The history of American football in the United Kingdom is a long and complicated one, which you can read about in more detail elsewhere on this site. What may not come as much of a surprise to anyone who knows anything about how things tend to work in the United Kingdom when it comes to sport, one of the main drivers for recruitment to American football teams comes courtesy of universities. Students are often keen to try something new and different, which makes them a perfect breeding ground for the likes of a sport not widely played elsewhere in the country.
The History of the BUAFL
In 1985, a new league was created in the United Kingdom called the British Collegiate American Football League. The use of ‘Collegiate’ in the title shows the links to the United States of America, given the fact that it isn’t really a word that has ever taken hold over here. There were four teams playing in the BCAFL during its first season, which took place between 1985 and 1986. One of its founding members was the Newcastle Skolars, led by Mike Rea, who were still competing in it when it celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2005.
One of the biggest problems that the British Collegiate American Football League suffered from throughout its existence was the fact that some teams were significantly better than others. This was largely on account of the fact that the sport wasn’t particularly well-known in the UK, meaning that some sides struggled to recruit sufficiently for it. Over time, the British Student American Football Association did manage to put some sporting balance in place, but disagreements with the British American Football Association led to the eventual dissolution of the BSAFA.
The British University American Football League was created in 2007, forcing former BCAFL teams to move over. By the time the final season was played, there were nearly 40 sides competing. The BUAFL is widely credited as being responsible for the revival of interest in American football in the United Kingdom, thanks in no small part to the fact that it was officially recognised by the National Football League in 2008, courtesy of NFL UK. Four years later and it was absorbed into British Universities & Colleges Sport, better known by the acronym of BUCS.
Between 2007 and 2014, the BUAFL saw a growth from having 42 teams and a little over 2,400 participants to having 75 teams and more than 4,000 people taking part. Although it has remained at a similar size since then, with around 4,000 students playing for 79 teams in the 2024-2025 season, the exact numbers of teams and players have changed from year to year. It is an entirely full-contact variation of the sport, although a flag football variation of it was put in place ahead of the 2025-2026 season to open it up to people who didn’t like the idea of playing a contact game.
How the League Is Structured
As you might imagine, the British University American Football League has undergone numerous different structural changes over the years. In the first two years after it had been inherited by BUCS, for example, it kept the single tier, eight conference structure in place that had been introduced initially. In 2024, BUCS made the decision to introduce a five-team Premier National Division to the structure, which sits above the Premier North and Premier South divisions. The national champions were promoted from the Premier South alongside the four teams that qualified for the post-season from the Premier North.
Part of the key thing that separates British American football from its American cousin is the fact that there is a system of promotion and relegation in place across all variations of it. Although there was no relegation after the 2023-2024 season, the reorganisation introduced six regional Tier 1 divisions as well as another six Tier 2 divisions, which were the Midlands and Yorkshire, Northern, Scottish, South Eastern, South Western and Southern in Tier 1 and the Midlands, North Eastern, North Western, South Eastern, South Western and Southern in Tier 2.
Media Coverage
As you can imagine, the age of the participants and the level that the sport is played at means that there isn’t the same desire for coverage in the media as there is at the upper echelons of the sport. Even so, in the age of social media there is always likely to be some form of coverage of any sport and there is no exception for the British University American Football League, run by BUCS. As a result, there are actually numerous different ways in which you can follow coverage of the sport, allowing you to watch games and learn about the players in different ways.
American Football International is a company that does exactly what it sounds like: offers coverage of American football in different companies. Sportank, meanwhile, started live-streaming BUAFL games in January 2022 and also began hosting a show called ‘The Rundown’. Alongside that there are also predictions and rankings posts. One of the key commentators and contributors for BUCS is Chris Tebutt, better known as ‘Tebbs’, who also appears on podcasts, such as the NFL Vent Zone. In other words, his is a voice you are likely to have heard before.