There are numerous different American football teams based around the United Kingdom, which you may or may not know about depending entirely on how involved in the world of gridiron you are. Association football supporters, for example, would know all about Leicester City, but might not be all that aware that the Leicester Panthers represent the city when it comes to playing American football. That may in part be down to the fact that the team has undergone numerous changes over the years, including a period when it quite literally stopped operating, but it is alive and kicking now.
History of the Leicester Panthers
It was back in 1983 when a team called the Leicester Panthers launched as an American football team, looking to emulate the teams of the National Football League in the United States of America. They played their home games at Saffron Lane Sports Centre in Leicester. They only had one losing season during that time, even winning the final of the league in 1996. It was later that year that the team disbanded, having produced some top-level players prior to then. One such example is Sean Payton, who went on to become the Head Coach of the Denver Broncos in the NFL.
Payton isn’t the only person who played for the Panthers and then went on to make a name for themselves. Martin Johnson, for example, played for the team in the 1990s and was a star of rugby. He joined Barry Driver, Charles Thompson and Neil Eastoll in reforming the team in 2007 in order to take part in a charity match, which saw them defeat the Loughborough Aces 20-3 as they raised money for the Matt Hampson Trust. Whether that game was a driving force behind the reforming of the team isn’t clear, but what we do know is that a team was created a year later.
The Modern Day Team
The dissolution of the Leicester Panthers left the city without an American football team. In 2008, however, a new team was formed. The launch of the Leicester Falcons in 2008 resulted in gridiron being played in the city once more. The newly created team made it to the playoffs in 2009, where the Falcons enjoyed success against the Manchester Titans and the Glasgow Tigers on their way to the team’s first championship game. They defeated the Colchester Gladiators in the BAFA Division 2 Championship, winning 33-32 in an immensely close and exciting game.
In 2015, the team witnessed the return of Lester Hopewell as the Head Coach, as well as Guy Kersey. They also moved to a new home in the form of De Montfort Park in Hinckley and the Leicester Road Stadium that was present there. They enjoyed a regular season of seven wins and three defeats, losing 21-6 to the Sandwell Steelers. The team then carried on in much the same fashion, but in the April of 2023, the General Manager, Guy Kersey, left the club. As a result, a decision was taken to rebrand them as the Leicester Panthers, going back to the roots of the team.