In the wake of last nights momentous Superbowl LV, particularly for seven time champion Tom Brady after leading his Tampa Bay Buccaneers to victory against Kansas City Chiefs, we remind you that Gridiron has been played out on these British shores since the early eighties, initially under that of the British American Football League (and its numerous guises) between 1987 and 2010, before the formation of, in 2010, the British American Football Association (BAFA).
Here in Nottingham, that very same sport of American Football, has been competed for pretty much the same length of time, just ask Vanden Warner, Head Coach of the Nottingham Caesars.
Although Warner hasn’t been involved in the game quite that long, his love affair with it does run alongside those fledgling years of the Nottingham Hoods, the forerunners of the Caesars.
Back then, in ’86, the NFL (National Football League) were celebrating Super Bowl XX, held at the Louisiana Superdome, and Coach Warner’s now beloved Chicago Bears were claiming their only title, a 46-10 success over the New England Patriots.
Among the Bears that season, and led by quarterback Jim McMahon, was Walter Payton, a running back who is easily one of the game’s all-time greats, and a Hall of Fame inductee back in 1993.
“I’d moved to a new school when I was around 10-years-old and my first friend there was into American Football,” explained Warner.
“Those were the days when the sport was on Channel Four, and I think that everyone was either a Miami Dolphins or Los Angeles Raiders fan.
“I began playing the sport myself not long after (two-touch, non-contact) and made many friends, friends who I’m still in contact with today.
“I did drift away though at one point, but one of the lads, who was a few years older than me, talked me into coming back, and I’ve never looked back since.”
With Coach Warner being born-and-raised in Nottinghamshire, he quickly became aware of the existence of the Hoods (1984-1992) and, although he’d move away to progress in higher education at Coventry University, his love for home and ‘The Big C’ (as the Caesars are affectionately known), and for Gridiron, was strong, and has never waned.
“I always wanted to be like Walter Payton,” explained Warner, “but I quickly realised, I’m not.
“I’ve been here since my days with the juniors (University withstanding) before moving up at nineteen.
“I’ve tried other sports, but playing football isn’t quite the same, both on, and off the field, and I soon found myself heading back to American Football.”
All of this was happening around the mid-to-late-nineties, and would coincide with the most successful period in the Caesars history.
Two trips to Britbowl finals in the late-nineties, early noughties, losing to Redbridge Fire 26-7 in 1997 (BAFA Division 1 Bowl) and to the Bristol Aztecs 32-15 in 2003 – there’s also been four divisional titles, and six play-off appearances of which two of each came in the late-nineties, 1995 and 1997.
“It has been a while since we made the Britbowl, and that’s been too long, way too long,” admitted Warner.
“There’s been lots of changes in the ensuing years though, and there’s not too many familiar faces about the place now that were around back then.”
Those changes have no doubt affected the on-field performances for the Caesars, and, with just two appearances in the play-offs since they last made the Britbowl, Coach Warner is, understandably, both anxious, and keen to get the ball rolling again, and change that statistic for the better.
Keep up-to-date with all the happenings at the Nottingham Caesars via their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, whilst you can visit their website here.
*Article provided by Peter Mann (Senior Correspondent).
*Main image @CaesarsFootball Coach Vanden Warner has had over 25 years of the game in the UK.
