Caesars Hungry For New Season

As the NFL heads towards its season finale stateside, with ‘the greatest show on earth, the Super Bowl, next month, than the British American Football Association (BAFA) is preparing for its summer season to begin.

In the championship games, this year’s American offering will see the AFC contested between the Kansas City Chiefs (last victory in 2019) and the Cincinnati Bengals (never won the big one), whilst the NFC will see the Los Angeles Rams (last won in 1999, as the St Louis Rams) face the San Francisco 49ers (won in 1994), for a date at the SoFi Stadium, California, the home of the Rams, on 13 February.

Meanwhile, on British shores, and from April through to June, Vanden Warner’s Nottingham Caesars, and many others, will play their new season, with the Caesars, in the NFC1 North, beginning with an away trip to the Chester Romans, on 10 April, the first of four away games in their opening five games.

Speaking of their return to action, and with the Caesars recently having returned to training, the Nottingham Sport caught up with Head Coach, Vanden Warner, who said: “We’ve actually had quite a lot more attending than I expected really.

“There’s a lot of new focus, which is great, and they’re picking up on the sport, the plays, rather quickly.

“Yes, we’ve got a few regulars missing because of commitments elsewhere, but those that have turned up, they’re hungry for it.”

Following on from last season’s undefeated, divisional campaign, the only blot on the Caesars being that cross-divisional clash with the highly-regarded Manchester Titans (Premier North), this season will see a completely new set of opponents.

The NFC1 South Division, for when the new BAFA season kicks off in April, will see the Caesars face that of the Birmingham Bulls, Leicester Falcons, Shropshire Revolution, Chester Romans, and the Halton Spartans.

Looking ahead, and talking about the opponents the Caesars are scheduled to face, Coach Warner added that: “We didn’t play any of these sides last season, but we’re kind of going back to the original alignments, with the addition of the (Birmingham) Bulls and the (Halton) Spartans.

“We’ve got old rivalries with the Bulls and the (Leicester) Falcons, whilst the (Chester) Romans and the (Shropshire) Revolutions, we’ve played previously.

“We were hoping to be starting at home, especially as we’ve been away in recent years, but let’s just bring them on, start strong, and look to keep that momentum going.”

As for those five opponents in which the Caesars will face, Warner said: “Chester have, I’m told, improved remarkably since we last played them, and are usually tight games.

“Birmingham have also improved, whilst Leicester and Shropshire are both really strong as well.

“Halton meanwhile, they’ll be the dark horses I believe, the unknown entity, and a team we’ve wanted to play before.”

With the ten fixtures the Caesars are scheduled to play, between April 10 and July 3 (see below), four of those first five are on the road, the first home game being against the Shropshire Revolution, on May 15.

The second half of the season will see the Caesars play five straight home games, against Leicester and Chester in June, and Birmingham and Halton in July, before finishing with a trip to Leicester on July 30, ahead of the promotion play-offs.

(In addition to the Caesars, we will also be looking at what happens in the NFC1 North, who, should the Caesars qualify, will face in the promotional play-off at the end of the season. Teams competing in that division, alphabetically, are that of – Inverclyde Goliaths, East Kilbride Pirates, Yorkshire Rams, Glasgow Tigers, Northumberland Vikings, and Lancashire Wolverines).

BAFA NFC1 South Division – Nottingham Caesars 2022 Fixtures

APRIL

10 Chester Romans (A)

24 Birmingham Bulls (A)

MAY

15 Shropshire Revolution (H)

22 Halton Spartans (A)

JUNE

5 Shropshire Revolution (A)

19 Leicester Falcons (H)

26 Chester Falcons (H)

JULY