Peterborough Saxons

Peterborough Saxons
Established 2001 Play in Peterborough
Logo
League / Division history
British Senior League Division Two North (2002-2004) British American Football League Division Two Central (2005, 2007) Division Two East (2006, 2008) Division One South East (2009 - )
Current uniform
Home Away
Personnel
General Manager	Mark Kerr
Head Coach	Chris Wallis
Team history
East Midland Saxons (2002-2007) Peterborough Saxons (2008–present)
Championships
League Championships (0)
Division Championships (0)
Conference Championships (0)
Playoff Appearances (2) 2007, 2008
Home fields
Spalding Rugby Club (2003) Spalding Sports Centre (2004) Stanground College, Peterborough (2005-)
Club website
Club home page

The Peterborough Saxons (formerly the East Midland Saxons) are an American football team competing in the Eastern Conference of British American Football League (BAFL) Division 1 South East, with their home games played at Stanground College in Peterborough. The senior team was first formed in 2001 and entered senior competition the following year. 2008 was their most successful year to date, recording their highest number of wins and largest ever win as well as reaching the post-season playoffs for the second consecutive year.

The team was promoted to Division 1 at the end of 2008 as part of a restructure of the league. In some quarters this promotion was controversial and there were some mutterings that the team was a very good Division 2 team but did not merit promotion. In the event the team was very competitive at this level in 2009 and remains in Division 1 for the 2010 season.

History

The East Midlands Saxons were officially formed in late 2001 as a means of allowing players from the local UCLA Renegades youth kitted team to continue playing after they reached the cut-off age for youth football.^[1] Playing their home games in Boston, Lincolnshire, they were accepted into the British Senior League for the 2002 season, where they competed in Division Two North. Their largely inexperienced squad—which was largely drawn from the UCLA Renegades team and a former senior team called the Haven Raiders together with a number of veteran players from defunct teams previously based in Kings Lynn, Boston and Peterborough—^[2] struggled for most of the season and failed to win any of their games, losing seven and drawing three.^[3]

The Saxons relocated to Spalding Rugby Club in 2003, with the main benefit being that they were now in a more centralised location within their particular catchment area. This meant they were able to attract more local players, and the size of the squad grew.^[4] This benefit was apparent on their opening matchday as they recorded their first ever victory at this level, a 31–12 win over the Manchester Titans. After a good start to the season which saw the Saxons win a further two games, an injury to their American-import running back saw them lose their last five games, failing to score in three of them.^[4][5]

The team moved to the Castle Sports Centre in Spalding, where they played their home games for the 2004 season in the reorganised Division Two North.^[6] They suffered in particular from a lack of coaching staff (one of their three coaches was also a player) and injuries (which saw them travel to one game with only 18 fit players, and led to them forfeiting their final match of the season).^[6][7] They lost all nine of their regular season games, only scoring 20 points.^[8]

2005 saw a number of changes for the club—they were realigned to the British American Football League Division Two East, they moved their home games to Stanground College in Peterborough, and they were able to recruit more players, doubling their squad size from an average of 20 to over 45.^[9] All three of the team's victories came against the Merseyside Nighthawks, whom they had failed to beat in each of their previous meetings.^[9][10] This number of wins was repeated the following season,^[11] with the highlight being their 14–13 victory over the Norwich Devils.^[12]

After spending a season in the Eastern conference, the Saxons were once again realigned into the Central conference of Division Two for the 2007 season. After narrowly losing their first two games, they then won seven out of their last eight games and scored a total of 236 points, the fifth best total in the country.^[13][14] In doing so, they finished second in their group, easily qualifying for the post-season playoffs for the first time in their history. The Saxons were given a long journey north to play the Dundee Hurricanes, and lost a close game 8–14.^[14]

Prior to the 2008 season, the team's name was changed to the Peterborough Saxons. On the field, they bettered the previous season's record, finishing the regular season with just two defeats (both of which came against the Cambridgeshire Cats)^[15] and scoring 379 points, second only to the season's divisional champions, the London Cobras.^[16] They also recorded their largest ever victory, an 80–0 win over the MK City Pathfinders. The Saxons' last home game of the season was a local derby against the Bedfordshire Blue Raiders, which was played at nearby RAF Alconbury in front of over 1000 spectators. The Saxons won the inaugural Tri-Base Bowl 35–3 to secure their place in the playoffs for the second year running.^[17] Despite earning a home draw for their wild-card playoff match, they were narrowly beaten 6–9 by the visiting Cornish Sharks due to a field goal scored with just four seconds left.^[18]

Senior team season records

Personnel

Roster

Coaching staff

• Head Coach: Chris Wallis
• Defensive Co-Ordinator: tbc
• Offensive Co-Ordinator: tbc
• General Manager: Mark Kerr

References

External links

• Peterborough Saxons official club website