2020 - THE YEAR THAT WAS

 

The last year in both personal, professional and health terms was a time none of us had ever encountered in our lives.

Here at Brit Towers we had put everything in place to embark on our first season and at one point it looked as though we would have to postpone for a season, but the NFL schedule went ahead (be it with some tricky schedule changes and issues caused among rosters).

The BFFL, BFC and BFA all competed over a 13 week regular season, two playoff berths (Divisional Playoff and Elimination Playoff) culminating in the Bowl Games. 

The BFU had a different set up. They were the last league to be formed and each of the 32 teams were placed in four leagues of eight teams. Each team played each other twice in a 14 week regular season, with an Elimination Playoff and a Bowl game. The other added factor for the BFU teams was that the top 4 teams in each division (those who qualified for the playoffs) would then form the 2021 BFU with the bottom four teams forming the 2021 BFO. Those two leagues would then fall in line with the top three leagues for 2021.

Moving into 2021, this is the season where promotion and relegation kicks-in and it is going to be interesting to see how this plays out.

Lots of teams struggled with injuries and Covid related matters and there were a large amount of waiver requests, which led to the League Commissioner extending the rosters of all the top three level teams. Some teams had more issues than others and it was quite a challenging season all round, both for GM's and the Commissioner.

In the end, fun and humour was had and champions were crowned.

But that starts in a few months time, what of the 2020 season?

In this post we look back on what was the inaugural BFFL season and how it shaped up. Here is the summary.

BFFL

The Newcastle Lions, Brighton Sharks, Essex Wolverines and Bristol Trojans were the early pace setters in their respective divisions. but by Week 3 it was only Newcastle and Bristol who remained undefeated.

The North Division would go on to unfortunately be tagged the "NFC East" of the BFFL. The Newcastle Lions would eventually win the division with a 7-6 record, but all other teams (including Edinburgh who made the playoffs with a 2nd place in the North), ended up with losing records. Newcastle had a 5-1 divisional record in the North and were averaging 160.72 points per game, four points less than Edinburgh in second place who were two games off them in the win-loss record.

The South Division had been ramping up even before the season began. Brighton and Swindon formed a fierce "banter" rivalry in the pre-season and the two London teams were verbally battling it out as to who would be the best team in the capital.  It proved to be one of the toughest divisions across all the leagues. Brighton Sharks would finish divisional champions with Swindon Steam finishing second. Both teams had a 10-3 record and both had 180+ average points per game. The divisional records were interesting for the top three teams Brighton (3-3), Swindon (4-2), London Jets (4-2). This division could get even more competitive in 2021.

The East Division was a fascinating affair. Essex Wolverines dominated, finishing with an 11-2 record and divisional record of 5-1. They were three games in front of Norwich Predators who took the second spot, but the Predators started slowly. Medway and Cambridge lost out but at all points during the season the three teams below Essex held second place. Essex were never topped in the division.

The West Division was a similar dominant affair for Bristol Trojans as they were never topped in the division. This division was the story of only two teams in 2020. The Trojans, who had secured their playoff spot with around five or six games to go and Dudley Scorpions. Worcester and Somerset finished off the pace in this division in 2020 and will look to amend this with their high draft picks in 2021.

Into the playoffs and Essex continued their dominant streak and they made it through to the BFFL Bowl to face their divisional rivals Norwich, who had dispatched both West Division teams on their journey. In both playoff games and the Bowl, Essex averaged 194.77 points per game and finished the season having played 16 games in total and only losing twice.

BFC

At the start of the season it would be the Merseyside Rhinos, Croydon Wildcats and Cardiff Royals (now Cardiff Hydra) who would be the pacesetters in their respective division. The East was more of a close affair.

In the North it was the Merseyside Rhinos who leapt out of the blocks and stormed ahead in the opening weeks of the season. They left the other three teams, Airdrie Kraken, Leith Pirates and Rochdale to battle it out. Airdrie and Leith would swap the second place often with Rochdale rooted at the bottom, but Rochdale fought back in the closing weeks. The Rhinos began to lose games and come the last week of the regular season the Rochdale Rams went two games clear of Airdrie and Leith to finish second, shown in their 4-2 divisional record.

In the South there were a few changes and not just in league positions. Early on it would be the Croydon Wildcats who would set the pace and they went 3-0 in their division, but Bedfordshire Gladiators fought back as the Wildcats tailed off the pace. Initially, the South had Thurrock Thunder and Surrey Lynx in the division but both these teams folded and in stepped new GM's, both moving up from the BFA. The Redditch Raptors and Wessex Monarchs replaced Thurrock and Surrey respectively. The Raptors GM took full advantage of the Wildcats loss in form and managed to get a winning season on the board and a playoff spot, but it was the Bedfordshire Gladiators who took the division title with a 10-3 record, staying top for most of the season.

The BFC East was a torrid affair for the GM's involved. Apart from Colchester Knights who remained at the foot of the division the entire season, the Suffolk Eagles, Hebburn Defenders and Hartlepool Kings (now Hartlepool Heathens) would swap positions on a regular, week-by-week basis with all three teams occupying the top spot at one time or another. Although Suffolk held a 5-1 divisional record, Hebburn 4-2 and Hartlepool 3-3, it would be the inter-divisional games which saw the most swapping around. In the end, Suffolk managed to post a 10-3 record, two games ahead of Hebburn who took the other playoff spot.

The BFC West was a two team affair, much like the West division in the league above. Cardiff Royals (now Hydra) and Walsall Guardians would occupy the top two spots the entire season and it would be Cardiff who would take the divisional title. Walsall, who finished second did finish the season with a 100% divisional record. There were three GM changes during the season. The Cardiff GM departed and the team had an interim GM from Bristol in the BFFL until the end of the season and both Wolverhampton and Bolton GM's left. Those teams have now been rebranded as Solihull Spartans and Chorlton Bees for the 2021 season and both have high draft picks. This could be an entirely different division in 2021.

Three divisional winners entering the playoffs with 10-3 records was a mouth-watering prospect and two of those, Bedfordshire and Cardiff would make it through to the BFC Bowl.  Both Walsall and Rochdale, who were runners-up in their division, did make it through to the Elimination Playoff. Bedfordshire won the BFC Bowl by just 5 points in a very close affair.

BFA

The BFA does see a lot of divisional changes this season and some rebrands so it could be a bit confusing to begin with to anybody used to the structure from 2020.

Name Changes:

South Manchester Rockets - now Haydock Steelers

Fife Phoenix - now South Yorkshire Jaguars

Leicester Renegades - now Weston Renegades

Gateshead Ninjas - now Birmingham Reapers

Seaton Silverbacks - now Seaton Carew Voodoo

Birmingham Reapers - now Perthshire Wild Things

Weston Gunslingers - now Jurassic Coast Jackrabbits

Devon Dolphins - now South Devon Dolphins

Divisional Changes:

North Division - Perthshire Wild Things and Glasgow Claymores move from the West Divisioin

South Division - Jurassic Coast Jackrabbits and South Devon Dolphins move from the West Division

East Division - Stevenage Sabres move from the South Division

West Division - Causeway Giants and Derry Venom move from the North Division, Weston Renegades move from the South Division and Birmingham Reapers (formerly Gateshead) move from the East Division.

With all those above changes in mind, it can be rightly assumed that this season in the BFA is well and truly up in the air with who could achieve what. This could be a very interesting league for 2021 and one to keep an eye on.

The North Division saw the two Northern Irish teams, Causeway and Derry leading the way for the majority of the season, with both teams swapping top spot on numerous occasions. It would be Causeway who took the division title but Derry would have the final say.

In the South Division, a very strong Sittingbourne Black Widows dominated the division for most of the season, but towards the end they tailed off slightly and allowed Stevenage back into the hunt. It would be the Stevenage Sabres who would take the division, be it both teams finished on a 9-4 record and both teams had a 5-1 divisional record. IOW Buccaneers missed out by just two games on the playoffs.

The East Division was a fierce battle. Gateshead, who are now rebranded as Birmingham and move to the West, were never in contention throughout the season after a GM change, but the other three teams battled it out solidly. Seaton and Deal had a 4-2 divisional record, with Durham on 2-4 in the division but it would be the Durham Destroyers who racked up three GM of the week awards in the final weeks of the season to keep this divisional battle alive. Seaton (9-4), Deal (9-4) and Durham (8-5) is how it finished in this very entertaining division.

The Perthshire Wild Things are now the old Reapers team and they won the division with Glasgow Claymores finishing second. Although the Gunslingers stayed in the last playoff hunt until the final couple of weeks of the season it was always a tall order and the teams who stayed first and second for all of the year made it through to the playoffs.

Unlike the BFFL and BFC, no team in this league posted a double-digit win loss record, all the divisional winners went through with an 8-5 or 9-4 record. Derry and Glasgow would make it through to the BFA Bowl, not just the only top tier Bowl won by a team runner-up in their division but the only Bowl where both teams were runners-up in their division. The divisional changes for 2021 and the fierce battles from last year make this a mouth watering division, add to the recipe that TWO teams from the BFA will be relegated to the BFU the following season and you have yourselves a Battle Royale for 2021.

BFU

As previously mentioned these 32 teams were split into four geographical leagues in 2020 and only playing divisional rivals to arrange their leagues for 2021. It was a very interesting affair across all the divisions.

NORTH

The North was the final division out of the four to confirm the four playoff contenders for 2020 and this did not happen until the final week of the season. 

Wakefield Marauders had been sitting top and swapping top with Bonnyrigg Huskies for the majority of the season, but it was the teams below who would swap the most. Aberdeen Riggers and Cumberland Coyotes were always going to struggle after the midway point of the season to make the playoff spots, but the other teams were in a ferocious battle. Lancaster and Tyne can count themselves very unlucky not to have made it into the playoffs, missing out by one and two games respectively.

The Bowl featured the two teams who finished first and second in the division, Wakefield Marauders and Bonnyrigg Huskies, both teams posting 190+ points per game average and Wakefield posting an 11-3 divisional record, 13-3 overall for the season after they won the BFU North Bowl in what was a very impressive division.

SOUTH

The founding members of the BFU South will forever be known as "The Banjo Brothers" and although this division was tight, high scoring and fierce, there was a camararderie among the teams.

The Jurassic Coast Corsairs would depart from the league in the early part of the season, be it the GM did return to the BFA, and this meant that West London Sting became a new member of the BFU South. The top three teams, Charlton Valiants, Jersey Devils and Southampton Clippers would hold those positions for the season and with a few weeks to go it was evident these three teams would be heading to the playoffs. What remained was the fourth and final spot. This was a hard fought battle between Dover, Oxford and Gibraltar and after being out of the top four for the majority of the season it would be the Dover Harlequins who would make it through in the fourth playoff spot. Charlton won the division with a very impressive 12-2 record, their only defeat coming against Dover. More on that in a moment.

The top three teams posted 200+ points per game averages with Oxford posting a 190+ but just missing out on the playoffs.

In the playoffs it would be Charlton coming up against Dover and for a third time the Harlequins were victorious. This sent them through to the Bowl to face Southampton, meaning the top two teams in the division did not appear in the final game. After being out of the top four for the majority of the season and grabbing the last playoff spot in the final weeks of the season, the Dover Harlequins would run out BFU South Champions.

EAST

It would be a fair assumption to say that the BFU East was a quiet affair in the chats last season and the four teams who made it through to the playoffs were the four teams who sat in the top four spots for the majority of the season.

The Westcliff Sea Cats departed the league into Week 3 and The Commish decided to rebrand them and take a team, renaming the Sea Cats the Herne Bay Saxons. The Saxons went on an astonishing run of games which saw them move above the very dominant Great Yarmouth Stingrays. The Saxons finished the season with an 11-3 record and seven game winning streak. Prior to this the Stingrays had posted numerous high scores, GM of the weeks and had been top all season.

Chelmsford and Braintree were the other two teams to make it through. Prior to the Saxons revival, the Chelmsford Firebirds had sat second all season. The only other team outside the top four who made much of an in-road into wins were the Nottingham Redbacks who will this season be known as the Dundee Crocodiles. They went on a run of games which saw them finish just two games off the playoffs.

The Bowl game would see the Saxons and Stingrays go up against each other and in a high scoring 220-209 game it would be the Saxons who would be crowned champions and finish the season with a 13-3 record.

WEST

The BFU West will be renowned for the St. Helens Storm going undefeated for what seemed like months, only for them to lose form in the final weeks of the season and drop down to third in the division.

This was a really competitive division and a late surge from a team who had not been in contention turned the whole division on its head.

Up until the last four weeks of the season it was commonly thought that St. Helens, West Coast, Oldham and Bath were the contenders going to the playoffs. Hereford and Uttoxeter at the bottom had not really been in contention and Newport had shown flashes but not consistently. Then there was the Marlborough Commodores.

They had not been looked upon by rivals as a challenger, yet they strung together five wins out of six, four of which came as a win streak and they shot themselves up to second in the division. With St. Helens, Oldham and Bath all tripping over themselves it meant one of those teams would lose out and so it would be Bath.

Marlborough, unfancied, not considered, were divisional runners-up behind what was a very impressive and strong West Coast Mariners team who posted a 11-3 divisional record and who could forget that famous "post match press conference" from the GM.

Into the playoffs and Oldham, who had scored the most points in the BFU West all season, posted a 220 points score in their Elimination Playoff, only to see the West Coast Mariners score 223 points. That is how competitive the BFU West was in 2020. St. Helens put their four game divisional losing streak behind them as they dispatched Marlborough and then scored a very impressive 229 points in the BFU West Bowl to defeat the divisional champions West Coast Mariners.

That was the year that was and with the promotion and relegation moving to the fore in 2021 we can expect the same, if not more competitive action in all of the BFFL leagues this season.

Just a reminder of the promotion and relegation places up for grabs in 2021:

BFFL - one relegated to BFC.

BFC - one promoted to BFC, one relegated to BFA

BFA - one promoted to BFC, two relegated to BFU

BFU - two promoted to BFA, four relegated to BFO

BFO - four promoted to BFU

*in 2022 there will be relegation to the British Bulldog from BFO.

We head into 2021.

The Commish

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