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For the 1986 BAFL season, 36 teams were divided into two Conferences (National and Anglo) with most of the Northern teams from the 1985 AFL (UK) season (see below) aligning with the BAFL and most Southern teams with the rival Budweiser League.

Birmingham Bulls won Summerbowl II – the official Championship Game of Britain – defeating Glasgow Lions 23-2 in the decider after completing the regular season with 10 wins and 2 losses to Glasgow’s 7 wins, 4 losses and one tie. The Lions had knocked out Leicester Panthers in the Semi-Finals, while Birmingham upset the previously-undefeated Manchester Spartans 35-7 in the Semi-Finals. In all 6 teams qualified for the Playoff Quarter-Finals from the 14-team National Conference to be joined by the Fylde Falcons (Blackpool) and Luton Flyers, who had both finished the regular season undefeated with 10 wins apiece in the Anglo Conference.

A planned all-Britain Championship game involving the Summerbowl II Champions Bulls versus the Budweiser League Champions (and 1985 Summerbowl Champions) London Ravens to decide Britain’s representatives in the EFL Eurobowl never materialised.

The British American Football League (BAFL) was a follow-on from the American Football League (United Kingdom) – shortened to AFL (UK) which had played one season in 1985 – the first full season of Gridiron (American) Football in Britain. The BAFL itself lasted only one season, the 1986 season, after which most teams merged with the Budweiser League.

The Budweiser League was an Alternative Football League in Britain, running parallel to the BAFL in 1986, and had significant financial input from the USA drinks giant, enabling the Budweiser League’s teams to import professional players from USA. Such was the high level of play, and confusion also, as to which league’s champions was the true Champion of Britain, that on a number of occasions, the Budweiser League’s Champions and its’ successor League’s champions (the Coca-Cola sponsored NDMA which ran from 1990 to 1993) were barred from official European Football League (EFL) competition.

As a result, the 1986 BAFL Champions, the Birmingham Bulls, represented Britain in the 1986 Eurobowl. The 1986 BAFL season included division-winning teams from the BAFL National Conference (the official top division in Britain) and the BAFL Anglo Conference (the official second division) in the season-ending playoffs.

[1] Eden Phillips (ed.) (1986) “How the British Leagues finished in 1986” American Football – NFL Official Guide in 18 Parts – Part 17. pg 541. Published by Marshall Cavendish Partworks Ltd. London, UK.

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

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Last Updated: 8 September 2025. First Published: 8 September 2025.

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