The Ouse Valley Eagles are a British

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 ...

team based in Bedford, United Kingdom. They play their home games at the Bedford Athletic Rugby Club. They are a member of the BAFA National Leagues Division 2, playing in the southern football conference (SFC 2 East). The Eagles formed in 2013 after a merger of the local rivals, the Bedfordshire Blue Raiders and the Milton Keynes Pathfinders.

History

Milton Keynes Pathfinders

The Pathfinders were formed in their first guise as a youth

flag football Flag football is a variant of American football where, instead of tackling players to the ground, the defensive team must remove a flag or flag belt from the ball carrier ("deflagging") to end a Down (gridiron football), down. The sport has a ...

team, but only began participation in senior kitted football in 2006, before joining the

BAFL The British American Football League (BAFL) was the United Kingdom's primary American football league from 1998 until 2010. It was formerly known as the British Senior League (BSL) until 2005. BAFL was the trading name for Gridiron Football Leag ...

in 2008. They played their home games at the Emerson Valley Sports Pavilion in

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

. Their first match was in 2006, away to the

Cambridgeshire Cats The Cambridgeshire Cats are an American football team competing in Southern Football Conference 1, East Division of the BAFA National Leagues (BAFA NL), with their home games played at Coldhams Common in Cambridge. The club was first formed in 1 ...

and was followed by a 0–35 defeat at home to the Bedfordshire Blue Raiders, at the time, another associate team looking to join the league. In their first season as a league team, they posted a 0-9-1 record, conceding 445 points, the highest total since the 464 points conceded by the Andover Thrashers in 2005. In 2011, they recorded their first ever winning season, going 7-2-1, which saw them clinch the final Division 2 playoff spot, losing to eventual finalists, the

West Coast Trojans The West Coast Trojans were an amateur American Football team based at Pro-Life Gym in Paisley, Scotland. In their final season, the Trojans competed in the BAFANL Division 2 North. The Trojans played their home games at Meadow Park, Irvine w ...

. They reached the playoffs again in the final season in 2012, this time reaching the Southern Final, before losing to the

Peterborough Saxons The Peterborough Saxons were a British American Football team based in Thorney, Cambridgeshire. They played in the BAFA Nation League's Midlands Conference Division One for the 2016 season but dropped out the League after one regular season ga ...

. Their overall regular season league record at the time of the merger with Bedfordshire was 25-34-2, with a post season record of 1-2.

Bedfordshire Blue Raiders

The Blue Raiders were formed in 2006 by locals Dave Pankhurst and Steve Guy, and began the BAFL associate process in 2007. They played their first game against

Maidstone Pumas The Maidstone Pumas was an American Football team based in Maidstone, Kent. The team were formed in 1997 as a continuation of the former youth team of the same name, and now 2020 they have turned in their colours and folded . History The Maidst ...

, winning 18-8. One month after their first contest with the Pathfinders, they were accepted into the league. The Blue Raiders were placed in the Eastern Conference of Division Two. By 2013, lack of interest lead to reduced player participation, and the squad size was approximately half of that which started the season, with no healthy

quarterbacks The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ameri ...

. This meant that the Blue Raiders had to forfeit a game against the Kent Exiles, and ruined their chances of appearing in another playoff game. They only managed to fulfill their final fixture by registering coaches as players. Their overall regular season league record at the time of the merger with Milton Keynes was 32-30 with a post season record of 0-1.

Merger

At the end of the Bedfordshire Blue Raiders' final game, an EGM was called to discuss the future of the club going forward. Neale McMaster stepped forward as

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

, and proposed a merger with the Pathfinders. On 3 November 2013, a joint EGM was called by both clubs, and the constitution and articles of merger were approved by all in attendance.

Recent Years

The Eagles began their inaugural season in 2014, under the guidance of

Head Coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Will White. They lost their first game to the

Watford Cheetahs The Hertfordshire Cheetahs (formerly the Watford Cheetahs and Chiltern Cheetahs) are an American football team based in Watford, including a senior kitted team (contact) competing in the BAFA National Leagues (BAFANL), Under 16 and under 19 kitt ...

19-0. However, they easily won their second game to the rookie

London Hornets London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

, finishing 37-0. In their first season's penultimate game, the Eagles beat the Kent Exiles in a game that would see the winning team reach the playoffs. After finishing the regular season 8-2, they lost to the

Solent Thrashers The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and Great Britain. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit which projects into the Solent narrows the sea crossing between Hurst Castle and Colwell Bay to ...

in the first round. Going into their second season, a league realignment saw them placed in the Division One Southern Football Conference, in the North division.

Logos & Uniforms

Their "O" logo and uniforms are heavily inspired by that of the

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac-12 Conferenc ...

. Their logo features a bold "O" contained by wing graphics. Their first jerseys are manufactured by DNA Sports. They are primarily white, with silver wing details on the shoulders and black uniform numbers. Their helmets are white and also feature the chrome wing design.OVE About Us
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Bedford Athletic Rugby Club

The Eagles play their home games at Bedford Athletic Rugby Club, home of Bedford Ath, Bedford Queens and Bedford Tigers.

Players

Current roster

Coaches

Season By Season Record

Notes

External links

Ouse Valley Eagles websiteOuse Valley Eagles Facebook pageOuse Valley Eagles Twitter account
{{British American Football BAFA National League teams 2013 establishments in England American football teams established in 2013 American football teams in England