The sad news this week that the NFL Europe league have closed down operations of the Scottish Claymores has left me feeling disappointed to say the least. While I didn’t make it to too many Claymores’ games due to either financial or geographical reasons, I did enjoy the ones I attended over the nine years they existed. Getting to see real NFL players, albeit ones who were mostly back-ups on their respective NFL teams’ roster, was far closer to real NFL football than the usually run based domestic teams could offer.
The domestic scene is alive and well, though, and maybe the demise of the Claymores will return the focus to the amateur leagues here in Britain. Maybe the NFL could make ammends for the decision by re-instating the Brit-Bowl off-season showcase events that fueled initial public interest here, back in the mid-80’s, too.
