Stirling Clansmen

BCAFL team
name = Stirling Clansmen

year = 1986-1987
colors = Green & Yellow
universities = University of Stirling
stadium = Gannochy Sports Pavilion, University of Stirling, Stirling
division = Northern Conference, Scottish Division
record = 74-70-16
playoff record = 4-7-0
no_play_apps = 7
no_div_champs = 6
no_conf_champs = 1
no_league_champs = 1
play_apps= 1987, 1988, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008
div_champs = 1988, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008
conf_champs = 2003
league_champs = 2003

The Stirling Clansmen are one of the stalwarts of the BUAFL Northern Conference, Scottish Division. The Clansmen joined the league in 1986, and have gradually improved themselves from a series of 1-win seasons in the early 1990's to winning their first College Bowl in 2003.

History

1984-85

The University of Stirling was one of the first two universities in Scotland to develop an American Football programme, beginning in 1984. The Clansmen played their first game in 1985, when they defeated the University of Strathclyde Hawks 12-0. In their first two years in the BCAFL, the Clansmen made the playoffs, the second year winning the Scottish Conference regular season crown. Both times, however the team lost the playoff opener.

1994-95

Stirling struggled for half a dozen years to regain the success of the early seasons, only once winning more than two games. In 1994-95, it looked as though the Clansmen might have turned the corner, as new coach Paul Poppa led the team to the best record in five years. However, Coach Poppa retired after the 1995 season and the Clansmen withdrew from active participation in the League for one year, forced by a mass graduation of the playing staff.

1995-96

For the 1995-96 season, team president Mark Brember arranged a temporary merger with the Strathclyde Hawks. A small band of Stirling players contributed greatly and the result was a Scottish Division title and excellent experience for the returning players.

1996-97

Early in 1996, new team president, Russ Nehmer, launched himself into the task of restoring the Clansmen to the top of the League. The team was reformed in its' own right and Nehmer secured excellent sponsorship deals in addition to regenerating the teams resources. An excellent recruitment campaign throughout 1996 has given the Clansmen a fine squad of new players. A slow start to the 1996/97 season was attributed to many players' newness to the game. However over the campaign, the team improved dramatically and managed to qualify for the Northern conference Plate Competition.

1997-98

For the 1997/98 season, Russ Nehmer took on the official role as Head Coach, in addition to playing and being the club's president. Despite a strong recruiting drive, the 97/98 Clansmen squad failed to win a league game until the end of the season. The Stirling team never realised their potential despite some magnificent individual efforts, football being indeed a team game. The Clansmen lost several games in the final seconds and this, coupled with their tough schedule resulted in a 1-5-2 record. The high came against Strathclyde in February when Stirling showed themselves a glimpse of what could have been, defeating the Hawks 34 points to 6.

1998-99

Russ Nehmer had left the Team for the 1998/1999 season and Allister Scott took over as Head Coach and Team Captain. Also he played while being coach and the team seemed to settle in well with this idea. Structure and ideas of the previous seasons were developed further and the Clansmen started to evolve. Despite a slow start into the season this season was to turn out exciting and more successful than previous ones. After having lost to Glasgow the end of the season saw a decision in the last game. Who would be Scottish Champion was to be decided in the game Clansmen vs. Strathclyde. If the Clansmen were to win they would be No. 1 and if they were to lose Strathclyde and Glasgow would pass them to make the latter Scottish Champions. The game ended 16:0 to Strathclyde to make Glasgow Tigers No.1.

1999-2000

Having lost many good players after the 98/99 season, the season 1999/2000 required a lot of effort in building the team around new people. With Allister Scott still as head of the coaching staff the team took the challenge. The season set off promising and the new players did their best to live up to their predecessors of previous years and succeeded. The combination of experience and fresh enthusiasm made the team stronger than ever before. The Defence managed to shut out most teams while the Offence brought in a record number of points. Having lost only to Glasgow it, again, came down to the last game against Strathclyde. A win over Strathclyde would make the Clansmen Scottish Champions, while a loss would give Glasgow the win again. What followed was a breathtaking and extremely exciting game that was finally won 14:12 by The Clansmen to become Scottish Champions 1999/2000!

2000-01

The 2000 season was predicted to be a tough one with strong English side, the Lancaster Bombers switched to play in the Scottish division and very strong opposition provided by Strathclyde and Glasgow once again. The season got underway well and at Christmas the Clansmen had a 2-1-1 record. After the break the Clansmen kept in the hunt for a second successive Scottish crown taking the season to the last game, away at Hull. Here, they knew that a win would secure a second title but in really unfortunate circumstances the Clansmen lost 24:0 and Glasgow's game was cancelled, leaving both teams with 4-3-1 record. However the Clansmen were gutted as their head to head record with the Tigers (0-2) meant that Glasgow took the title in the closest BCAFL division and the Clansmen had to settle for second. This gave them a place in the Northern Plate competition held in Leeds after the end of the regular season and they didn't disappoint, winning the final against Leeds and adding the Plate to their trophy cabinet.

Team Records by Season

External links

* [http://www.bcafl.org BCAFL]
* [http://stirlingclansmen.co.uk/mainpage.htm Stirling Clansmen] Official Site