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The Humber Warhawks are a British American football team based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire who play in the BAFA NFC South 2. The club represent the counties of East Yorkshire and North East Lincolnshire by taking their name from the Humber Estuary that flows between the two counties and the Humber Bridge which connects them. The club were formed in 2014 when the Kingston Warhawks merged with fellow associate team the Grimsby Scorpions. They were later granted official BAFA status and debuted in the 2015 season.

History

Early history

American football was first played in the City of Hull in the late 1980s, with the first club being the Hull Kingston Liberators. Over the next few years, the team were known by several other names, such as the Kingston Liberators, before disbanding as the Humberside Liberators in the early 1990s. The next team to come out of the City were the Hull Pirates, who achieved a third-place position in the National League in their only season of existence. Next came the Hull Rockets, before the Kingston Barbarians entered the league in 2001, then folded after two games.^[1]

The Hull Hornets were formed in 2005 and were awarded BAFA League Status in 2005. The Hornets became the City's only American football club until it folded in 2011. The following year former Doncaster Mustangs coach Pete Scorah formed the Kingston Warhawks. The Warhawks operated for two seasons as an associate American football team before a deal was struck to merge with rival team the Grimsby Scorpions who are from neighbouring town Grimsby in North East Lincolnshire. Hull was chosen as the base city for the new club with the majority of players from both teams forming into one squad with the exception of some who opted to join the Lincolnshire Bombers.

Debut season

The Humber Warhawks' inaugural match was a friendly against BAFA side Lincolnshire Bombers in which the Warhawks were soundly beaten. Other games came against the University of Hull Sharks before playing in the associate bowl against Halton Spartans at the Select Security Stadium, in which both clubs were eventually invited to become BAFA clubs for the 2015 season.^[2]

Warhawks' first ever official season saw them placed in the NFC South 2 along with the Lincolnshire Bombers, Leicester Falcons, Peterborough Saxons, Leeds Bobcats and Sandwell Steelers. The club's first result was a 54-0 away defeat to the Saxons, followed up by a 73-0 home defeat the following week to the same team. Humber struggled in their opening season, with their best performance coming in a 52-16 home defeat against the Leeds Bobcats. Games against local rivals the Lincolnshire Bombers ended in 54-0 and 64-0 defeats. Humber ultimately finished the season with a 0-10 record.

First victories

The Warhawks appointed Lincolnshire Bombers Offensive Coordinator Alex Robson as Head Coach who in turn acquired a wave of experienced players from other sides. On the first day of the 2016 season they defeated the Bombers 34-32 in a fiercely fought contest. Robson went on to guide the Warhawks to a 3-7 record in which they also beat the Bombers by a score of 50-12. They eventually finished 4th in a strong division in which all 3 teams ahead of them advanced to the Play-Offs. They also notably ran relegated Division One side Staffordshire Surge close only losing 30-26 with the winning margin coming because of Humber failing to convert PAT's. Robson resigned from the Warhawks at the end of the season in order to start a family, handing back the Head Coach position to Pete Scorah. The Warhawks struggled to retain key personnel from the previous season and would evidently struggle with the team finishing bottom of the division with a 1-9 record following a solitary 14-13 victory over the Crewe Railroaders on the opening day of the season.

Name

Following the merge between the Kingston Warhawks and the Grimsby Scorpions, it was decided to use the term "Humber" due to the Humber Estuary and Humber Bridge that separate Hull and the county of East Yorkshire and Grimsby and the county of North East Linolnshire.

Home ground

The Warhawks played out their debut season at Hullensians RUFC in Anlaby until they secured a move for 2016, when they announced they would be playing on the West Campus Sports Field at University of Hull. The club currently train at the Dales Centre in North Bransholme.

Team records

References

External links

• Warhawks Official Website