Great Britain’s national teams had a point to prove when they arrived in Ireland last summer for the IFAF European Flag Football Championships.

Four years had passed since their previous foray onto the international stage. The fallout from the Covid pandemic had denied the women’s 2019 European silver medalists and a men’s team that had won bronze in 2017 an opportunity to compete at the IFAF World Championships in Israel in 2021 and to qualify for The World Games a year later.

The GB women left it late to wipe away all that frustration when with 14 seconds remaining in the 2023 continental final against Spain, Phoebe Schecter caught the winning touchdown to claim gold in Limerick. Great Britain avenged the European loss suffered against Spain in 2019 and in the process secured fourth place in the IFAF Flag Football World Rankings.

“A lot of hard work, a lot of years of waiting has just paid off,” said MVP quarterback Brittany Botterill after throwing four touchdowns in the nail-biting 26-19 victory. “It was a complete team effort from offense to defense. We have playmakers and when in doubt you throw it up and one of them is going to go up and get it.

“We’ll enjoy this and then we’ll go home and regroup and then we’ll work towards the World Championships in Finland next year.”

The Lionesses will certainly be among the teams to beat in Lahti this summer. Their European triumph included wins over France, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Ukraine, and Finland with their only loss coming in the group stages against Czechia. France was beaten again in the semifinals before the final victory against Spain.

Great Britain’s men were drawn into what many considered the ‘group of death’ in Ireland but still finished with a 3-1 record. Slovakia was brushed aside 55-6, while the matchup with France proved a closer affair and ended in a four-point defeat by a score of 39-35. The Netherlands were dismissed 46-20 and a close two-point win over Spain wrapped up the second day of action on a high note.

Unbeaten Austria lay in wait in the quarterfinals where GB suffered an agonizing 29-28 defeat to the eventual silver medalists. Switzerland was beaten 39-33 in the first placement game before France gained revenge for the group game meeting as a 20-18 finish meant Great Britain finished sixth overall. The Lions sit in 15^th place in the IFAF Flag Football World Rankings heading into this summer’s IFAF World Championships in Finland.

Following the continental championships and the inclusion of flag football in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, the British American Football Association (BAFA) conducted a review of the sport in the United Kingdom.

As a result, BAFA has created an immediate action plan for 2024 to kick off its strategic journey heading towards 2028 to build a better future for Flag Football in Britain. This plan has been based on four principles, considering the overall BAFA vision building blocks which are Participation, People, Places to Play and Performance Pathways.

BAFA aims to create high quality and year-round opportunities for play which account for the different motivations and aspirations of those in the current and future flag community. They will raise competitive standards across all formats.  Financial stability will be balanced with accessibility. BAFA will recognize and be realistic about the constraints and limitations flag football faces as a niche sport in Britain.

The next step on that pathway is in the hands of the men and women who will fly the union flag for Great Britain under head coaches Alan Young and Dean Whittingslow in Lahti from August 27-30 with a challenge for medals their goal.