Sussex Thunder
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| Founded | 1997 & 2002 |
|---|---|
| Based in | Brighton, East Sussex |
| Home stadium |
Brighton Rugby Club, Brighton (2002-2004) Breezehurst Pavilion, Crawley (2005-2010) Broadbridge Heath Stadium (2010-2012) Brighton Rugby Club, Brighton (2013-present) |
| Head coach | Ian Ellis |
| Colors | Royal blue, red, white |
| League titles | 3 |
| Division titles | 3 |
The Sussex Thunder are an American football team from the England based in Brighton, Sussex. The club entered the league for the first time in 1997 when the Crawley Raiders merged with local rivals the Brighton B52s to form a new club the Sussex Thunder. The first Thunder head coach was Jim Jasicki. The Thunder reached the BritBowl Final in their second year where they narrowly lost to the London Olympians under Head Coach Ian Ellis. Success was to be thin afterwards but on 20 September 2008, led by Head Coach Len Scott, the Thunder won the Division 1 national championship in an overtime win against the Redditch Arrows.
Promotion to the BAFL Premier Division in 2009 saw the Thunder struggle to a losing season and the departure of two head coaches during that season (Len Scott and then Jim Roberson).
In November 2009, the Sussex Thunder appointed ex-San Francisco 49er trialist Tony Stitt as head coach. The team won promotion to the Premier Division of the BAFA National Leagues. After a two unsuccessful seasons in the Premier Division, from 2009 to 2011, they elected to return to the BAFA National Leagues Division 1 South, and engaged with Ex Head Coach Ian Ellis, which saw them reach the play-offs in 2011 where they lost to the Birmingham bulls 14-13 and then next season go on to Win the Division 1 championship in 2012 against the West Coast Trojans.
Due to a large amount of senior player retirements the Thunder withdrew from the league for the 2014 season and then entered the associate process to rejoin the league in the 2015 season. Membership was approved by the league and in 2015 the team will enter the Division 2 South East Conference.
Each year Sussex Thunder hold a charity game, for the 2014 season they will be supporting the Kent Surrey and Sussex Air ambulance
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