Ouse Valley Eagles
| Established | 2013 |
|---|---|
| Based in | Bedford |
| Home stadium | Bedford International Athletic Stadium |
| Head coach | Will White |
| League | BAFA National Leagues |
| Division | Midlands Conference 1 |
| Current uniform | |
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The Ouse Valley Eagles are a British American Football team based in Bedford, United Kingdom. They play their home games at the Bedford International Athletic Stadium. They are a member of the BAFA Midlands Football Conference 1 for the 2016.
The Eagles formed in 2013 after a merger of the local rivals, the Bedfordshire Blue Raiders and the Milton Keynes Pathfinders.
The Pathfinders were formed in their first guise as a youth flag football team, but only began participation in senior kitted football in 2006, before joining the BAFL in 2008. They played their home games at the Emerson Valley Sports Pavilion in Milton Keynes.
Their first match was in 2006, away to the Cambridgeshire Cats and was followed by a 0–35 defeat at home to the Bedfordshire Blue Raiders, at the time, another associate team looking to join the league.
In their first season as a league team, they posted a 0-9-1 record, conceding 445 points, the highest total since the 464 points conceded by the Andover Thrashers in 2005.
In 2011, they recorded their first ever winning season, going 7-2-1, which saw them clinch the final Division 2 play off spot, losing to eventual finalists, the West Coast Trojans. They reached the play offs again in the final season in 2012, this time reaching the Southern Final, before losing to the Peterborough Saxons.
Their overall regular season league record at the time of the merger with Bedfordshire was 25-34-2, with a post season record of 1-2.
The Blue Raiders were formed in 2006 by locals Dave Pankhurst and Steve Guy, and began the BAFL associate process in 2007. They played their first game against Maidstone Pumas, winning 18-8. One month after their first contest with the Pathfinders, they were accepted into the league. The Blue Raiders were placed in the Eastern Conference of Division Two.
By 2013, lack of interest lead to reduced player participation, and the squad size was approximately half of that which started the season, with no healthy quarterbacks. This meant that the Blue Raiders had to forfeit a game against the Kent Exiles, and ruined their chances of appearing in a long-awaited play off game. They only managed to fulfill their final fixture by registering coaches as players.
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