Scotland's second football
The word ‘football’ has become synonymous with sports fans across Scotland. The sport is like a religion to them, a faith that is taken very seriously. From the Lisbon Lions to the Barcelona Bears, Scottish football has witnessed some spectacular achievements. However, another type of football has been quietly operating in the background.
American football is an institution in the USA and similar to football in Scotland, it is a very important subject. Despite its popularity across the Atlantic, it’s a sport that hasn’t been picked up in Scotland.
Many teams in Scotland play American football but the idea of actually going to a game locally hasn’t garnered enough attention. The sport has simply gone under the radar due to sports like football and rugby being the main focal point. Despite people not watching local teams, the viewership for the National Football League (NFL) is increasing in Scotland with more games and online content being broadcast in the country.
Cameron Hobbs started the Stramash! Podcast after a discussion at an NFL UK conference with broadcaster Paul Mitchell. This led to the idea of creating a podcast about the NFL from a Scottish point of view. With many contributors working to make American football more appealing, Hobbs spoke about whether he feels the introduction of the podcast has helped convey the sport in a better light in Scotland.
He said: “We’ve certainly had people tell us that they were new to the game and they’ve found listening to the podcast really useful. What we try to do is contextualise some of the conversations in a Scottish way in the hope that someone who perhaps like Scottish sport first and American football as their secondary can get something from that.
“We decided pretty early on that we weren’t going to try and do anything other than target a Scottish market. This is a passion project for us where over time, we’ve built up a podcast that engages with people who put in their weekly votes for our competitions and it gives them an opportunity to have a voice on things.”
The difference in quality between the NFL and the British American Football Association National Leagues (BAFANL) is so huge that it would be unfair to compare them. The closest comparison would be with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), a league that is focused on the development of players at university.
Hobbs discussed the difference between the two leagues and why the BAFANL has still got a long way to go until they reach the level of college football.
He said: “Standard-wise, the difference is massive. The East Kilbride Pirates would probably struggle to beat the top high school teams in the US because these are teams that are geared up and have played football all their life.
“That’s not to take away from what the Pirates are doing but within the UK, it’s a growing league, it’s all amateur. Unfortunately, a lot of these teams are playing on public parks, so the facilities aren't always the best to go along to if you’re a fan of the sport.”
The College Football Playoff National Championship at SoFi stadium in Los Angeles (Image: Getty Images)
To attract more fans, American football teams in Scotland are consistently expressing the same message across the country; awareness. They feel this is one of the ways that can help give the sport a bigger following.
Hobbs also shared the same thoughts as he feels that this is the biggest and only way that American football could potentially thrive in Scotland.
“Making people aware is difficult, I know that myself with trying to get awareness from my podcast,” he said. “How do you tackle the market because the channels that we’ve got here aren’t tailored to American football, they're tailored to our football, and therefore your kind of shouting into an audience where a lot of people aren't interested.
“You’ve got to find that niche point of people who are interested in the sport. I think, also, we need to have more kids engaged at an earlier age. You look at rugby and how it gets kids playing touch rugby early doors and in certain parts of Scotland, it is very rugby orientated because of that.
“I also feel that more should be done surrounding the events that take place in London as we’ve yet to see anyone come up to Scotland as part of those. Pretty much it is marketing that needs to be developed, the game needs to grow and if people want to engage with it, there will be more money through the door to help teams.”
Although the current state of American football in Scotland is not the healthiest, the future is starting to look a lot brighter. With ideas and discussions about a potential expansion of the NFL in Europe becoming more prominent, it should give fans a lot more excitement and optimism.
The Jacksonville Jaguars battling the Denver Broncos at Wembley in October 2022 (Image: Getty Images)
In early 2023, it was announced that more NFL league games would be played across Europe. London would continue their long-standing relationship with the league and Munich was chosen as their newest participant.
Hobbs discussed what lies ahead for American football in Scotland and if he feels it could ever reach the level of the sport in the USA.
He said: “Could it? Yes. How long would it take? 30-plus years. You would have to build it into our bread and butter of what our kids are playing and we’re nowhere near that. The NFL will always remain as ‘the’ league and I don’t think it could ever be beaten.
“I think the standards could get better and creating a European league, pulling in the best European players could help that and it would be a huge opportunity. What I think would be great is that the Scottish teams continue to grow, they find ways to get their audience up, get more people engaged and they’ll grow the game that way. "
As a result of American football in Scotland being amateur level, many players have had to move abroad in order to make a living out of the sport. One country that has become a new hub for British players is Germany, with the German Football League (GFL) quickly becoming one of the biggest American football leagues in Europe.
Stephen McCluskey, a former player for the East Kilbride Pirates, has recently moved to Germany to play for Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns, the current champions of the GFL. He discussed his career so far in American football and how he is feeling ahead of his new journey in Germany.
He said: “I started playing American football when I was 13 years old for the Glasgow Tigers. When I was 16, I moved down to Bristol as they had a big American football academy which was the only one in Europe. As soon as I turned 21, I moved to Oklahoma and played for a Division 2 NCAA team. Once I graduated, I moved over to Germany.
“America was really hard for me but my last year, I really impressed a lot of people which has given me the confidence to play in Germany. I’ve been studying a lot on German football and the German players are huge. I’d say they are just as good as Americans.
“There's a lot of Americans playing in this league, guys who have played in the NFL or cut by teams in the NFL, so it is a bit of a scary thought.”
From his own experience, McCluskey felt there were stark contrasts between football in Scotland and the USA. From training to pre-game, the difference was massive and very frustrating for players.
He described his past struggles with playing in Scotland and some of the major differences he experienced abroad.
He said: “We only trained once a week, twice if we were lucky (in Scotland) and it would usually be on a Sunday lunchtime. It would be very hard to get everyone at practice, especially if the football was on. Anything outside of that, you had to do on your own whether it was watching footage or working out.
“The physical ability was one of the first things I discovered. There were players who were a lot smaller than me, and they could lift bigger weights. It wouldn’t make sense to me as to how they were able to do it. I wouldn’t say it was the playing aspects that were completely different, it was more that they were just better athletes.”
The lack of publicity for American football in Scotland is one of the major reasons why it is not getting any attention. Despite teams like the East Kilbride Pirates showcasing their progress on their social media channels, there hasn’t been much advancement in getting noticed.
McCluskey believes that promoting the sport at local events around Scotland would benefit the sport and would help increase the viewership.
He said: “My former teams in Wishaw and Hamilton would go into schools and teach kids how to play flag football and tell them that it is an easy sport to do. In Glasgow, we need to promote it at every event to try to get people to go watch a game. The fans going to games will help improve the atmosphere and it makes it more enjoyable for a player. That is the best way to do it.”
Looking ahead to the future of American football in Scotland, the problems that players face every week haven’t changed and it’s damaging their potential to achieve in the sport. McCluskey feels there is a lot more to be done to help develop the sport, but he remains confident.
He said: “I think it is in a rough spot right now. Before I left, there were a lot of great players in Scotland but since I returned, they’re a lot older and have now retired. The next generation just needs to show up and start playing, that’s what needs to happen.
“I think if teams started to merge, it would make the standard a lot better and there would be more players at training. I do believe the future will be better, but it is just in a rough patch.”
Scottish football will always remain the number one sport in this country, due to the constant attention it receives. Despite this, the growing number of American football fans in Scotland is improving the current shape of the sport.
Awareness is all this sport needs to grow and flourish as a leading event. It may be classed as Scotland’s ‘second football’ but the idea of another sport becoming popular in this country is an exciting prospect, one which many should be looking forward to.