BRITISH UNIVERSITIES AMERICAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE OFFICIAL SITE

Leeds Celtics

The Celtics were formed in 1989 and first competed in the BCAFL in 1990-91.

Victories at Strathclyde and Loughborough preceded their 14-8 victory against Cardiff in College Bowl X to win the national championship in 1996.

Since then, the Celtics have been a regular fixture in the post season playoffs, hoping to emulate the success of the 1996 team, and have found themselves ranked in the top 16 teams in the country for 6 consecutive years. This year Leeds finished in the top 8, whilst also taking home the honour of being the lowest conceding regular season team in the country conceding only 7 points. Leeds currently holds the 2nd best all time regular season record across football including the former BCAFL league.

The team consists of around 60 members, with an active squad of around 40 players. We have a tradition of producing some exceptional players, some of whom have been selected for the former Great Britain student representative side, the Great Britain Bulldogs. The Celtics train 3 times a week; Tuesdays and Thursdays are contact training sessions at Weetwood Sports Facilities, and on Monday there is a ‘chalkboard’ session in the Leeds University Union where players get the chance to ask our coaches questions and go through tactics and watch game film.

The Universitys history is linked to the development of Leeds as an international centre for the textile industry and clothing manufacture in the Victorian era. Its roots stretch back to the early nineteenth century and it was one of six civic universities in industrial cities given royal charters at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Prior to this wave of expansion in higher education, only four universities - Oxford, Cambridge, London and Durham - were established in England. Established in 1904, it is one of the six original civic universities, and in 2006 it was ranked second for the number of applications received.

The University of Leeds is a major teaching and research. It is one of the largest universities in the United Kingdom with over 32,000 full-time students. It is a member of the Russell Group and is ranked in the top ten of UK universities for market share of research funding. The Universitys student union, Leeds University Union (LUU), includes numerous shops and bars and an award-winning nightclub, and is one of the largest student union operations in the UK.

The University supports over 40 world class athletes each year in their academic and sporting lives through the Performance Sport programme.

Current scholars on the programme include international squash player Saurav Ghosal and Olympic Triathlon prospect Alistair Brownlee. All elite athletes who are studying at the University are eligible to apply for a sports scholarship.

Notable Leeds alumni and former members of staff include: J.R.R. Tolkien, Alan Yentob, Corinne Bailey Rae, Wole Soyinka, The Rt. Hon. Jack Straw, Andy Kershaw, Kay Mellor, Mark Knopfler, astronaut Piers Sellers, and many more key cultural, scientific and humanitarian figures.