BAFA Adult Contact 2025 Season Preview
- Andy Taylor
- 1 hour ago
- 11 min read
by Andy Taylor, Isaac Oldcorn and Joel Pearson
Photo: Estelle Mai
It's finally here! The BAFA Adult Contact 2025 season gets underway this weekend, and a few of us at Inside Britball got together to review each season. LOTS of movement this off-season, and too many teams are leaving the league. What questions do we have ahead of the season?
Premier North
Coventry Phoenix (4th)
East Kilbride Pirates (3rd)
Manchester Titans (Division Champions)
Newcastle Vikings (2nd)
Nottingham Caesars (Division 1 Champs)
With the elimination of the Edinburgh Wolves to associate status, the Premier North finds itself with only 5 teams playing an 8-game season each. Newly promoted Caesars will be challenging foes for the established Prem North teams, having scored over 30 points per game and conceding less than 3 points per game last season. Of course, the Merseyside Nighthawks were relegated to Division 1.
Last season’s Division Champions, the Manchester Titans, will have been disappointed not to have made it to BritBowl and will no doubt have recruited heavily in the offseason and look to go one step further this season. Several retired players and a change in coaching leadership will raise some questions for one of the best teams in the country in recent years.
The battle for the second playoff team came down to the final two weeks last season with the Vikings, Phoenix and Pirates battling it out. There’s a chance they’ll be joined by the Caesars who will recruit heavily to build on last season’s success. In the end, it was the best defence that made the playoffs, the Vikings, conceding 16 points per game.
A tough division to call with all the changes, but the team at Inside Britball have predicted that the Coventry Phoenix and reigning division champs Manchester Titans are tied favourites for the division with EKP and Nottingham Caesars with a vote each.
Premier South
London Warriors (National Champions)
Bristol Aztecs (National Runners Up)
Cambridgeshire Cats (3rd)
Hertfordshire Cheetahs (5th)
London Blitz (4th)
Rushmoor Knights (SFC 1 Southern Champs)
Is this another two-horse race? The Warriors are coming off a very dominant, undefeated 2024 season culminating in the Britbowl XXXVI Championship. Having formed what was seemingly a London super team following dramatic changes at the London Blitz, you wouldn’t be wrong in thinking they may go back-to-back with an explosive offence led by Dee Williams and Britbowl MVP Andy Owusu. Let alone that monstrous defence full of GB players at all levels.
Bristol Aztecs will have something to say though. Following their social media, they have been loading up on players from the ELF and utilising connections with UWE Bullets well. Their only losses came from London Warriors, three times, last season. They have an obvious hurdle to overcome to get on the path to Britbowl glory.
The Rushmoor Knights replace the Solent Thrashers in this division, having finished as runners-up in the Division 1 National Final last season. At the end of the last season, you would have backed them to make a good go at the step up this season, but questions now remain at Quarterback with Calvin Stitt taking his trade to Europe this summer. Can they keep up their dominant form from last season?
Lastly, where are the London Blitz at? Have they been able to reset and start to return to their former glory? You’d expect it to be too much of an ask to compete with the top-two but can they close the gap on the Cambridgeshire Cats? They will certainly be looking to make improvements on offence in order to continue their reset.
The team at Inside Britball see if being a London Warriors repeat with a lot of love still being given to Bristol Aztecs.
NFC 1 Scottish
Clyde Valley Blackhawks (3rd)
Glasgow Tigers (Division Champions)
Inverclyde Goliaths (2nd)
Aberdeen Roughnecks (Associate Team for 2025)
Rossendale Bucks (Associate Team for 2025)
Urgh, what a tough time it has been for this division. Much wider questions are being asked, rightly so, regarding the state of contact football north of the border, but let's just focus on what we know so far. After Edinburgh Wolves decided to forgo the 2025 season entirely, that left this division with four teams again. Since then, the Highland Stags were not able to pass the BAFA “health checks” and were forced to move to associate status in 2025. As a remedy, of sorts, it has since been agreed that the Blackhawks, Tigers and Goliaths will be only eligible for playoff football but they have been scheduled games against the Roughnecks and Bucks to continue their associate pathway.
Last year, the Glasgow Tigers pipped the Goliaths on head-to-head tiebreaker with both finishing 6-2. Both went on to the playoffs and fell into the Yorkshire Rams buzz saw. There’s no obvious reason why you would think the outcome would be fairly similar this season, but if Clyde Valley were to close the gap they’ll need to find a way to beat there cross-town rivals in order to stand a chance, especially since two of their wins last season came against the Highland Stags.
Inside Britball contributors see it being a Glasgow Tigers season in this division.
NFC 1 North
Chester Romans (4th)
Merseyside Nighthawks (Relegated from Prem North)
Scunthorpe Alphas (Division Champions)
Sheffield Giants (3rd)
Yorkshire Rams (2nd)
This division remains much the same as last year, although with one lot of Hawks replacing another. Last year, there wasn’t much separating Scunthorpe and Yorkshire, who have had some titanic battles over the past few years, and they meet in week 2, so we’ll know who has the edge this year early on. Merseyside have had a dreadful few years just staving off relegation from the Premier North several years running and will probably be using this as a rebuilding year.
Chester has been an enigma in the last couple of years; equally capable of beating the top of the table teams as they are losing to the bottom of the table. They may end up being the odd team out this year, as it sounds like they have a smaller squad than the last few years. Meanwhile, Sheffield seems to have had a strong preseason and is moving back to the impressive Olympic Legacy Park as their home venue, and they could end up giving the Rams and Alphas some good games.
Yorkshire Rams are the office favourites for this division.
NFC1 Midlands
Birmingham Bulls (4th)
Northants Knights (3rd)
Sandwell Steelers (1st NFC 2 West)
Shropshire Revolution (2nd)
Staffordshire Surge (2nd NFC 2 West)
This division looks quite different this year without Nottingham and Leicester and two promoted teams joining them. There’s no obvious successor to the Caesars, and this division looks wide open. Shropshire Revolution surprised everyone last year, achieving a playoff place in their first season back in Division 1. They’ve continued to strengthen but have also had some coaching changes.
Northants will also fancy their chances after recruiting heavily. They fell off as the season went on last year, but they’re a well-drilled organisation, and if they can maintain consistency could do well. Sandwell have become a bit of a yo-yo team, and this is the fifth consecutive season they’ve played in a new division. They had the measure of the Surge last season and should have enough about them to stay up. Staffordshire, meanwhile, had a great playoff run to get an unfancied promotion last year, but they may find it tricker to get results at this level. They will have circled the games against the Bulls, who also finished last season poorly, as the games that may decide who stays up.
The Inside Britball team are divided in their predictions but on balance think the Knights will edge it over the Revolution.
SFC 1 West
Bournemouth Bobcats (3rd)
Bristol Apache (Division Champions)
Solent Thrashers (Relegated from Prem South)
Somerset Wyverns (4th)
South Wales Warriors (2nd)
With the addition of Solent Thrashers, after their relegation from the Prem South and the division has lost the Hereford Stampede after their relegation into division two, the division has not had a major shake up. The division last year saw the Apache take the SFC 1 West crown and went into the playoffs as the number three seed, and were joined by the South Wales Warriors. The Bobcats and Wyverns will look to build on the disappointment from last season and look to challenge for the top seed or at least a playoff berth.
This division will be tough to call as you have three stand-out sides in the Apache, Warriors and the Thrashers, but Bournemouth and Somerset will look to push on after their wins last seasons and challenge for the top two. The Apache will be uplifted by last season’s incredible turnout, but the Warriors will look to really push them for the top spot and do not be surprised if the Thrashers turn up and look to put last season to one side especially with some good recruitment in players and coaching staff.
After polling the Inside Britball team, the feeling is a repeat of last year with the Bristol Apache, but a number of us think Solent will be a tough challenge for them.
SFC 1 Central
Berkshire Renegades (Promoted from SFC 2 West)
London Blitz B (4th in SFC 1 East)
Portsmouth Dreadnoughts (3rd)
Sussex Thunder (Promoted from SFC 2 West)
Wembley Stallions (2nd)
This division has had the biggest shake-up in the Southern conference. The Southern Champions Rushmoor Knights were promoted into the Premier South after their incredible season last year. The London Blitz B, Wembley Stallions and the Portsmouth Dreadnoughts will be joined by the two best sides in the SFC 2 West Berkshire Renegades and Sussex Thunder. Unfortunately, the London Hornets fell out of the league for the 2025 season.
This year could be an incredible lights-out showing by the SFC 1 Central. Based on last season, you would expect Wembley and Portsmouth to be strong contenders for the division. Will it be too much of a step up for Sussex and Berkshire, who struggled, at times, in Division 2 last season? They'll need to find improvements on offence, especially if they want to keep up with Stallions and Dreadnoughts, who were prolific at times last season. And in what state are the London Blitz B in after what will have been a regroup for the London Blitz programme this offseason?
All at Inside Britball think this division is Wembley Stallions' to lose.
SFC 1 East
Colchester Gladiators (Division Two National Champions)
East Kent Mavericks (1st)
Essex Tridents (Promoted from SFC 2 East)
Kent Exiles (3rd)
London Olympians (2nd)
The East, much like the Central, has two teams from Division Two enter the frame as the Colchester Gladiators and the Essex Tridents will go to battle again this year after last season’s impressive display. They join last season’s division winners East Kent Mavericks, second place London Olympians and the Kent Exiles. This division has household Britball names and some new blood mixed in. This has the hallmarks to be an incredible season.
This division is tough to call. Yes, we have the experience of last season to go from, but the Gladiators and the Tridents really impressed last season and played some lights-out football throughout, especially on defence. But we cannot ignore the rest of the division. The Mavericks will look to carry on from last season, and take the crown again, but we did see a drop-off at the end of the season as star players were snapped up by the European leagues. The Olympians will look to return to the playoffs as well but they have a giant obstacle in East Kent to overcome. This will be an incredible division!
Most at Inside Britball think the Mavericks will take the division, but nominations were given to the Olympians and the Gladiators.
NFC 2 North
Darlington Steam (NFC 2 East Division Champions)
Doncaster Mustangs (5th)
Gateshead Senators (2nd)
Humber Warhawks (Relegated from NFC 1 North)
Wakefield District Raiders (3rd)
The NFC 2 North is basically the same division as the NFC 2 East last year, except with the relegated Warhawks replacing Lincolnshire Bombers, who are moved sideways.
This division produced a titanic battle in the North East last year between the Steam and Senators, who split their games. They’ll face each other in week 1, so we’ll get a good idea early as to which one has the edge this year. It’s hard to base anything on preseason form, but the Steam losing to Leigh Miners may prove concerning. The Warhawks were overmatched in Division 1 last season and may be looking at a rebuilding year. Meanwhile, the perennial bottom of the table Mustangs and Raiders, will probably still be at the bottom, but they did play some competitive games with each other last season.
The office is split on who’s going to take this one, but Gateshead Senators just edged ahead as the favourite.
NFC 2 Midlands
Lancashire Buccaneers (3rd NFC 2 West)
Leicester Panthers (Relegated from NFC 1 Midlands)
Leigh Miners (4th NFC 2 West)
Lincolnshire Bombers (4th NFC2 East)
This is a new division, functionally replacing last season’s NFC2 West, although with two new teams and one of the remaining teams going by a new name.
These four teams had just four wins between them last year, so someone’s got to win this one. Leicester would appear to be in the strongest position after a tumultuous few years and a double relegation (Leicester haven’t played more than two seasons in the same tier since 2014). While their defence was leaky last season, their offence began to click as the season went on, and if they can retain the bulk of their squad, then they should be able to mount a quick return to Division 1.
Their nearest contenders are likely to be Lancashire, who have merged with youth team Chorley Buccaneers under the Buccaneers banner (and have thankfully ditched the garish fluorescent yellow jerseys) and have been recruiting heavily. After a promising first season in the league, the momentum disappeared from Leigh Miners last season, and they went winless. Their matches against Lincolnshire Bombers should prove competitive but neither should trouble the playoff places.
The Inside Britball crew is split right down the middle on this one, between Leicester and Lancashire.
SFC 2 West
Cornwall Monarchs (3rd)
Hereford Stampede (Relegated from SFC 1 West)
Plymouth Vanguard (New team for 2025)
Swindon Storm (4th)
The only new team in the league this year enters in the SFC 2 West. The Plymouth Vanguard are seemingly doing things correctly. Setting up a new programme in a similar area to the Torbay Trojans from way back, they could be a dark horse in this division, considering they didn’t seem out of place on the field during their associate games. They join a division which sees the Sussex Thunder and Berkshire Renegades accept an invitation to Division 1 and Hereford drop down after a disappointing 0-8 season last year in Division 1.
Cornwall finished the season with a Net Points Per Game of less than 5 points, which shows that with a little improvement, they could turn those six losses from last season into a few more victories, which could see them contend in this division this season. For Swindon, it’s quite simple: improve on offence; scoring 8 points per game last season will not meet their expectations.
Lots of unknowns in this division, which is likely to be determined by the two new teams of the division, have Hereford improved enough to make an immediate bounce back?
Votes at Inside Britball were split between Plymouth and Hereford to take this division.
SFC 2 East
Ipswich Cardinals (4th)
Norwich Devils (Relegated from SFC 1 East)
Ouse Valley Eagles (3rd)
Oxford Saints (Relegated from SFC 1 Central)
Norwich and Oxford drop from Division 1 in 2024 to join the third and fourth-placed teams from last season in this division. Ipswich finished with a 3-5 season and the Eagles with a 0.500 season, so they are by no means going to be pushovers for the ex-Division 1 teams.
It was a brutal 2024 for both the Devils and the Saints, with both teams averaging just over 5-touchdown losses per game. Norwich could only muster 32 points in the 7 games they competed in, and Oxford could only make 46 points. They both had leaky defences too, Norwich conceding 41 points per game and Saints 42 points per game. So, no doubt they’ll be looking to reset and make some sweeping changes on both sides of the ball.
The Eagles have an upset in them! They’ll be looking to their 38-35 victory over the eventual champions, Colchester Gladiators, to see what went right that they can use to their advantage this season.
Most at Inside Britball think Oxford Saints are going to bounce back this season.