Berkshire Renegades
Established | 1985 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Based in | BAFA Community Leagues | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Division | SFC 2 Central | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Division titles | 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Current uniform | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Berkshire Renegades (formerly the Reading Renegades) are an American Football team currently competing in the
Background
First formed in 1985, they competed in the United Kingdom American Football Association, the Budweiser League, the Combined Gridiron League and the British National Gridiron League before folding in 1990. They were reformed in 2005 and entered the BAFL the following year. At the conclusion of the 2009 season, the BAFL ceased to operate and the Berkshire Renegades joined the
History
Original Reading Renegades : 1985 to 1990
After their formation, the Renegades were admitted into the United Kingdom American Football Association in 1985 where they competed in the Eastern Conference. They finished with a 3–5 record, narrowly missing out on a playoff spot to the Dunstable Cowboys.[5]
The following year, the Renegades transferred over to the Budweiser League, where they competed in the Central conference of Division One. They soon got into their stride, recording a hard-fought win away to the
After sitting out the 1988 season, the Renegades returned to senior action in 1989 when they joined the Combined Gridiron League. Placed in the four-team Southern Conference, they had an indifferent season which saw them finish with a 3–3 record, once again missing out on the playoffs.[9]
After just one season in the CGL, the Reading Renegades transferred over to the British National Gridiron League where they competed in the First Division Southern Conference. Unfortunately, this new competition brought no joy and the Renegades finished bottom of the table, recording just one win at home to the Wight Rhinos. The club folded shortly after the season ended.[10][11][12]
Current Berkshire Renegades : 2006 to present
In 2004 the Renegades were restarted by former general manager Oliver Raffle and a small group of American Football enthusiasts. This core group helped to build the team that is currently in place today after many hours work during 2005 and through the club's successful application to join the BAFL at the end of 2005.[12]
The team entered the league in the Western Conference of Division Two, a conference which included three of the teams currently competing in the same conference as the Renegades. As an expansion team re-entering the league after 15 years away, they always found the going difficult and lost all ten of their matches, failing to score in four of them and conceding one game to the South Wales Warriors.[13]
The 2007 season started off positively for the Renegades, including a narrow 6–12 loss to a very strong South Wales Warriors side. The first victory came against the
The 2008 season saw a new Head Coach Phil de Monte take the reins from outgoing Head Coach Russ Seymour. Although the season started out well with a win, the team soon collapsed back to losing ways. Part way through the season Head Coach de Monte tendered his resignation and Offensive Coordinator Paul Gordon stepped up to carry out the Head Coach duties until the end of the season. The team forfeited a fixture to
The 2009 season saw Paul Gordon take on the role of Head Coach full-time. The 2009 season was a period of improvement for the Renegades and their final record of 3 wins and 7 losses reflected an improved team. Two wins over
The 2010 season and the dissolution of the
The 2011 season saw new additions to Division 2 South West with the
The 2012 season saw new competition and new opponents for the team as they were promoted at the conclusion of the 2011 season. The season started with a close 13–7 victory over Hampshire Thrashers before the team hosted Cambridgeshire Cats with a dominating victory 23–7. South Wales Warriors made the journey to Reading and came away with a narrow loss 22–20. The Renegades first loss of the season came at the hands of East Kent Mavericks 35–25. The team bounced back with road wins against Cambridgeshire Cats (18–13) and Kent Exiles (30–13) before a narrow loss to Sussex Thunder (27–22). After the tough game against the Thunder, the team had two back to back shut outs and dominated the Essex Spartans 81–0 and Kent Exiles 25–0 before losing to East Kent Mavericks 28–18. The regular season ended for the Renegades with a 7–3 record, setting the team up to host Nottingham Caesars in the first round of the playoffs. The visitors were firmly beaten 39–7 giving the Renegades their first playoff victory and a long road trip to West Coast Trojans. The Trojans proved to be a much more dominant opposition and beat the Renegades 43–6.[16]
The Berkshire Renegades pulled out of BAFANL competition in 2015.[17] following a 3–5 season. The team look to re-join in 2016 and begin by playing an associate friendly match at home against King's Lynn Patriots on Sunday 20 September 2015 [18]
In 2016 the Berkshire Renegades returned to the BAFANL in the SFC-2, with a successful season back in the league resulting in a 9–2 record. The team went to the playoffs but were knocked out after losing to the Cambridgeshire Cats.[citation needed]
In 2017 the Berkshire Renegades took home their first ever silverware, winning the SFC-2 Championship after beating Wembley Stallions 20–17 in the
Team season records
Season | Division | W | L | T | PF | PA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1985 | UKAFA Eastern | 3 | 5 | 0 | - | - |
1986 | Budweiser League, Division One Central | 6 | 4 | 0 | 248 | 216 |
1987 | Budweiser League Premier Division Central | 0 | 9 | 1 | 32 | 373 |
1989 | CGL, First Division South | 3 | 3 | 0 | 124 | 76 |
1990 | BNGL, First Division South | 1 | 9 | 0 | 60 | 161 |
2006 | BAFL Division Two West | 0 | 10 | 0 | 31 | 312 |
2007 | BAFL Division Two South West | 2 | 8 | 0 | 80 | 305 |
2008 | BAFL Division Two South West | 1 | 8 | 1 | 88 | 283 |
2009 | BAFL Division Two South West | 3 | 7 | 0 | 142 | 289 |
2010 | BAFACL Division Two South West | 6 | 4 | 0 | 198 | 102 |
2011 | BAFACL Division Two South West | 9 | 1 | 0 | 262 | 114 |
2012 | BAFANL Division One Central & South | 8 | 4 | 0 | 322 | 200 |
2016 | BAFANL Division Two South | 9 | 2 | 0 | - | - |
2017 | BAFANL Division Two South | 9 | 1 | 0 | - | - |
2019 | BAFANL Division One West | 1 | 9 | 0 | 130 | 329 |
2022 | BAFANL Division Two South | 5 | 3 | 0 | 100 | 52 |
2023 | BAFANL Division Two Central | 3 | 5 | 0 | 86 | 126 |
(*) - Ongoing Season |
Youth
The Berkshire Renegades also have a U16 & U19 Contact Team, alongside U11, U14 and U17 Flag Teams. Ranging from ages 7–17[citation needed]
References
- ^ "BAFANL SFC 2 Central".
- ^ "Renegades Rehoused". British American Football League. 16 November 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2009. [dead link]
- ^ "BAFA National Leagues". BAFA National Leagues. 22 December 2011. Archived from the original on 20 June 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
- ^ "League Realignment Details – Premier". BAFA National Leagues. 23 September 2012. Archived from the original on 26 September 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
- ^ "1985 League Standings" (XLS). Britball Now. 12 February 2008. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
- ^ "1986 League Results" (XLS). Britball Now. 21 March 2007. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
- ^ "1986 League Standings" (XLS). Britball Now. 20 December 2005. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
- ^ "1987 League Standings" (XLS). Britball Now. 26 November 2006. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
- ^ "1989 League Standings" (XLS). Britball Now. 31 August 2006. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
- ^ "1990 League Results". Britball Now. 20 December 2005. Archived from the original (XLS) on 23 September 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
- ^ "1990 League Standings" (XLS). Britball Now. 20 December 2005. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
- ^ a b c "Reading Renegades: History". Archived from the original on 2 May 2008. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
- ^ "2006 League Results" (XLS). Britball Now. 20 December 2006. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
- ^ "2007 League Results" (XLS). Britball Now. 17 November 2007. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
- ^ "BAFACL Standings". BAFACL. 30 September 2010. Archived from the original on 9 January 2011. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
- ^ "BAFA National Leagues". BAFANL. 5 November 2012. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
- ^ "Berkshire Renegades resign from BAFANL". Double Coverage. 9 March 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
- ^ "Patriots play first official full game". Facebook. 9 March 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
- ^ "Senior Team". Berkshire Renegades AFC. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
- ^ "American Football: Berkshire Renegades beat Bristol Apache to reach play-off final". Reading Chronicle. Retrieved 3 November 2017.