Scottish Claymores

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Year Founded 1995 Year Retired 2004 Cities Glasgow/Edinburgh, Scotland Team Colors Navy Blue, Royal Blue, Silver and White Championships 1 (1996)

The Scottish Claymores were an American football franchise that played in NFL Europe from 1995 to 2004. Their name and logo was derived from a Claymore sword.

The Claymores played their home games at Hampden Park in Glasgow (1998-2004) and Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh (1995-2000, 2002), splitting games between the two in some seasons. Their average attendance was 10,799.

Their greatest success was winning the 1996 World Bowl 32-27 against the Frankfurt Galaxy. In their other World Bowl appearance in 2000 they lost to Rhein Fire.

On October 21 2004, NFL Europe announced that the Scottish Claymores would not take part in the 2005 season. Their place was taken by the Hamburg Sea Devils.

The Claymores' all-time regular season record was 43 wins and 57 defeats.

Although the team was listed as Scotland in box scores, the team's official name was Scottish Claymores.

Season-By-Season

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Scottish Claymores (World League) 1995 2 8 0 6th League -- 1996 7 3 0 1st League Won World Bowl IV Scottish Claymores (NFL Europe) 1997 5 5 0 2nd League -- 1998 2 8 0 6th League -- 1999 4 6 0 5th League -- 2000 6 4 0 2nd League Lost World Bowl VIII (Fire) 2001 4 6 0 5th League -- 2002 5 5 0 4th League -- 2003 6 4 0 3rd League -- 2004 2 8 0 6th League -- Totals 44 58 0 (including playoffs)

Head Coaches

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• 1995: Lary Kuharich (no win-loss record; was dismissed prior to the season)
• 1995-2000: Jim Criner (26-34)
• 2001-2003: Gene Dahlquist (15-15)
• 2004: Jack Bicknell (2-8)

Notable players

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• Joe Andruzzi (1998)
• Jim Ballard (1996, 1998)
• George Coghill (1995-1997)
• Scott Couper (1995-2001, 2003-2004)
• Dameyune Craig (1999)
• Kevin Daft (2000)
• Dante Hall (2001)
• Gavin Hastings (1996)
• Sean LaChapelle (1996)
• Paul McCallum (1996)
• Blaine McElmurry (2000)
• Yo Murphy (1996-1997, 1999)
• Craig Nall (2003-2004)
• Marco Rivera (1997)
• Noel Scarlett (2000)
• Donald Sellers (Deceased)(1999, 2000)
• Barry Sims (2001)
• Siran Stacy (1995-1997, 2000)
• Barry Stokes (1998-1999)
• Aaron Stecker (2000)
• Chris Ward (2000-2001, 2003)

Trivia

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The Claymores experienced several notable swings in fortune during their 10 years. Their World Bowl-winning season of 1996 was the league's first worst-to-first turnaround: having finished 1995 with a 2-8 record and no wins at home, the 1996 Claymores went 7-3 in the regular season and won all their home games. Equally remarkable was the contrast between their first home games of the 2003 and 2004 seasons. In week 1 of the 2003 season, the Claymores defeated the Berlin Thunder 62-31 - the highest scoring game in NFL Europe history - but in 2004 their home opener was a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Amsterdam Admirals, tying the record for the league's lowest-scoring game.

External links

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• Scottish Claymores web site - now a portal for American football in Scotland in general.
• NFL Europe: NFLEL discontinues operations of the Scottish Claymores
• Touchdown Claymores (fan site)

Defunct NFL Europe teams | History of Glasgow | Sport in Glasgow | Sport in Scotland | World League of American Football teams

Scottish Claymores | Scottish Claymores