BAFA Hall of Fame
It’s taken almost forty years for British American Football to have an official Hall of Fame, but it has been established in order that we can recognise the excellence of the many people who have made outstanding contributions to its development.
For the inaugural 2021 class we had a difficult task to get us to the point where we had the thirty individuals that we wanted to induct. A project leader was appointed who has a long history with Britball. Dave Tidswell was a player in the eighties and has maintained a close association with the game, acting as a uniball coach, adult league general manager and historian of Britball. He pulled together a twelve-person selection committee who are all well respected individuals from within the British game and who represented the diverse elements of our sport.
The Britball community nominated over one hundred and seventy different individuals for consideration, some were players, some were coaches and others were administrators and officials. The selection committee deliberated for many days and hours before coming up with their final list for submission to the BAFA board.
We thought it was important to recognise achievement from across the decades. The players of today most likely haven’t heard of the London Ravens or the Streatham Olympians, the Nottingham Hoods or the Manchester Spartans. They probably don’t realise that the Great Britain Lions have twice been European Champions. They wouldn’t know that the British Senior League was once semi-professional and was sponsored by Budweiser and Coca Cola, or that former NFL and Division one college players were once common amongst the top teams. It’s also unlikely that they would know that elite British players were active as professionals in the NFL Europe League.
Of course, it’s not just about the players, great contributions have been made by Coaches and Administrators and we are delighted to be able to recognise them too.
Within this section of the website, you will find images and biographies for all the members of the Hall of Fame, saved in discrete groups by their year of induction. Each member of the HOF receives a personalised Golden Helmet, a Certificate of Induction, and a Hall of Fame members pin.