Manchester Titans

The Manchester Titans are an American football team based in Manchester, England, that competes in the BAFA National Leagues Premier Division North, the highest level of British American Football. The team operate from the National Speedway Stadium in Gorton. The Titans were given British American Football League status in 2003, although they missed the following season in order to be restructured for the 2005 campaign. The team was founded in 2003 by two Ex-Manchester Allstars Youth team players who had been playing their football outside of the city.

The Titans are one of the biggest clubs in Great Britain with an extensive setup of teams at Adult Contact, Adult Flag, Women's Contact, Women's Flag, U19 Contact, U17 North and U17 South Contact, U17 Flag and U12 Flag and a partnership to run a team at The Manchester College, seeing The Titans were awarded the title of "British American Football Program of the Year" in both 2016 and 2017. Since the 2019 season the club has also operated a second team in the adult contact with the Manchester Titans Bees, who currently operate at BAFA Associate level.

History[]

American Football was first played in the Greater Manchester area in 1983 when the Northwich Spartans played the London Ravens. The following season the Spartans were renamed the Manchester Spartans. Other active clubs in the Manchester area at the time were the Allstars and Heroes. In the 1990s all of the Manchester sides folded and the city was without a Football team until 2003 when the Titans were born.

The formation of the club was inspired by the film "Remember the Titans", the club were founded by local players who until then had been travelling out of the City to play for other teams. The Titans were soon handed BAFA status and entered the year playing at Broughton Park F.C. Rugby Union Club, Manchester and finished with a 1-8-1 record before disbanding in 2004.

In 2005, the Adult Contact team re-entered the league after being restructured with new coaching staff and players. They finished the season winning 5 games and losing. In 2007, they moved grounds and began playing their fixtures at Broughton Park RUFC. During this season they also advanced to the play-offs after a 7-2-1 record where they defeated the Nottingham Caesars only to be knocked out by the Dundee Hurricanes in the semi-final.

In the 2009 season, The Titans won all 10 of their regular season games but were defeated in the first round play-off game against the Leicester Falcons. The following season saw the form continue and yet again they wiped the floor with the competition by winning all of their games on the route to the play-offs. This time they swiftly dispatched the West Coast Trojans and Shropshire Revolution to book their place in the National Final at the Britbowl. However, they were defeated 35-13 by the London Olympians.

The 2011 season was to be difficult as a large number of players departed which saw the team swap a 100% winning record for a 100% losing record, and due to controversial restructuring of the leagues the Titans were relegated in 2012. In October 2014, the club played its first game inside the Salford City Stadium, where they notched up a 64-0 win over the Crewe Railroaders in front of a crowd of 1,349.^[1]

A perfect 10-0 season in 2015 saw the Titans rise from Division 2 to Division 1 in the BAFA structure. A first season in Division 1 in 2016 saw the Titans claim a 7-3 record and a play-off run that ended in the quarter finals. In 2017 the team returned stronger, winning their division with a 9-1 record and advancing to the Division 1 national final where they beat the London Olympians 48-22 in the Britbowl Final to secure promotion to the Premier Division for 2018

Youth Academy[]

The Titans Adult Flag team have been competing since 2013, offering non-contact American Football for men and women. The team have enjoyed playoff runs in both 2016 and 2017 and in 2017 clinched the MEC North division title to cement a place in the Premier Division and bragging rights as the best team in Manchester. The Women's Flag team enter the national Opal series which is ran each autumn, playing teams from all over the country. The Titans best finish was a 6th place in 2014. They also operate Flag teams at U17 and U12 level. The Titans operate an U17 and U19 Youth contact team.

B Team[]

In 2018, The Titans announced they were adding a second team into the BAFA National Leagues setup, following a similar pattern to those set by the London Blitz and the Bristol Aztecs. Styled as the "Manchester Titans Bees" , the team began formation in the 2019 season and entered at BAFA Associate Level.^[2]

Women's Team[]

The Titan's women's team have been at the forefront of the growth of the women's game. Having played in the Sapphire series since 2014 they were one of the founding members of the women's premier division in 2015 making the Semi-Finals in both 2017 and 2018 to be ranked the 4th best team in Great Britain. Titans players Sian Perry, Louise Fitzsimmons, Emily Parkinson and Sian Kersse have all represented Great Britain at both the 2015 European Championships and the 2017 World Cup.

Stadium[]

The club have previously operated from a variety of stadiums in Manchester and can previously call the AJ Bell Stadium in Salford and Belle Vue Stadium their former homes. In 2018 they moved to the brand new National Speedway Stadium in Gorton.

Notable Players[]

The Club has had some talented and notable players over the years including Ricky Whittle and Chris Fountain (ex-Hollyoaks stars), Graham Roberts, Mark Squire, Nigel Dias, (all have represented GB Lions). Several players have also gone on to play Football overseas including Anthony Bingham (Germany), Ashley Dewing (Germany & Finland), William Wakatega, “Slick” Semper, Philip & Caleb Waldecker (all USA) and also U19 Junior team products James Newnes (Brazil) & Jonathan Pan Gago (Finland & Spain).

References[]

External links[]

• Manchester Titans Official Website