1984

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It was back in 1982 that the United Kingdom was introduced to American Football, with terrestrial station Channel 4 picking up the rights to broadcast weekly highlights from the National Football League. It was an instant hint and the sport’s growing popularity inspired fans up and down the country to pick up a ball and start playing the game themselves, with the first game between two British teams, the London Ravens and Northwich Spartans, taking place in 1983.

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It was back in 1982 that the United Kingdom was introduced to American Football, with terrestrial station Channel 4 picking up the rights to broadcast weekly highlights from the National Football League.

 

It was an instant hint and the sport’s growing popularity inspired fans up and down the country to pick up a ball and start playing the game themselves, with the first game between two British teams, the London Ravens and Northwich Spartans, taking place in 1983.

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Up in North Lincolnshire, football fans from the small town of Brigg had ambitions of setting up a team themselves and the Jets were founded in 1984. However, the team was swiftly relocated to nearby Scunthorpe after a better response was found and the small squad – now named the Steelers in honour of the town’s steel-making history – began training twice a week with the aim of competing in the Amateur American Football Conference (AAFC) in 1985.

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They would play three ‘flag’ non-contact games during the summer of 1984, beating the Newark Vulcans 43-14 and Kingston Liberators of Hull 31-12 before crashing to a 73-0 defeat against the Mansfield Express.

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At £250 per player, getting a kit together proved to be an expensive task, but they overcame that hurdle and the arrival of Leland Sullivan as head coach in September of that year proved to be a key moment in the team’s history.

 

Sullivan had played competitive football in his native United States for several years without going professional, and in 1973 the linebacker and running back had moved to the UK to work for Lindsay Oil. Now based in nearby Grimsby, the experienced American was tasked with turning a ragtag bunch into a team that could be competitive in their first season.

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Results

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Scunthorpe Steelers 43-14 Newark Vulcans (Flag Football Rules)

Scunthorpe Steelers 31-12 Kingston Liberators (Flag Football Rules)

Scunthorpe Steelers 0-73 Mansfield Express (Flag Football Rules)