The Leeds Bobcats are a BritishAmerican football team based in Leeds, West Yorkshire who play in the BAFA NFC 2. The club was formed in 2008 as a youth football team following ties with the Celina Bobcats from Texas. A Bobcats senior team began playing associate Football from 2011 onwards until being granted BAFA status in 2014 in order to debut in the 2015 season. The club has since grown from strength to strength from then onward making it to the playoffs in their second season.
History
Early history
In 2008 members of the Leeds American Football team youth squad were invited to Texas by the Celina Bobcats, who were the Division ThreeAll Star State Champions, following tuition and guidance to form their own team back in England, the Leeds Bobcats were born. In 2010, the Bobcats Youth team won its first trophy after defeating the Colchester Gladiators in the final of a 5 team tournament. Several members of the Bobcats juniors went on to represent Great Britain at youth level and in 2011 the majority of the team progressed to senior level and the Bobcats became a Senior associate team.
Debut Campaign
In 2014, the Bobcats were granted BAFA status in order to debut in the 2015 season. The club were entered into the BAFA NFC South 2 along with the Lincolnshire Bombers, Leicester Falcons, Sandwell Steelers, Humber Warhawks and the Peterborough Saxons. The Bobcats debuted in a 54-0 defeat by Sandwell and would only record two victories over Humber in their first season, although the club heavily improved from a poor start and came close to beating both Peterborough and Leicester.
Recent Seasons
In 2017, former Running Back and Special Teams Coach, Miles Stanford replaced Paul Goodward as Head Coach after he vacated the position following a long and successful tenure. After promotion following the 2017 campaign, the Bobcats spent a single season in BAFA Division 1 North during 2018, culminating in relegation back to Division 2. Fergus O'Neil then took up Head Coaching duties in 2019, leading the Bobcats to BAFA Division 2 North Playoff Quarter Finals, where they were knocked out by Scottish side Clyde Valley Blackhawks. For the 2020 season, highly experienced player and coach Chris Peel was appointed to the Head Coach position to lead the team in the BAFA NFC 2 East after re-alignment from the NFC 2 Central division.
