The BUAFL has two levels of team membership:
Full Members: These teams play an eight game regular season, are eligible for the play-offs and have successfully completed an Associate season.
Emerging Members: These teams are recently established teams who aspire to Full Membership Status. They have to fulfil a series of requirements during their Associate season including one home which is overseen by a league official. These teams can play a limited number of 11 vs 11 fixtures and as the League develops its Five Versus Five programme, will be able to enter squads into that.
Each season sees an increased interest from universities in establishing a team who can compete in the BUAFL. Establishing a football programme however, comes with many challenges and it is vital for the sustainability of the League that teams are thoroughly prepared to compete in a full season. An Associate season enables teams to participate in fixtures and scrimmages against other teams, whether they are BUAFL or BAFL teams, but ensures that the financial commitment of playing a full season straight off is not a prohibitive burden.
The BUAFL is committed to working with all universities to develop programmes. Recently new teams have applied for Sport England Small Grants Awards. The BUAFL is working with Sport England to ensure that this process is managed effectively. Each university has a unique reference code allocated to it by the BUAFL. You will need this to show that you have been working with us to develop your team.
Current programmes under development include those of:
