Caesars. Disappointing campaigns followed and when the league was restructured again in 2000 Saints found themselves in Division 2 of the British Senior League.

2000 - 2005

A 7-1 campaign in 2000 was followed by an impressive 8-0 season in 2001, both ending in semi final disappointment at the hands of the PA Knights and Ipswich Cardinals respectively. After a poor 2002 season Coach Janes moved upstairs as Director of Football and Phil DeMonte took over as head coach.

Coach DeMonte only stayed at Saints for one season but the team again made the playoffs, eventually beaten by the Gateshead Senators. With Coach Janes back on the sideline for the 2004 season the team compiled a 4-5-1 record before racing through the newly formed BAFL division 2 in 2005. Saints' 9-1 record had them among the favourites for the title but this time Kent Exiles ended their hopes.

2006 - 2009

With the experienced Mayers at QB, Saints added powerhouse running back Chris 'The Horse' Taylor to their 2006 squad and roared through their season 9-1. This time they crowned their achievement by winning the Division 2 title. Behind the powerful running of game MVP Taylor and the sure leadership of Mayers, the Saints came from behind to beat West Coast Trojans 29-28 in one of the most exciting matches ever played on these shores.

In 2007, Saints' general manager Roger Hedges died.

Promoted to BAFL Division 1 in 2007, consecutive solid seasons of 6-4 and 4-5-1 respectively have seen Saints cementing their position and gradually rebuilding the squad.

The 2009 season saw the Saints take another big step forward. With Chris Taylor again leading a powerhouse running game proclaiming his rise to the greatest running back of all time status and Jay Taylor growing in confidence at quarterback several additions were made to the playing and coaching staff. Long time BAFL offensive wizard Len Scott and former London Olympian Matt Coppinger boosted the offensive coaching staff, Defensive back Nick Wykes returned as player coach after a 3-year hiatus and former Saint and PA Knight Steve Belcher returned at wide receiver and kicker, providing the highlight of the season when he landed a record 57-yard field goal as time expired to defeat Birmingham Bulls in week 7.

As several of the younger members of Saints' squad matured into their roles and began making their mark, Saints immediately began to click and behind a marauding defence began an assault on the Division 1 crown.

Led by Andrew 'Snake' Day and Ian 'Ice' Harry and featuring stars in the making such as Chris Ellis and Jonny Dover, Saints' defence only gave up 6 points through their first 3 matches. Saints' hopes of a conference crown were dashed in the final game of the season by a strong Tamworth Phoenix side, the only side to beat Saints in regular season play, and Oxford's season ended one game later in an epic encounter against Cambridge.

An 8-2 mark represented huge progress and also a swan song for legendary head coach Chris Janes, who retired from active coaching and assumed the role of general manager.

2010 - 2013

Len Scott assumed the head coaching mantle for the 2010 season. Scott reinforced Saints' roster with an infusion of Oxford Cavaliers players and rookies new to the sport. The already strong Saints defence was bolstered with the addition of Dean Bryan, Adam Cartwright and Clive Russell, while the offence, under the tutelage of Matt Coppinger, featured rookie running back sensation Kyle Micallef alongside Jay and Chris Taylor and a growing group of young British talent.

Competing once again in the South West conference of Division 1, Saints got out to a strong start before running into the Premiership-bound Phoenix, and defeated all but the Tamworth-based outfit en route to a 7-3 record and a second straight playoff contest against Cambridge. Confident after the nailbiting encounter of 2009 Saints were stopped agonisingly short of reaching the Division semi-finals as the Cats prevailed 13-7. 2010 and 2011 proved to be difficult years for the Saints due to various changes in the coaching staff and the departure of Head Coach Len Scott. During this time Chris Janes became the interim head coach before Andrew Day was officially appointed to the role.

2014

With lots of changes happening to the Saints in recent years, 2014 marks a special point in Saints history with the departure of loyal Chairman John Farley. Saints Veteran Martin Fitzpatrick takes the reigns of the club with a mostly new committee to drive the team forwards.

On the field, 2014 was a strong year for the team beginning with a huge recruitment drive. Two rookie taster events were held in the early stages of the year which drew strong interest from the local community. The team enjoyed a large input of fresh blood and had one of its best rookie classes in recent memory.

Along with the large increase in rookies, a number of experienced University players also joined the squad reinforced by the big contingent of existing veterans. The 2014 campaign featured three QB's at week 1 with OBU Panthers James Sharples and Harry Brookmyre along with Oxford Lancer Andrew McKenzie.

Sharples had the starting position secured with McKenzie in the number 2 slot. The year started off in excellent fashion with four straight wins and many predicting Oxford to have an undefeated season. In week 2 the Saints travelled to the Lincolnshire Bombers and although securing the win, they lost 2nd string QB Andrew McKenzie to a season-ending leg injury. This elevated Harry Brookmyre to the 2nd string position behind his University teammate James Sharples.

Week 4 saw the Saints take on the equally undefeated Peterborough Saxons in what was called the Battle Of The Undefeated. A statement game against what was assumed the only likely team to cause an upset, and the Saints came away with a big win at home.

The middle of the year saw the Saints stall and suffer disastrous defeats. In week 5 a huge 26-6 blow was dealt when the team travelled to play the Shropshire Revolution, with the Saints defense giving up three scores within the first quarter of play alone. A 2nd half improvement saw the Saints defense shut down Shropshire and prevent any further scores, but the damage was done and the team failed to catch up.

Further defeats were dealt against the Saints in week 6 when Lincolnshire travelled to Oxford and overcome in a close fought game. With two extremely talented American nationals on their roster, the Saints defense struggled to contain their mobile Quarterback and his equally elusive Runningback.

Week 7 saw a nail-bitingly close defeat of 21-20 against the Shropshire Revolution with a missed PAT being the deciding factor. With three back to back losses, the Saints outlook to reach the playoffs was grave.

However, with a large number of rookies gaining valuable experience in their first year, the tides were to soon change with Oxford finding early season form again.

A dominant 39-16 victory over league newcomers Sandwell Steelers in week 8 and then the last road game of the year saw the Saints earn a 33-12 victory over Peterborough Saxons. Due to a shortage of available officials, the Peterborough game was played on a rescheduled date which meant the Saints were missing a decent number of starting players including the majority of the offensive line. With some tweaking however the Saints put together an offensive line with many players also playing defensive line the same game. What could have been a disaster waiting to happen turned out to be one of the strongest displays of the year.

The Saints narrowly missed out on the playoffs due to a tie breaker situation between Oxford and Shropshire, who went on and made it to the semi-finals before being beaten by the Merseyside Nighthawks. Oxford closed out the year with their 7th win of the season, against the Leicester Falcons.

2015

2015 preparation began early with two hugely successfully rookie training events held in a state of the art 3G Dome facility. With the team looking to return to weekly training in mid-January, the Saints hope to have another strong recruitment year that can rival 2014.

Another league restructure now sees the Saints competing in SFC2 West (Southern Football Conference Division II, West) This puts the Saints up against old foes and league newcomers alike. In 2015 the Saints were set to take on the Cornish Sharks, Gloucester Centurions, Swindon Storm, Bristol Apache and new team the Torbay Trojans.

Shortly before the 2015 season began, the Gloucester Centurions withdrew from the league and have since disbanded their senior team. This reduced the amount of regular season games to be played in the conference from 10 to 8.

A strong season for the Saints with new quarterback Ben Denton at the held, they ended the regular season with a 6-2 record and reached the quarter finals. A loss against Sussex Thunder ended the campaign, along with news that Ben Denton had been diagnosed with leukaemia the week before the quarter finals.

2016

During the offseason, chairman Martin Fitzpatrick stepped down from the role and vice-chairman Andrew Peart was voted in as his successor at the 2015 Annual General Meeting.

Building on the successes made by Martin Fitzpatrick to modernise the club, Peart has continued the role and has overseen significant developments. Relocation to Tilsley Park in Abingdon for home games now sees the Saints playing on a brand new 3G field with large changing facilities and covered seating for spectators. Peart has also laid the foundations for the Oxford Saints Women's team which began training on 10 May 2016, with 25+ members at its first session.

In the offseason, Saints running back/tight end James Walter received an invitation to the Great Britain Lions Men's team and underwent training with the national squad.

Notable additions to the 2016 roster include American nationals Destin Maulding (QB), Bilal Redd (FS), Marlon Mason (CB and Eric Mendoza (LB). Further in the season, Tony Glover (RB) also joined the squad.

In August 2016, Ben Denton (QB) returned to the field for the first time after being diagnosed with Leukaemia in 2015. Following treatment and entering remission, Denton's first game back was against the Swindon Storm on 14 August 2016 and took to the field during the 4th quarter.

In the 2016 playoffs, the Saints qualified with the #2 seed behind the #1 London Hornets. For the first round on 21 August, the Saints defeated conference rival the Cornish Sharks in the quarter finals in a 40-3 victory. This secured their advancement to the semi final where they defeated the Bristol Apache 40-19. The Saints progressed to the Division II Southern Final against the Cambridgeshire Cats and won 24-2 , on 11 September at John Charles Stadium in Leeds.

At the end of the 2016 season, chairman Andrew Peart stood down and vice-chairman Graeme Taylor was elected to the leading role.


2016 Season

Date Season Game Opponent Home/Away Score Outcome Record
20 March 16 Preseason 1 Bury Saints Away 75-8 LOSS 0-1
3 April 16 Preseason 2 Birmingham Bulls Away 24-16 WIN 1-1
10 April 16 Regular Season 1 Cornish Sharks Home 36-12 WIN 1-0
24 April 16 Regular Season 2 Bristol Apache Away 26-15 WIN 2-0
8 May 16 Regular Season 3 Torbay Trojans Away 58-7 WIN 3-0
22 May 16 Regular Season 4 Jurassic Raptors Away 51-0 WIN 4-0
12 Jun 16 Regular Season 5 Swindon Storm Away 54-14 WIN 5-0
3 Jul 16 Regular Season 6 Bristol Apache Home 29-26 WIN 6-0
10 Jul 16 Regular Season 7 Cornish Sharks Away 28-10 WIN 7-0
17 Jul 16 Regular Season 8 Torbay Trojans Home 1-0 WIN 8-0
31 Jul 16 Regular Season 9 Jurassic Raptors Home 62-0 WIN 9-0
14 Aug 16 Regular Season 10 Swindon Storm Home 50-6 WIN 10-0
21 Aug 16 Quarter Final 11 Cornish Sharks Home 40-3 WIN 11-0
28 Aug 16 Semi Final 12 Bristol Apache Home 40-19 WIN 12-0
11 Sep 16 National Final 13 Cambridgeshire Cats FINAL 24-4 WIN 13-0

Oxford Saints Hall of Fame

Oxford Saints constituted their Hall of Fame in 2008.
Inductees:

Not Pictured:

Past record

Year League Div Conf. Reg. Season Playoffs
1984 Merit Table N/A N/A 3-0 N/A
1985 A.F.L. N/A South West 8-1-1 QF
1986 Budweiser League Premier Central 2-7-1 N/A
1987 Budweiser League Premier Central 8-2 QF
1988 Budweiser League Premier S.London & West 6-4 N/A
1989 Combined Gridiron League Crown National Central 4-6 N/A
1990 NCMMA Central 4-6 N/A
1991 British National Gridiron Premier Midlands 9-1 QF
1992 British National Gridiron National SE Midlands 8-2 QF
1993 British National Gridiron National Midlands 5-4-1 QF
1994 British National Gridiron National South East 6-4 N/A
1995 British National Gridiron Div 3 South Central 6-3-1 Champs
1996 British National Gridiron Div 2 South 5-4-1 N/A
1997 British National Gridiron Div 1 South/West Midlands 9-1 SF
1998 British National Gridiron Div 1 South West 5-5 QF
1999 British National Gridiron Div 1 South West 2-7-1 N/A
2000 British Senior League Div 2 South West 7-1 SF
2001 British Senior League Div 2 Southern 8-0 SF
2002 British Senior League Div 2 Southern 3-7 N/A
2003 British Senior League Div 2 South/West 6-4 QF
2004 British Senior League Div 2 South/West 4-5-1 SF
2005 BAFL Div 2 South/West 9-1 QF
2006 BAFL Div 2 South/West 9-1 Champs
2007 BAFL Div 1 South 6-4 N/A
2008 BAFL Div 1 South 4-5-1 N/A
2009 BAFL Div 1 South West 8-2 QF
2010 BAFACL Div 1 South West 7-3 QF
2011 BAFACL Div 1 South West - N/A
2012 BAFANL Div 1 South West SF
2013 BAFANL National Division South West 4-6 N/A
2014 BAFANL National Division Central 7-3 N/A
2015 BAFANL Division II South West 6-2 QF
2016 BAFANL Division II South West 13-0 CHAMPIONS
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