South Wales Warriors

South Wales Warriors
Established	2001; 23 years ago
Based in	Llanharan, Wales
Home stadium	The Dairy Field
Head coach	Jacob Law
General manager	David Coles
League	BAFA National Leagues
Division	BAFANL SFC 1 West
League titles	Two (2011, 2019)
Division titles	Four (2007, 2008, 2018, 2019)
Current uniform
	Home kit
	Away kit
	Alternate kit

The South Wales Warriors are a British American Football team based in Llanharan, Mid Glamorgan, Wales. They play in SFC 1 West for the 2022 season. The team was formed in 2001 after the Tiger Bay Warriors had disbanded due to the departure of head coach Rob Mota, along with key staff and players, by the remaining players and staff; the staff used equipment, resources and shirts from the folded Tiger Bay Warriors for economical purposes.

They play their home games at the home of Llanharan rugby club. In the 2008 season the South Wales Warriors won their conference with a record of 9 wins and 1 loss before losing their playoff quarter-final to the Cambridgeshire Cats. However, they were promoted following the reorganisation of the BAFL for the 2009 season. They were relegated to Division 2 West during the 2010 BAFA Community League restructure.

In 2011, the Warriors finished the regular season as runners up in the Division 2 West and finished fifth seed in Division 2 enabling them to enter the playoffs, eventually winning promotion and Division 2 Championship on 25 September at the Britbowl Championships held at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre.

In 2012, the Warriors finished the Season with a record of 6 wins and 4 losses leaving them out of the playoffs and 4th in the Division 1 South and Central Division.

After being promoted to the BAFANL Premier South during the 2012/2013 league restructure, they played various teams from the southern half of the UK and primarily the 3 major London teams, London Warriors, London Blitz and London Olympians. After the end of the 2013 season, the club suffered heavily from the loss of key players to their Permier South rivals Bristol Aztecs across the border in England. This included Britball MVP Quarterback Gareth Thomas and wide receiver Benny Sherwood. The Warriors played through the following 3 seasons in the Premier South, culminating in their best Premier South record of 3 wins, 1 tie and 5 losses in 2016.

For the 2017 season, BAFA and the Warriors had taken the mutual decision to be demoted to the SFC 1 Central division after retirements and injuries to several veteran Warriors. For this they are unable to progress to the Post Season finals of SFC 1 Central for the 2017 and 2018 Season, and therefore be promoted to the Premier South division.

History edit

South Wales Warriors (2001 to 2010) edit

In 2001, the team was formed as the South Wales Warriors and were admitted into the British Senior League to compete in Division Two South. After a year out of action, they found the going tougher and finished with a 2–5–1 record.^[1] The following two seasons repeated this pattern, with the Warriors finishing with 3–6 and 5–5 records in 2002 and 2003 respectively.^[2]^[3] However, 2004 saw a vast improvement and they finished second in their group with a 7–2–1 record, making the playoffs for the first time since reforming. Unfortunately, they were knocked out at the first stage, losing their quarter-final 6–30 to the Chiltern Cheetahs.^[4]

This feat was repeated in 2005, finishing the regular season in second place before losing their playoff quarter-final.^[5] In 2006, the Warriors once again finished in second place, clinching their spot on the last match day of the regular season with a 27–21 win away to the Andover Thrashers. They were drawn at home to the Essex Spartans for their wildcard playoff. The Warriors posted an impressive win, however, the visitors complained to the BAFL that the pitch at Bedwas RFC was too short, and therefore did not comply with league rules. After consultations between the two teams, the game was played as normal but the BAFL decided afterwards that the Warriors would forfeit the game, and therefore the game was awarded to the Spartans as a 1–0 victory.^[6]^[7]

The 2007 season saw the Warriors get over their play-off disappointment by winning their group with a near-perfect 9–1 record to win their second ever conference championship. A 13–7 quarter-final win against the Cambridgeshire Cats set up a semi-final tie away to the Norwich Devils, who came into this game on the back of a perfect 10–0 regular season and a quarter-final win against the Cornish Sharks. Unfortunately for the Warriors they were unable to beat an impressive home team, going down 28–43.^[8]

South Wales Warriors (2011) edit

The 2011 Season saw the Warriors compete in the reformed BAFA National Leagues. The opening game of the season saw them take on the Gloucester Banshees and win 46–0, one of four shut out games that season, which were to set the tone of the Warriors season. Eight wins and two defeats to the hands of the Berkshire Renegades resulted in the team finishing runners up in the Division 2 West league and entering the playoffs as wild card fifth seed. The quarter finals against the Kent Exiles resulted with a 33–13 Warriors victory . The Warriors then moved on to the semi-finals at the home ground of the Lancashire Wolverines in Blackburn. The Wolverines were soundly beaten 32–17, leading to a South Wales Warriors and West Coast Trojans Britbowl final at Crystal Palace and promotions to Division 1 for both teams. The Division 2 Britbowl final was played on 25 September 2011 at the Crystal Palace Stadium, London, with the final result of 48–20 to the Warriors crowning them Britbowl XXV BAFANL Division 2 Champions.

South Wales Warriors (2012) edit

2012 saw the newly promoted Warriors to Division 1 South and Central play a condensed season of football (10 Games over 13 weeks). The warriors had a mixed result to the season, winning six games and losing four. The Warriors home game to Essex Spartans was postponed from 16 June to 15 July due to adverse weather conditions affecting large parts of mainland Britain at the time, the subsequent game was forfeited after Essex were unable to field a team. The Warriors managed to keep a 100% home record for the season which left them finishing in fourth place within the division.

On 23 September it was announced that the South Wales Warriors were to be promoted to the Premiership South Division after an expansion programme run by BAFA.^[9]

South Wales Warriors (2013) edit

2013 saw the newly promoted Warriors in the expanded Premiership South Conference and played a season of 10 games from end of April till the end of August. The Warriors played each club in the Conference once give a total of 5 away games and 5 home games. The Warriors started the season at home to Peterborough Saxons, which ended in a narrow loss and ended the season on the road to London Olympians, which again was a narrow loss. The Warriors finished 9th in the division and started to get ready for their second season in the Premiership South Conference.

South Wales Warriors (2014) edit

2014 saw the Warriors again in the Premiership South Conference and played a season of 8 games from end of April till the end of August (8 as Sussex Thunder pulled out before the season began.) The Warriors played each club in the Conference once – a total of 4 away games and 4 home games. The Warriors started the season at home to Colchester Gladiators, which ended in a victory and ended the season at home to the London Olympians, which was a narrow loss. The Warriors finished 6th in the division with a 3–5 record, with victories in the home games against Colchester Gladiators, East Kent Mavericks and Cambridgeshire Cats, and defeats against Bristol Aztecs, London Blitz, London Warriors, London Olympians and Berkshire Renegades.

Senior team season records edit

Summary edit

Season	Division	P	W	L	T	PF	PA	Final Position	Playoff record	Notes
2001	BAFL Division 2 South	8	2	5	1	66	104	7 / 9	—	First season competing
2002	BSL Division 2 South	9	3	6	0	258	128	7 / 19	—	—
2003	BSL Division 2 South West	10	5	5	0	158	172	4 / 6	—	—
2004	BSL Division 2 South West	10	7	2	1	228	129	2 / 6	Lost 6–30 to Chiltern Cheetahs in quarter-final.	—
2005	BAFL Division 2 South West	10	8	2	0	298	71	2 / 6	Lost 16–30 to Kent Exiles in quarter-final.	—
2006	BAFL Division 2 West	10	7	3	0	285	93	2 / 5	Defeated Essex Spartans in wild card playoff.	Forfeited the game against Essex Spartans on 80 yard pitch technicality.
2007	BAFL Division 2 South West	10	9	1	0	255	91	1 / 5	Beat Cambridgeshire Cats 13–7 in quarter-final. Lost 28–43 to Norwich Devils in semi-final.	Conference champions
2008	BAFL Division 2 South West	10	9	1	0	255	59	1 / 5	Beat Colchester Gladiators 21–12 in wild-card playoff. Lost 7–21 to Cambridgeshire Cats in quarter-final.	Conference champions. Regular season record includes one win by forfeit. Promoted to Division One.
2009	BAFL Division 1 South West	10	6	4	0	194	86	3 / 5	—	—
2010	BAFACL Division 1 South West	10	4	6	0	?	?	? / ?	—	Relegated to Division 2 West
2011	BAFANL Division 2 West	10	8	2	0	317	66	2 / 6	Beat Kent Exiles 33–13 in quarter finals playoff. Beat the Lancashire Wolverines 32–17 in semi finals playoff. Beat the West Coast Trojans 48–20 to win Division 2 Britbowl Final at Crystal Palace.	Finished Western Conference as runners up to Berkshire Renegades.^[10] Britbowl XXV BAFANL Division 2 Champions. Promoted to Division 1 South and Central
2012	BAFANL Division 1 South and Central	10	6	4	0	270	192	4 / 8	—	Promoted to Premiership South through Premiership Expansion Programme
2013	BAFANL Premiership South	10	2	8	0	93	302	9 / 11	—	—
2014	BAFANL Premiership South	8	3	5	0	58	244	6 / 9	—	—
2015	BAFANL Premiership South	8	0	8	0	41	331	5 / 5	—	—
2016	BAFANL Premiership South	10	3	6	1	150	347	5 / 6	—	Demoted to BAFANL SFC 1 Central under mutual agreement during the 2017 league restructure.^[11]
2017	BAFANL SFC 1 Central	10	0	10	0	56	196	5 / 5	—	Demoted to BAFANL SFC 2 West.
2018	BAFANL SFC 2 West	8	8	0	0	310	12	1 / 6	Beat Worcestershire Black Knights 1–0 in Quarter-finals. Black Knights forfeit game due to player levels.^[12] Lost 37–12 to Portsmouth Dreadnoughts in Semi-finals.	BAFANL SFC 2 West Conference Champions
2019	BAFANL SFC 2 West	8	8	0	0	298	54	1 / 6	Beat Bristol Apache 28–3 in Quarter-final. Beat London Blitz B 16–6 in Semi-finals. Beat Bournemouth Bobcats 0–13 in Final.	Britbowl XXXIII BAFANL SFC 2 Champions SFC 2 West Conference Champions Promoted to Division 1
2020	BAFANL SFC 1 Central	–	–	–	–	–	– / –	—	League Season cancelled Due To COVID-19 Outbreak.
2021	BAFANL Severn Division	6	3	3	0	54	96	2 / 6	—	Localised League Season Due To COVID-19.
2022	BAFANL SFC 1 West	10	3	6	1	101	134	4 / 6	—	—
2023	BAFANL SFC 1 West	10	–	–	–	–	–	-/6	—	—

2011 Results edit

Date	Fixture	Result	Notes
24/04/11	WARRIORS @ Gloucester Banshees	46–0	—
07/05/11	Bristol Apache @ WARRIORS	0–34	—
28/05/11	Cornish Sharks @ WARRIORS	8–42	—
05/06/11	WARRIORS @ Berkshire Renegades	6–9	—
19/06/11	Gloucester Banshees @ WARRIORS	14–46	—
26/06/11	Berkshire Renegades @ WARRIORS	19–14	—
09/07/11	WARRIORS @ Bristol Apache	54–8	—
16/07/11	Bournemouth Bobcats @ WARRIORS	0–34	—
23/07/11	WARRIORS @ Cornish Sharks	22–0	—
06/08/11	WARRIORS @ Bournemouth Bobcats	19–8	—
29/08/11	WARRIORS @ Kent Exiles	33–13	Wild card playoff
05/09/11	WARRIORS @ Lancashire Wolverines	32–17	Playoff semi final
25/09/11	WARRIORS @ West Coast Trojans	48–20	Britbowl Playoff final at Crystal Palace

2012 Results edit

Date	Fixture	Result	Notes
28/04/12	Hampshire Thrashers @ WARRIORS	18–34	—
06/05/12	WARRIORS @ Berkshire Renegades	20–22	—
26/05/12	Kent Exiles @ WARRIORS	12–56	—
02/06/12	WARRIORS @ Sussex Thunder	13–28	—
10/06/12	WARRIORS @ Hampshire Thrashers	42–13	—
16/06/12	Essex Spartans @ WARRIORS	P–P	Postponed due to adverse weather conditions
23/06/12	WARRIORS @ Cambridgeshire Cats	36–44	—
07/07/12	East Kent Mavericks @ WARRIORS	12–18	—
14/07/12	WARRIORS @ East Kent Mavericks	15–17	—
15/07/12	Essex Spartans @ WARRIORS	0–1	Essex forfeited
28/07/12	Sussex Thunder @ WARRIORS	26–35	—

2013 Results edit

Date	Fixture	Result	Notes
28/04/13	Peterborough Saxons @ WARRIORS	13–8	—
04/05/13	WARRIORS @ East Kent Mavericks	26–35	—
25/05/13	WARRIORS @ Sussex Thunder	0–20	—
09/06/13	London Warriors @ WARRIORS	56–0	—
22/06/13	WARRIORS @ Cambridgeshire Cats	14–30	—
30/06/13	Bristol Aztecs @ WARRIORS	41–0	—
14/07/13	Ipswich Cardinals @ WARRIORS	7–12	—
03/08/13	WARRIORS @ London Blitz	0–69	—
10/08/13	Berkshire Renegades @ WARRIORS	18–33	—
25/08/13	WARRIORS @ London Olympians	0–13	—

2014 Results edit

Date	Fixture	Result	Notes
27/04/14	WARRIORS @ London Blitz	0–43	—
04/05/14	Colchester Gladiators @ WARRIORS	12–14	—
11/05/14	WARRIORS @ Bristol Aztecs	0–52	—
25/05/14	WARRIORS @ Berkshire Renegades	6–7	—
08/06/14	East Kent Mavericks @ WARRIORS	14–17	—
29/06/14	Cambridgeshire Cats @ WARRIORS	20–21	—
20/07/14	WARRIORS @ London Warriors	0–70	—
10/08/14	London Olympians @ WARRIORS	26–0	—

2015 Results edit

Date	Fixture	Result	Notes
26/04/15	WARRIORS @ Bristol Aztecs	7–35	—
10/05/15	WARRIORS @ London Olympians	10–27	—
24/05/15	London Warriors @ WARRIORS	49–0	—
07/06/15	London Olympians @ WARRIORS	22–18	—
14/06/15	Bristol Aztecs @ WARRIORS	49–0	—
28/06/15	London Blitz @ WARRIORS	59–6	—
18/07/15	WARRIORS @ London Blitz	0–49	—
26/07/15	WARRIORS @ London Warriors	0–41	—

2016 Results edit

Date	Fixture	Result	Notes
17/04/16	WARRIORS @ London Warriors	0–71	—
01/05/16	WARRIORS @ London Olympians	35–18	—
08/05/16	WARRIORS @ London Blitz	6–27	—
22/05/16	WARRIORS @ Bristol Aztecs	27–27	—
05/06/16	Farnham Knights @ WARRIORS	28–30	—
12/06/16	London Olympians @ WARRIORS	13–20	—
26/06/16	London Warriors @ WARRIORS	35–0	—
10/07/16	London Blitz @ WARRIORS	48–0	—
17/07/16	WARRIORS @ Farnham Knights	14–32	—
31/07/16	Bristol Aztecs @ WARRIORS	48–18	—

2017 Results edit

Date	Fixture	Result	Notes
09/04/17	Ouse Valley Eagles @ WARRIORS	14–12	—
23/04/17	Oxford Saints @ WARRIORS	13–6	—
30/04/17	Sussex Thunder @ WARRIORS	14–8	—
07/05/17	WARRIORS @ Solent Thrashers	0–20	—
13/05/17	WARRIORS @ Sussex Thunder	6–17	—
11/06/17	WARRIORS @ Ouse Valley Eagles	0–3	—
18/06/17	WARRIORS @ Solent Thrashers	8–15	—
25/06/17	WARRIORS @ Oxford Saints	0–42	—
08/07/17	Sussex Thunder @ WARRIORS	17–0	—
30/07/17	Solent Thrashers @ WARRIORS	41–16	—

2018 Results edit

Date	Fixture	Result	Notes
05/04/18	WARRIORS @ Somerset Wyverns	8–6	—
06/05/18	Jurassic Coast Raptors @ WARRIORS	0–50	—
13/05/18	Cornish Sharks @ WARRIORS	-–-	Postponed due to Cornish Sharks player levels. Rearranged for 24 June 2018.
17/06/18	WARRIORS @ Worcestershire Black Knights	48–0	—
24/06/18	Cornish Sharks @ WARRIORS	0–64	—
01/07/18	Worcestershire Black Knights @ WARRIORS	0–48	—
08/07/18	WARRIORS @ Torbay Trojans	14–6	—
22/07/18	Torbay Trojans @ WARRIORS	0–42	Warriors crowned SFC2 West Champions.
05/08/18	WARRIORS @ Cornish Sharks	36–0	—
11/08/18	Worcestershire Black Knights @ WARRIORS	0–1	Playoff Quarter-finals – Worcestershire Black Knights Forfeit
18/08/18	Portsmouth Dreadnoughts @ WARRIORS	37–12	Playoff Semi-finals

2019 Results edit

Date	Fixture	Result	Notes
28/04/19	WARRIORS @ Cornish Sharks	33–0	—
12/05/19	Worcestershire Black Knights @ WARRIORS	0–55	—
19/05/19	WARRIORS @ Bristol Apache	46–21	—
02/06/19	Somerset Wyverns @ WARRIORS	6–29	—
09/06/19	WARRIORS @ Somerset Wyverns	26–7	—
23/06/19	WARRIORS @ Torbay Trojans	49–14	—
07/07/19	Torbay Trojans @ WARRIORS	6–10	—
04/08/19	Cornish Sharks @ WARRIORS	0–51	—
11/08/19	Bristol Apache @ WARRIORS	3–28	Quarter-finals
18/08/19	London Blitz B @ WARRIORS	6–16	Semi-finals
31/08/19	Bournemouth Bobcats @ WARRIORS	0–13	Britbowl Playoff final at New River Stadium, London

2021 Results edit

Date	Fixture	Result	Notes
25/07/21	WARRIORS @ Worcestershire Black Knights	28–0	—
08/08/21	WARRIORS @ Birmingham Bulls	14–18	—
15/08/21	Swindon Storm @ WARRIORS	0–12	—
22/08/21	Hereford Stampede @ WARRIORS	P–P	Hereford informed SWW that they couldn't fulfil fixture
05/09/21	WARRIORS @ Hereford Stampede	22–12	—
12/09/21	Bristol Aztecs @ WARRIORS	36–0	Played at Filton SGS – Wise Campus
19/09/21	Worcestershire Black Knights @ WARRIORS	P–P	WBK informed SWW that they couldn't fulfil fixture
03/10/21	WARRIORS @ Bristol Aztecs	0–20	—

2022 Results edit

Date	Fixture	Result	Notes
10/04/22	Hertfordshire Cheetahs @ WARRIORS	13–7	—
17/04/22	Rushmoor Knights @ WARRIORS	43–20	—
24/04/22	WARRIORS @ Oxford Saints	7–7	—
15/05/22	WARRIORS @ Bournemouth Bobcats	5–12	—
22/05/22	Oxford Saints @ WARRIORS	2–31	—
19/06/22	Portsmouth Dreadnoughts @ WARRIORS	0–13	—
26/06/22	Bournemouth Bobcats @ WARRIORS	6–12	—
03/07/22	WARRIORS @ Hertfordshire Cheetahs	6–15	—
24/07/22	WARRIORS @ Rushmoor Knights	0–33	—
31/07/22	WARRIORS @ Portsmouth Dreadnoughts	0–3	—

2023 Results edit

Date	Fixture	Result	Notes
30/04/23	WARRIORS @ Bournemouth Bobcats	13–7	—
07/05/23	Hertfordshire Cheetahs @ WARRIORS	29–0	—
14/05/23	Rushmoor Knights @ WARRIORS	21–14	—
28/05/23	WARRIORS @ Oxford Saints	0–3	—
04/06/23	Bournemouth Bobcats @ WARRIORS	16–14	—
11/06/23	WARRIORS @ Rushmoor Knights	14–23	—
25/06/23	Oxford Saints @ WARRIORS	2–25	—
02/07/22	Bristol Apache @ WARRIORS	0–3	—
23/07/22	WARRIORS @ Hertfordshire Cheetahs	–	—
06/08/22	WARRIORS @ Bristol Apache	–	—

Game venue and training edit

The home of the South Wales Warriors from 2009 has been the Dairy Field, home of Llanharan RFC, which is situated around half an hour north west of Cardiff. The ground was purchased by the rugby club in 1989. A 440-seat stand was built shortly afterwards, with a bank of covered terracing built on the opposite side two years later and a new clubhouse was built in 2002 on the site of the local British Legion Club.^[13] It is one of only three American football venues in the United Kingdom to use a referee's microphone.^[14] The team also use Roath Park Recreational Ground for informal training sessions.

For the 2008 season, the Warriors played their home games at Sully Sports & Leisure Centre, located in the village of Sully, just outside Barry. They shared this ground with a number of local sports teams including Sully rugby club and a baseball club.^[15] For the 2006 and 2007 seasons, the Warriors played their home matches at the Bridge Field, located in Bedwas, Caerphilly, which they shared with Bedwas rugby club.

Before this, the team were based in Cardiff with most of their games played at Canton rugby club, and a few games also being played at Llanrumney Leisure Centre and Roath Park Recreational Ground. While Llanharan RFC play on the Dairyfield toward the end of the UK Rugby season, the Warriors train on 3G Astroturf at Y Pant Comprehensive School, Pontyclun during winter months and the Llanharan Welfare Ground during the Spring Months.^[16]^[17]

Roster 2022 edit

South Wales Warriors 2022 Roster

Quarterbacks

5 Dean Jackson
9 Ashley Lewis
15 Matthew Morris

Running backs

2 Daniel Abbruzzese
6 Joshua Hughes
24 Patrick Burchell
30 James Tumbali
33 Chris Homewood
41 Ben Thomas

Receivers

10 Lawrence Tuckett
11 Issac Taylor
16 Andrew Cooper
18 Far Away Fab
19 Michael Duncan
86 Ethan Harris
87 Lee Knicz
88 Michael Hiles

Defensive backs

4 Callum Clowry
7 Imran Jonasson
20 Christopher Bartlett-Legge
22 Daniel Dacey
23 Haydn Wright
25 Adam Hilton
26 Adam Balson
27 Connor Drennan
36 Fabian Davies
44 Kieran Dudson
80 Warren Combes

Linebackers

8 Gareth Thomas
28 Jacob Law
34 John Bateman
35 Elspeth Watkins
52 Nicholas Yeubrey
54 Cori Melly
85 Nathan Webb
94 Huw Bebb
99 Callum Castle

Linemen

1 Tushon Blackson-Mwale
45 Akeem Hallisey
50 Alex Atkins
51 Jordan Madden
57 Andy Pryce
59 Maninder Bharath
62 Gavin Sellers
66 David Coles
67 Connor Charlton
69 Daniel Emberson
71 Kyle Rodway
73 Mitch Perrett
78 Tung Chi Fung

Coaching/Staff

Dean Jackson (Head Coach & Offensive Co-ordinator)
Huw Bebb (Defensive Co-ordinator)
Andrew Carpenter (Linemen Coach)
Rob Dummer (Team Photographer)
Harry James (Hydration Officer)

Retired Numbers

12 Tim Macy
21 Geraint Roberts
53 Tim Macy

^[18]

Roster 2023 edit

South Wales Warriors 2023 Roster