Hampshire Thrashers

The Hampshire Thrashers (formerly the Andover Thrashers) are an American football team currently based in Winchester, England. They are members of Division 2 South West of the British American Football League (BAFL), which they joined in 2005. The club was founded in Andover, Hampshire in 2003 and moved to Winchester in 2007.

History

The club was founded in December 2003 following a meeting in an Andover pub between two local enthusiasts, Dave Scott & Andy Mountain. The following month, an informal training session was held with a number of local players. For the remainder of that year, the Thrashers took part in several flag football tournaments and friendlies, the highlight of which was a home match against Team England which the Thrashers won 16-12. The Thrashers also reached the semi-finals of a tournament held in Fareham which was ultimately won by Team USA.

In December 2004, the club applied to join the BAFL and were accepted to compete in Division Two South West to replace the Nene Valley Hybrids. However, the 2005 season was not a good one for the Thrashers. They had a small roster and players with little experience playing both sides of the ball for the whole game. Inevitably this took its toll, they lost every game and recorded a 0-10 season, scoring just 30 points throughout the entire campaign. The main consolation from that year was that Phill Price, the Thrasher's linebacker, won the BAFL Rookie Of The Year Award.

After appointing a new offensive coach, Len Scott, and training hard over the winter the 2006 season proved to be more successful for the Thrashers. They boasted a 5 game winning streak, held second place on the table for a couple of weeks and almost maintained a shut-out against the experienced Plymouth Admirals. The Thrashers also had outside hopes of making the playoffs if they beat league leaders South Wales Warriors in the last game of the season. However those hopes were crushed when they had a touchdown called back in the last minute of the game for a Lineman down field. Andover eventually finished third in the Division 2 South Conference with a 5-5 record.

The 2007 season started with the promotion of Len Scott from Offensive Coordinator to Head Coach, and the appointment of Bob Turner as Defensive Coordinator. The season proved to be their most successful to date, starting off with a four-game winning streak which included two consecutive shutouts. The ended up with a 7-3 record, finishing third in the division and narrowly missing out on the playoffs for a second successive season due to their inferior positive points difference in their head-to-head record against the division's runners-up Cornish Sharks.

At the end of the 2007 season, the club announced that head coach Len Scott had left the club to join Sussex Thunder (currently playing in BAFL 1). The following month at their AGM they revealed that Bob Turner would be Head Coach and that the Thrashers were to leave Andover and take up residence in Winchester to share with the local rugby club, and that they would therefore be renamed the Hampshire Thrashers.

Season records

Ground

Up until 2008, the Thrashers played their home games at Harrow Way School in Andover. During the 2007 season, two matches (against the South Wales Warriors and Plymouth Admirals) were played at North Walls Park, the home of Winchester Rugby Club, and after the season was completed it was announced that Winchester would be their permanent home. Winchester Rugby Club purchased North Walls Park from the city council in 1971 for £18,000. The ground was the former site of the city dump and presented some problems early on, but the site is now comprised of three pitches and a clubhouse.

Team roster

External links

• Hampshire Thrashers Official Web Site