The Rushmoor Knights American Football Club (formerly Southern Seminoles, Personal Assurance Knights/PA Knights, Farnham Knights) are a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

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 with ...

club based in

Farnham Farnham ( /ˈfɑːnəm/) is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a trib ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. The Club has three teams; the Farnham Knights (20+), the Farnham Knights U19 (16 - 19) and the Farnham Knights U17 (14 - 17). The Farnham Knights play in the Premiership South 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 Foo ...

National Leagues and were the Britbowl champions in 2004. The team signed former Olympic sprinter

Dwain Chambers Dwain Anthony Chambers (born 5 April 1978) is a British track sprinter. He has won international medals at World and European levels and is one of the fastest European sprinters in the history of athletics. His primary event is the 100 me ...

in 2006

Origins

The Farnham Knights were founded in 1985, under Head Coach Marc Salazar, who was an American service member, serving in the United States Air Force, at RAF Greenham Common. The team played their first friendly in 1985 as the Farnham Knights against the Thames Valley Chargers. The franchise joined the Budweiser League, Div 1, for the league's inaugural season in 1986 and went on to a successful 5 - 5 season. Their second season, 1987, saw the Knights complete their conference schedule undefeated to win their first Conference title. During 1994 the Farnham Knights merged with the Hampshire Cavaliers and were renamed the Southern Seminoles. Personal Assurance stepped in during 1997 to sponsor the side which led to the return of the Knights moniker, the Personal Assurance Knights. In 2007, MH Football Shop took over the main sponsorship of the club, to rename them the Farnham MH Knights. In 2008, a new main sponsor, Fast Lane, stepped in with a two-year deal. The team were then known as the Farnham Fast Lane Knights.

League Placing and Catchment

As the only club in the

Blackwater Valley Blackwater Valley is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Sandhurst in Berkshire and Blackwater in Hampshire. The River Blackwater runs through the site, which also has wet valley alder wood, swamp and alluvial meadows. ...

Farnham Knights has drawn players from across

and

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, within are

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

Farnborough Farnborough may refer to: Australia * Farnborough, Queensland, a locality in the Shire of Livingstone United Kingdom * Farnborough, Hampshire, a town in the Rushmoor district of Hampshire, England ** Farnborough (Main) railway station, a railw ...

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

Bracknell Bracknell () is a large town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Built-up Area, Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the Bracknell Forest, Borough of Bracknell Forest. It l ...

and

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

. The club is the only one in the county of Surrey. All games are played at Farnham Rugby Club from 2013, the first season in the club's history that it has been based in the town of

itself after only playing 1 game at Farnham Rugby Club's old ground in

Wrecclesham Wrecclesham is a village on the southern outskirts of the large town of Farnham in Surrey, England. Its local government district is the Borough of Waverley. History It was once in the estate of Henry of Westminster and Blois the powerful 13th ...

. Farnham Knights rebranded to the Rushmoor Knights ahead of the 2021 BAFANL season.

Honours

* Budweiser League Div 1 Southern League Champions 1986 * BSL Div 2 Conference Champions 1987 * BNGL National Bowl Runners-Up 1992 * National Passball Champions 1993 * BSL Div 2 Conference Champions 1994 * BYAFA Youth National Runner-up 1994 (1) * BYAFA Youth National Champions 1996 (1) * BSL Div 2 Conference Champions 1997 * BYAFA Youth National Runner-up 1998 (1) * BSL Div 2 National Champions 2000 * BSL Div 2 Conference Champions 2000 * BSL Div 1 National Championship Runners-Up 2002 * EFAF Cup Runners Up 2004 * BSL Div 1 Southern Conference Champions 2004 * BAFL National Championship Winners 2004 * BAFL Div 1 Southern Conference Champions 2005British American Football League
/ref> * BAFL Div 1 National Championship Runners up 2005 * BAFL Div 1 National Championship Winners 2007 * BAFL Youth National Championship Runners up 2007 (1) * BAFL Youth National Championship Winners 2009 (1) * BAFANL Youth South West Conference Champions 2013 * BAFANL Juniors Southern Conference Champions 2014 * BAFANL Juniors National Championship Runners up 2014 * BAFANL Southern Football Conference (Division 1) Champions 2015 * BAFANL Oak Bowl SFC Division 1 Play Off Final - Winners 2015 (1) Prior to 2011, the term "Youth" was used for 16 to 19 year olds. Since 2011, Youth is for 14 to 17 year olds and Juniors is for 16 to 19 year olds.

Coaching Records

Marc Salazar 1985-1988: 26 - 9; .743

References

{{Reflist BAFA National League teams American football teams in England Farnham 1984 establishments in England American football teams established in 1984