The Crawley Raiders were a south coast UK-based
American Football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...
Club founded in 1984 They were one of the founding clubs in UK American Football and continued to play competitive
league football until they merged with the Brighton B52's in 1997 to form the
Sussex Thunder
The Sussex Thunder are an American football team from England based in Brighton, Sussex. The club entered the league for the first time in 1997 when the Crawley Raiders merged with local rivals the Brighton B52s to form a new club – Sussex Thu ...
.
The Raiders played at many different home grounds during their history, including two spells at Bewbush Leisure Centre, Crawley Leisure Centre and also Crawley Rugby Club. Their first home game was against the Walthamstow Warriors, with the Raiders losing narrowly in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd.
They reached the UK American Football finals twice in their history, losing both times, firstly to the
Merseyside Nighthawks
The Merseyside Nighthawks are an American football team representing the county of Merseyside and based in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, England, who operate in the BAFA National Leagues Premier Division North, the highest level of British America ...
and then the
Cambridge County Cats
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge became ...
.
Notable players and coaches in the history of the club included Fitzroy Miller (RB), Martin Turner (OL), Gus Romain (RB), Steve Henry (RB), ex-GB Sprinter
Jason Livingston
Jason Livingston (born 17 March 1971 in Croydon, London) is a former sprinter from the United Kingdom.
Livingston won the 60 metres sprint gold medal at the 1992 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Genoa, in a time of 6.53 seconds. He ...
(RB), Malcolm Bamsey (WR), Andy Hall (WR and K), Paul Allison (QB), Barry Spencer (QB), John Lloyd (LB), Ron Robinson (DL), Phil Rickards (DE), Ian Ellis (S) and Jerry Mannagh (HC).
References
{{Reflist
External links
Official website
American football teams in England
1984 establishments in England
American football teams established in 1984
1997 disestablishments in England
Sports clubs disestablished in 1997