The Rushmoor Knights American Football Club (formerly Southern Seminoles, Personal Assurance Knights/PA Knights, Delonghi Knights, Farnham Knights) are a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

club based in

Rushmoor Rushmoor is a local government district with borough status in Hampshire, England. It covers the towns of Farnborough and Aldershot, the former of which is the location of the council. The neighbouring districts are Hart, Surrey Heath, Guil ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. The Club has three teams; the Rushmoor Knights (20+), the Rushmoor Knights U19 (16 - 19) and the Rushmoor Knights U16 (14 - 16). The Knights play in the Premiership South of the British American Football Association National Leagues and were the Britbowl champions in 2004.

Origins

The team was founded as the Farnham Knights in 1985, under Head Coach Marc Salazar, who was an American service member, serving in the United States Air Force, at RAF Greenham Common. The team played their first friendly in 1985 as the Farnham Knights against the Thames Valley Chargers. The franchise joined the Budweiser League, Div 1, for the league's inaugural season in 1986 and went on to a successful 5 - 5 season. Their second season, 1987, saw the Knights complete their conference schedule undefeated to win their first conference title. During 1994 the Farnham Knights merged with the Hampshire Cavaliers and were renamed the Southern Seminoles. Personal Assurance stepped in during 1997 to sponsor the side which led to the return of the Knights moniker, the Personal Assurance Knights. In 2007, MH Football Shop took over the main sponsorship of the club, to rename them the Farnham MH Knights. In 2008, a new main sponsor, Fast Lane, stepped in with a two-year deal. The team were then known as the Farnham Fast Lane Knights.

League placing and catchment

As the only club in the Blackwater Valley the Knights have drawn players from across

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

and

, within are

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

, Farnborough,

Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...

Bracknell Bracknell () is a town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Built-up Area, Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the borough of Bracknell Forest. It lies to the east of Re ...

and

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is a town in Hampshire, situated in south-central England across a valley at the source of the River Loddon on the western edge of the North Downs. It is the largest settlement in Hampshire without city status in the United King ...

. All games were played at Farnham Rugby Club from 2013, the first season in the club's history that it has been based in the town of

Farnham Farnham is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tributary of the ...

itself after only playing 1 game at Farnham Rugby Club's old ground in

Wrecclesham Wrecclesham is a village on the southern outskirts of the town of Farnham in Surrey, England. Its local government district is the Waverley, Surrey, Borough of Waverley. History It was once in the estate of Henry of Blois, Henry of Westminster ...

. They have since moved to King George V playing fields in Farnborough back in the borough of Rushmoor, leading to the re-naming. Farnham Knights rebranded to the Rushmoor Knights ahead of the 2021 BAFANL season.

Honours

* Budweiser League Div 1 Southern League Champions 1986 * BSL Div 2 Conference Champions 1987 * BNGL National Bowl Runners-Up 1992 * National Passball Champions 1993 * BSL Div 2 Conference Champions 1994 * BYAFA Youth National Runner-up 1994 (1) * BYAFA Youth National Champions 1996 (1) * BSL Div 2 Conference Champions 1997 * BYAFA Youth National Runner-up 1997 (1) * BYAFA Youth National Runner-up 1998 (1) * BSL Div 2 National Champions 2000 * BSL Div 2 Conference Champions 2000 * BSL Div 1 National Championship Runners-Up 2002 * BYAFA Junior Kitted Champions 2004 * EFAF Cup Runners Up 2004 * BSL Div 1 Southern Conference Champions 2004 * BAFL National Championship Winners 2004 * BAFL Div 1 Southern Conference Champions 2005 * BAFL Div 1 National Championship Runners up 2005 * BAFL Div 1 National Championship Winners 2007 * BAFL Youth National Championship Runners up 2007 (1) * BAFL Youth National Championship Winners 2009 (1) * BAFANL Youth South West Conference Champions 2013 * BAFANL Juniors Southern Conference Champions 2014 * BAFANL Juniors National Championship Runners up 2014 * BAFANL Southern Football Conference (Division 1) Champions 2015 * BAFANL Oak Bowl SFC Division 1 Play Off Final - Winners 2015 (1) Prior to 2011, the term "Youth" was used for 16 to 19 year olds. Since 2011, Youth is for 14 to 17 year olds and Juniors is for 16 to 19 year olds.

Season-by-season Records

Rushmoor Knights Hall of Fame

The Rushmoor Knights honor their most influential players, coaches, and contributors through their Hall of Fame. Image:Tony_Stitt.png, RB - Tony Stitt - 2021 BAFA Hall of Fame Inductee Image:Tango_Lockwood1.png, OL - Tango Lockwood - 2021 BAFA Hall of Fame Inductee Image:JoeStLouis.png, RB - Joe St. Louis - 2022 BAFA Hall of Fame Inductee Image:Steve Rains.jpg, HC - Steve Rains Image:Marc_Salazar.jpg, HC - Marc Salazar Image:Paul_Wakeford.jpg, RB/FB, HC - Paul "Benny" Wakeford Image:Jon_Wyse.png, RB - Jon Wyse Image:Dave_Carpenter.png, OL/DL - Dave Carpenter Image:Pete_Fields.png, LB - Pete "Too Tall" Fields Not Pictured: *Sponsor – John Burrow *Position - David Ferebee *Position - Roger Hart *DB - Clive Jacobs *Position - Terry Milward *Head Coach - Frank Snyder *Position - Andy Soltysiak *Position - Linda Soltysiak *Position - Graham Jessett *Position - Christine Reeves *Position - John Williams, Sr. *Kicker - Phil Alexander *Position - Adedayo Ashaye *Position - Bill Baker *Position - Paul "Bubba" Biscombe *Position - Jay Cashman *Position - Harvey Culver *Position - Mick Clancy *Position - Gary Edwards *Position - Kingsley Ejiogu *Position - Alan Finlay *Position - Rich Foster *Position - Gareth Davies *Position - Steve Harrison *Position - Ashley Heath *Position - Adam Heirons *Position - Stephen Hollingdale *Position - Troy Lee *Position - Kenny Lettman *Position - Jez McLees *Position - Chris McIver *Position - Peter Oliver *Position - Michael Reeves *Position - Duncan Reynolds *Position - Cameron Saylor *Position - Paul Setterfield *RB - Keith Jacobs *RB - Keith Theobald *Position - Stuart Timms *Position - Paul Westwood *Position - Stephen Whittaker *Position - Jon Williams Jr.

Notable players

Olympic sprinter

Dwain Chambers Dwain Anthony Chambers (born 5 April 1978) is a British track and field, track Sprint (running), sprinter. He has won international medals at World and European levels and is one of the fastest European sprinters in the history of athletics (spo ...

, 2006.

References

{{Reflist BAFA National League teams American football teams in England Farnham 1984 establishments in England American football teams established in 1984