The Lancashire Bucaneers are an American football team based in Preston,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, who compete in the

BAFA National Leagues The BAFANL (BAFA National Leagues) is the primary American football domestic league competition in Great Britain. Originally formed in 1983, the league is run by the British American Football Association to coordinate American football, contact ...

NFC 2 North, the third level of British American Football. They currently operate from the UCLAN Sports Arena and were formed in 1989 but were a coming together of two previous sides that had folded, the Wigan Wolverines and the Lancashire Chieftains. The Wolverines folded again in 2004 but had reformed and been re-instated by 2007 as the Lancashire Wolverines. Aside from their current home, the team has previously operated from other towns within the area namely

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

and

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

History

The Wolverines first competed in British American Football from 1989 and were present until 2004 when off-field problems caused them to pull out of the league. They were formed from the remnants of the Wigan Wolverines, and were bolstered by the merger with the Lancashire Chieftains in 1990. The Wolverines competed in the BNGL during its six-year existence, and thereafter have been in the

British American Football League The British American Football League (BAFL) was the United Kingdom's primary American football league from 1998 until 2010. It was formerly known as the British Senior League (BSL) until 2005. BAFL was the trading name for Gridiron Football Leag ...

. Lancashire have made the playoffs on 7 occasions, but have yet to win a Bowl. They reached the BSL Division Two final in 1998 and were promoted to Division One only to quickly return in 1999. Division one status was regained in 2002, and the Wolverines finished that season with a 3-7-0 record. A better year in 2003, resulted in a winning record in Division One with a 5-2-1 record, this season included the only ever Wolverines away victory against the Birmingham Bulls American Football Team, the game was very close with the final score 6-0 to Lancashire. Birmingham responded by handing out a 50-8 reply in the end of season playoffs. Despite location in a new venue in 2004 (the impressive

Bolton Arena Bolton Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena, located at Middlebrook on the boundary between Horwich and Lostock in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It has a seating capacity of 6,500 people and hosts indoor sp ...

), the Wolverines pulled out of the league mid-season. Back in the league, after a few years, the Wolverines went 9-1 in the 2011 season in division 2. They were beaten at the semi-final stage of the post season, but regardless of this were granted promotion to Division 1 North in a league reshuffle. In 2016 the Wolverines started training camps in hopes to recruit young players to join the team.

Academy

The Lancashire Wolverines as an 18 year old+ squad are the senior team in the Lancashire Academy of Footbal

. The teams under the academy banner are: * Lancashire Wolverines, adult (18+) kitted team * Lancaster Bombers, University kitted team * UCLan Rams, University kitted team * Chorley Buccaneers, cadet (7-11yr olds), junior flag teams (11-14yr olds) & youth kitted team (14-16 year olds). * Standish Raiders, junior flag teams (11-14yr olds) & youth kitted team (14-16 year olds).

Seasonal Records

References

External links

Team website
{{Blackburn with Darwen culture BAFA National League teams Sport in Blackburn 2004 establishments in England American football teams established in 2004 American football teams in England