The Aberdeen Roughnecks are an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

club based in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, Aberdeenshire,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, who compete in the BAFA National Leagues NFC 1 Scotland, the second level of British American Football. The team operate from the Sports field within

Hazlehead Park Hazlehead Park is a public park in the Hazlehead area of Aberdeen, Scotland. 180 hectares in size, it was opened to the public in 1920, having formerly been the estate of Hazlehead House, home of William Rose, shipbuilder. It is heavily wooded a ...

that they nickname "The Rig". They were formed in 2012 and after progressing out of Associate status they debuted in the 2014 season. The club have paid homage to the previous Aberdeen-based side the Granite City Oilers and have considered themselves a continuation of the Oilers. The Roughnecks represent the most northern based team currently operating within the BAFANL, in 2018 they were crowned NFC 2 North champions and completed a perfect season when they defeated the

Chester Romans The Chester Romans are an American Football team based in Chester, Cheshire, England, who compete in the BAFA National Leagues NFC 1 South, the second level of British American football. The club operate from Cheshire County Sports Club an ...

in the Division Two Bowl game.

History

had an

team before the Roughnecks, with the Granite City Oilers running from February 1986. The original team enjoyed some success, winning their conference in 1989 and again in 1993 before they disbanded in 1995. The club began with a few fans of the sport meeting in

Seaton Park Seaton Park is a public park in the Old Aberdeen area of Aberdeen, Scotland. One of the city's biggest parks, it was bought by the city for use as a public park in 1947 from Major J M Hay. It was formerly the grounds of Seaton House, which had ...

to throw a ball around. Joint training camps and scrimmages followed with the

Highland Wildcats The Highland Wildcats is the brand of the Inverness Blitz Academy of American Football which is a registered charity with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator. The Inverness Blitz started in 1999 and since then has developed many teams ...

adult side, giving the players a taste of game action. The Roughnecks now had a head coach in place, and enough players to apply for associate membership of the

British American Football Association The British American Football Association (BAFA) is the national governing body for the sport of American football and non-contact Flag Football in the United Kingdom since 1985. It is affiliated to the International Federation of American ...

(BAFA), taking their first step to entering the UK's league structure. Additionally, the club acquired a home field in

, named The Rig, and installed goals to host home games. To fulfill the conditions of full membership, the club played 3 matches towards the end of the year: the Glasgow Tigers and Clyde Valley Blackhawks visited The Rig, before the team travelled south to face the

Dundee Hurricanes The Dundee Hurricanes were an American football team based in Dundee, Scotland who played in the BAFA National Leagues. In late 2016, the Hurricanes pulled out of the BAFA leagues due to issues with low squad numbers. The Hurricanes are curren ...

. Despite suffering losses in all 3 games, the Roughnecks proved that they were competitive enough and ready to enter the BAFA National Leagues, and were voted in as full members of BAFA at the body's AGM in November 2013. Embarking on their first BAFA National Leagues (BAFANL) campaign, the Roughnecks experienced a difficult rookie season, losing their first 8 games before finishing with a maiden victory over the Glasgow Tigers and a tie with the

. Completing the first season successfully allowed the club to set a base from which to build on looking ahead, and they were successful in attracting over 80 potential players to 2015 pre-season training camps. The club's second BAFA National Leagues (BAFANL) campaign brought greater success, finishing the regular season with a winning 6–4 record and securing a wildcard playoff spot as the NFC's #8 seed. As well as progress made in the senior ranks, the Roughnecks youth side competed in their respective league for the first time, after an initial recruitment drive was successful in attracting enough players.

Junior and Youth Programme

As full members of BAFA, the Roughnecks have now launched a youth development programme (commenced November 2014), as mandated by the governing body. This will initially take the form of a youth team (14–17 years old), with a junior team (17–19 years old) expected to follow at some stage in the future.

Stadium

The Roughnecks home field is situated in

, beside the Joe Paterson Sports Pavilion and its assorted football pitches. Training is also held here every non-playing Sunday from 1pm until 4pm.BBC Things To Do
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Results

2013

2014

2015

2016

References

External links

Official siteFacebook pageTwitter page
{{British American Football BAFA National League teams Sports clubs and teams in Aberdeen American football teams in Scotland 2012 establishments in Scotland American football teams established in 2012