History
American Football was first played in Lincolnshire in the early 1980s, with sides such as the Scunthorpe Steelers, Boston Blitz and Lincoln Bombers being the county's first exponents of the sport. The 1990s saw a period of change after Scunthorpe’s' demise, the Lincoln Bombers became the Lincoln Saints, going on to achieve glory by lifting the BNGL First Division title in 1993; the Boston/South Lincs Blitz would eventually merge with nearby teams in Kings Lynn and Peterborough to form the North Sea Hurricanes. Both teams would eventually disappear in the mid nineties; however a strong youth presence would be maintained in the county with the Haven/UCLA club in Boston and the Lincoln/Doncaster merger in the UDL Longhorns.
The Haven/UCLA outfit converted to senior football at the turn of the millennium and would become known as the East Midland Saxons senior team. Having lost their facilities in 2002 the team moved to Spalding for two seasons and then, after reorganisation, moved out of the county to Peterborough. In 2005 Lincolnshire was effectively without gridiron of any sort until the arrival of team founder Iain Bushell. Iain had played previously for the Manchester Titans and Teesside Cougars clubs and on his relocation to Lincoln was keen to revive the sport in the county.
The name "Bombers" was resurrected due to the county's continuing links with the RAF, and Iain's personal links with the RAF Waddington base. He was initially helped in his task by former Bombers & Saints kicker, Nigel Smith. He then recruited former Haven/UCLA & East Midland GM & Head Coach Pat Megginson who was looking for a new challenge since leaving the (now) Peterborough-based Saxons. A healthy squad started to take shape featuring ex-Nottingham Caesars players - and one time Lincoln juniors - Ian Askew and Neil Armitage plus former Haven/UCLA & East Midland Saxons players Nige Epton, Mat Dean and Chris Henry. Former Saints coach Tony Hughes, Herts University player/coach Jeremy Brown, Dale Bridges and David Quincey (returning to football from the old Boston Blitz organisation) helped strengthen the club off the pitch, along with a highly professional management team. The Bombers are now a truly county wide team, with members now representing a number of towns across Lincolnshire putting the county firmly back on the Gridiron map!
Read more about this topic: Lincolnshire Bombers
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