BRITISH UNIVERSITIES AMERICAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE OFFICIAL SITE

Northumbria Mustangs

The idea of American Football at Northumbria was started by current chairman/player John Wilson.

His dream led him to sending out enquiries to all male students at the University, from which he got over 100 replies of confidence. This led to the first “practice” held at Exhibition Park in the spring of 2007. As the term continued the numbers declined, hearts sank but the determination of some kept the team’s hope alive.

Over the summer period of 2007 the team formed its first committee which still stands today. Plans were made to better the facility which the team practised and a recruiting scheme was put in place. After much discussion the committee decided on the team name and the Mustang era was born. The dedication of these members allowed for the team to take signatures at the sports fair. This led to the first practice at the current training facility at coach lane.

Last year was the Associate season for the Mustangs. This was a difficult year with massive delays in kit delivery. However the team stuck at it and finally got there opportunity to play kitted football. The introduction of HC Paul Blair in early 2008 saw a lift in team spirit. The team completed its first training camp and the dream of football at Northumbria was almost complete. The team’s first game was at Paisley Pyros University.... This day will remain in the player’s hearts for the rest of their life. The second game against Glasgow remains the team’s best accomplishment to date. A warm day on a nice surface allowed the Mustangs to use their speed against the Glasgow Tigers. A massive defensive performance earned the team a 14-14 tie. The team has lost 9 players in total in the offseason due to them leaving the university but a strong recruitment campaign will hopefully see a competitive Mustangs programme in their first full season.

Northumbria is one of England’s largest modern metropolitan universities, delivering around 500 programmes to more than 31,500 students.

The University opened two brand new state-of-the-art buildings in Newcastle city centre last September and a major multi-million pound programme of renovation and refurbishment, including the building of a £20m sports facility, is currently underway.

Over 3,000 international students from more than 90 different countries study at Northumbria, giving both the University and the city centre a truly diverse, cultural mix.

Glittering alumni include Jonathan Ive CBE, Vice-President for Industrial Design at Apple, designer of the iPod and iMac range of computers and currently the best known designer in the world. Sports Studies graduate Martin Corrie MBE has captained the England rugby team and Victoria Pendleton and Chris Cook were part of Team GB in Beijing representing Britain in cycling and swimming respectively at this summer’s Olympic Games. The University also has close links with the Newcastle Falcons rugby team.

The University regularly wins awards for the excellence of its student provision and last year, was named the most IT enabled organisation in the UK by Computing magazine, beating international organisations including Honda Formula 1 to scoop the title. Northumbria was named the UK’s Best Modern University by The Times in its 2005 Good University Guide and is one of the country’s top 15 teaching universities with 16 subject areas officially rated as ‘excellent’. The Sunday Times has said that “Northumbria has a teaching record that many longer established universities find hard to match.”