The Morecambe Bay Storm were the final operating name of 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 with ...

club that were based in

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

who played in the

BAFA National Leagues The BAFANL (BAFA National Leagues) are the primary American football domestic League competition in Great Britain. The League is run by the British American Football Association to coordinate contact football within England, Scotland and Wales. ...

. The club traces its roots back to 2011 when the Walney Terriers joined the BAFANL. In 2016 Morecambe Bay formed as a separate club in the same regional division, while the Terriers became the Furness Phantoms in 2017. Due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

pandemic, the Phantoms dropped out of the 2021 season before announcing a merger with The Storm in time for the 2022 season, however several months later the merged team also folded. The Storm and the Phantoms had both been divisional rivals until the merger.

History

Walney and rebrand to Furness

Established in 2011 they were elevated to full BAFA member status in 2013. They are one of two

BAFANL The BAFANL (BAFA National Leagues) are the primary American football domestic League competition in Great Britain. The League is run by the British American Football Association to coordinate contact football within England, Scotland and Wales. ...

teams in Cumbria and Lancashire, playing in a conference of the league's second tier (National North West) alongside the Chester Romans,

Crewe Railroaders The Crewe Railroaders 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 w ...

, Halton Spartans & Leeds Bobcats. The Terriers originally trained and played at Memorial Fields on

Walney Island Walney Island, also known as the Isle of Walney, is an island off the west coast of England, at the western end of Morecambe Bay in the Irish Sea. It is part of Barrow-in-Furness, separated from the mainland by Walney Channel, which is spanned b ...

. They then moved to Hawcoat Park and now have moved to GSK Sports & Social Club, Ulverston and still occasionally use

Barrow Raiders The Barrow Raiders are a semi-professional rugby league team in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. The club was formed in 1875 as Barrow Football Club. For the 1995–96 and 1996 seasons the club was known as Barrow Braves, becoming the Ba ...

' Craven Park stadium. In 2017 the team rebranded to the Furness Phantoms. In 2021, the Phantoms ceased operating and announced they had merged with the Storm.

Morecambe Bay Storm

Morecambe entered the League in 2017, in their first season operating they made the Division 2 Play-offs where they were beaten by the

Shropshire Revolution The Shropshire Revolution are an American football team based in Telford, Shropshire, England, who compete in the BAFA National Leagues NFC 1 South, the second level of British American Football. The club are based at the Telford Athletics Sta ...

. The club announced they had folded just prior to the 2022 BAFANL season, only several months after they had absorbed the Phantoms into their organisation.

References

External links

Official club website
{{British American Football

Walney Terriers The Morecambe Bay Storm were the final operating name of an American Football club that were based in Morecambe, Lancashire who played in the BAFA National Leagues. The club traces its roots back to 2011 when the Walney Terriers joined the BAFAN ...

Furness Phantoms Morecambe Bay Storm

2011 establishments in England 2016 establishments in England American football teams established in 2011 Ulverston