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BRITISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE |
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| BFL SEASONS |
BRITISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE kicked-off in 2015 and is a fantasy football league to my love of the game of Gridiron Football and the NFL. Alex Thomas is the BFL Commissioner and the BFL does not own the rights to the teams and their logos and are used for entertainment purposes only.
The league is made up of 14 teams split into two equal sized divisions of 6 teams (expanding to 7 teams in 2025), who are 'affiliated' with an NFL team as per the final standings following the close of the previous season, so 2024 affiliates were chosen following the close of the 2023 NFL season and in alphabetical order per NFL city/region i.e. in 2024, Caledonian Knights were given the Baltimore Ravens as the Ravens finished in the top 6 NFL standings and Baltimore is in alphabetical order.
Top 3 per division (6 teams) qualify for the playoffs, with division matchups to be maintained and will expand to 8 teams for the 2025 season.
The BFL limits expansion as this keeps the league competitive and means that NFL affiliates will not always be affiliated with the same BFL teams each season and possibly hinder playoff chances.
| 2023 CHAMPIONS | HALL OF CHAMPIONS |
|---|---|
 SUSSEX PIRATES (1) |
 SCOTTISH CLAYMORES (4) |
Both the Humberside Destroyers and Avon Fire will be joining the league in 2025 which brings the league to 14 teams.
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TEAMS |
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| NORTH DIVISION | 2015 |
| SOUTH DIVISION | 2015 |
| EXPANSION | # |
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| 2015-2018 | 8 |
| 2019-2020 | 10 |
| 2021-2024 | 12 |
| 2025- | 14 |
| 2015-2018 | 8 | Birmingham Bandits London Monarchs MANCHESTER DEMONS SCOTTISH CLAYMORES Sussex Pirates TYNESIDE MARINERS Welsh Dragons YORKSHIRE VIKINGS |
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| 2019-2020 | |
| 10 | Birmingham Bandits London Monarchs MANCHESTER DEMONS SCOTTISH CLAYMORES Sussex Pirates TYNESIDE MARINERS Welsh Dragons YORKSHIRE VIKINGS |
CALEDONIAN KNIGHTS (E) Sherwood Forest Outlaws (E) |
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| 2021-2024 | |
| 12 | Birmingham Bandits CALEDONIAN KNIGHTS London Monarchs MANCHESTER DEMONS SCOTTISH CLAYMORES Sherwood Forest Outlaws Sussex Pirates TYNESIDE MARINERS Welsh Dragons YORKSHIRE VIKINGS |
Merseyside Centurions (E) Thames Valley Thunder (E) |
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| 2025- | |
| 14 | Birmingham Bandits CALEDONIAN KNIGHTS London Monarchs MANCHESTER DEMONS Merseyside Centurions SCOTTISH CLAYMORES Sherwood Forest Outlaws Sussex Pirates Thames Valley Thunder TYNESIDE MARINERS Welsh Dragons YORKSHIRE VIKINGS |
Avon Fire (E) Humberside Destroyers (E) |
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(E) - Expansion Team
TEAM NAMES
Teams are primarily given names from leagues past and present, others are based on unrelated college football teams and one is not inspired by any current team past or present. Names in brackets are those where BFL teams have received inspiration for their name or logo.
As this league began in 2015, the Tampa Bay Bandits (USFL 1983) had not existed since the planned 1986 season and therefore they are not to be confused with the recently relaunched Tampa Bay Bandits and are inspired by the previous incarnation of this team.
* - 2025 expansion team.
Due to the UFL owning the rights to the former USFL (2022) & XFL (2023) teams, these nicknames are therefore not in contention to be used for expansion teams.
These are the regions represented by each team which means that future expansion may overlap these regions similar to that in Scotland. The city in brackets represents the location of the team unless stated by the team name.
| TEAM | LEAGUE | REGIONS |
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| AVON FIRE* |
RHEIN FIRE (NFL EUROPA 1995-2007) |
South West England (BRISTOL) |
| BIRMINGHAM BANDITS |
TAMPA BAY BANDITS (USFL 1983) |
West Midlands |
| Caledonian Knights |
NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY KNIGHTS (WLAF) |
Western Scotland (Glasgow) |
| HUMBERSIDE DESTROYERS* |
NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY HITMEN (XFL 2001) VIRGINIA DESTROYERS (UFL 2009-2012) |
Hull & Humberside including North East Lincolnshire (HULL) |
| LONDON MONARCHS |
London Monarchs (NFL EUROPA) |
Capital region including Surrey, Essex & Kent |
| MANCHESTER DEMONS |
SAN FRANCISCO DEMONS (XFL 2001) |
Greater Manchester including Cheshire & Lancashire |
| Merseyside Centurions |
COLOGNE CENTURIONS (NFL EUROPA) |
Merseyside (Liverpool) |
| Scottish Claymores |
Scottish Claymores (NFL EUROPA) |
Eastern Scotland (Edinburgh) |
| SHERWOOD FOREST OUTLAWS |
NO LEAGUE | East Midlands (Nottingham) |
| SUSSEX PIRATES |
PEORIA PIRATES (ARENA FOOTBALL 2) |
East & West Sussex (Brighton) |
| Thames Valley Thunder |
BERLIN THUNDER (NFL EUROPA) |
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire (Milton Keynes) |
| TYNESIDE MARINERS |
NAVY MIDSHIPMEN (COLLEGE FOOTBALL) |
North & South Tyneside (Newcastle) |
| WELSH DRAGONS |
NEW YORK DRAGONS (ARENA FOOTBALL 2) |
Wales (Cardiff) |
| YORKSHIRE VIKINGS |
BRIGHAM YOUNG COUGARS (COLLEGE FOOTBALL) |
N,S,E & W Yorkshire (Leeds) |
EXPANSION TEAMS
Both myself and Follower Cody Grimes have come up with some suggestions for future expansion teams:
| TEAM | LEAGUE |
|---|---|
| ABERDEEN SHARKS | JACKSONVILLE SHARKS (WFL 1974-1975) |
| HAMPSHIRE (SOUTHAMPTON) FLEET | SAN DIEGO FLEET (AAF 2019) |
| LEICESTER RAGE | ORLANDO RAGE (XFL 2001) |
| LEICESTER STALLIONS | BALTIMORE STALLIONS (CFL-USA) |
| SHEFFIELD ENFORCERS | Chicago Enforcers (XFL 2001) |
| TEESSIDE NIGHTHAWKS | OMAHA NIGHTHAWKS (UFL 2009-2012) |
NFL AFFILIATES
As of the 2024 season, 30 teams have been affiliated with BFL teams.
1 team (Kansas City Chiefs) are the most common affiliate with 9 appearances.
2 teams (New York Jets and Washington Commanders) have yet to be affiliated.
| TEAM | # | RECENT SEASON | |
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2024 TEAMS |
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KANSAS CITY CHIEFS | 9 | 2024 |
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DALLAS COWBOYS | 6 | 2024 |
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LOS ANGELES RAMS | 6 | 2024 |
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BUFFALO BILLS | 5 | 2024 |
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BALTIMORE RAVENS | 4 | 2024 |
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SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS | 4 | 2024 |
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TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS | 4 | 2024 |
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HOUSTON TEXANS | 3 | 2024 |
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PHILADELPHIA EAGLES | 3 | 2024 |
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CLEVELAND BROWNS | 2 | 2024 |
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DETROIT LIONS | 1 | 2024 |
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MIAMI DOLPHINS | 1 | 2024 |
PREVIOUS APPEARANCES |
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NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS | 7 | 2022 |
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GREEN BAY PACKERS | 5 | 2022 |
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SEATTLE SEAHAWKS | 5 | 2021 |
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NEW ORLEANS SAINTS | 4 | 2021 |
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PITTSBURGH STEELERS | 4 | 2021 |
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ARIZONA CARDINALS | 3 | 2022 |
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CINCINNATI BENGALS | 3 | 2023 |
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MINNESOTA VIKINGS | 3 | 2023 |
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CHICAGO BEARS | 2 | 2021 |
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DENVER BRONCOS | 2 | 2016 |
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INDIANAPOLIS COLTS | 2 | 2019 |
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JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS | 2 | 2023 |
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LAS VEGAS RAIDERS | 2 | 2022 |
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LOS ANGELES CHARGERS | 2 | 2023 |
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NEW YORK GIANTS | 2 | 2023 |
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TENNESSEE TITANS | 2 | 2022 |
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ATLANTA FALCONS | 1 | 2017 |
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CAROLINA PANTHERS | 1 | 2016 |
NO APPEARANCES |
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PRIMARY LOGOS
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(2015-2019) |
(2020-) |
(UNUSED) |