The Ipswich Cardinals are an American football team from the United Kingdom based in Ipswich, Suffolk. The team plays in the National Division South East Conference of BAFANL – the second tier of the BAFA National Leagues.
History Formed by Colin Cox, Mark LePorte and Don Laisure II in December 1985 at the Drunken Docker pub in Ipswich. The club was formed by the players for the players, the club was owned by the players.
The name comes from one of Ipswich's most famous sons, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who was Henry VIII's Lord chancellor (Chief advisor to the king). It is a clever play on the traditional name for some American sports teams, whereas theirs is generally a reference to the cardinal bird, their name is a tribute to a local historical figure.
The team's first training session was set for January 1986 at Gainsborough sports centre, Ipswich. Over 100 hopefuls turned up for tryouts. The committee approached Jack Garner who was the head coach of the Woodbridge high school team. He became the head coach until he was transferred to Holland – then, with the team coach-less, JJ Johnson was asked to help. JJ and Andy Melton took over the coaching roles, whilst Don Laisure stepped down and played instead.
All-time record Season Division Wins Losses Ties PF PA Playoff record Notes 1986 Friendlies only 0 0 1 12 12 Vs Stevenage Aerostars 1987 United Kingdom Football League Championship 12 0 0 299 21 Runners-up losing 28–26 in the final to St.Helens Cardinals 1988 Budweiser Division 1 Championship 9 1 0 456 84 Runners-up losing 48–34 in the final to Herts Phantoms 1989 British National Gridiron League Division 1 7 2 1 216 54 Runners-up losing 18–9 in the final to Norwich Devils 1990 British National Gridiron League Division 1 9 1 0 256 77 National champions beating the Clydesdale Colts 34–22 1991 British National Gridiron League Division 1 6 2 1 279 130 Semi-finalists losing 50–0 to the London Capitals 1992 BNGL National Division South/East Midlands Conference 5 5 0 217 213 1993 BNGL Division Midlands Conference 5 5 0 150 95 1994 BAFA Division 2 South Eastern Conference 1 9 0 81 267 Relegated to Division 3 1995 BAFA Division 3 East Midlands Conference 3 7 0 86 207 1996 British Senior League Division 3 8 2 0 261 61 Quarter-finalists losing 14–0 to Winchester Rifles 1997 BSL Division 1 South East / Midlands Conference 4 6 0 151 177 1998 BSL Division 1 South East Conference 4 6 0 145 248 1999 BSL Division 1 South East Conference 2 6 0 84 126 Relegated to Division 2 2000 British Senior League Division 2 Championship 8 0 0 297 48 Runners-up losing 41–7 in the final to Farnham Knights 2001 British Senior League Division 2 Championship 5 2 1 172 91 Division Champions beating the Norwich Devils 47–15 Promoted to Division 1 2002 British Senior League Division 1 6 4 0 201 116 losing 14–3 to Birmingham Bulls 2003 British Senior League Division 1 4 4 0 137 67 Semi-finalists losing 12–7 to East Kilbride Pirates 2004 British Senior League Division 1 5 4 0 199 170 Wildcard round losing 46–0 to London O's 2005 British Senior League Division 1 3 6 0 86 201 2006 British American Football League Division 1A 4 6 0 165 334 Semi-finalists losing 20–7 to Bristol Aztecs 2007 BAFL Division 1 Championship 8 2 0 230 109 Runners-up losing 47–7 in the final to Farnham Knights 2008 BAFL Division 1 South Conference 5 5 0 167 175 2009 BAFL Division 1 South East Conference 3 7 0 175 219 2010 BAFACL Division 1 South East Conference 8 2 0 215 99 Semi-finalists losing 34–10 to East Kilbride Pirates 2011 BAFANL Division 1 South East Conference 6 3 1 242 172 Quarter-finalists losing 14–7 to London O's 2012 BAFANL Premier Division South 2 8 0 43 318 2013 BAFANL Premier Division South 0 10 0 41 380 Relegated to National Division 2014 BAFANL National Division - South East Conference 2 8 0 70 412 2015 BAFA Southern Football Conference Division 2 - East 1 9 0 124 432 2016 BAFA Southern Football Conference Division 2 - East 0 10 0 91 290 2017 BAFA Southern Football Conference Division 2 - East 1 9 0 118 309 2018 BAFA Southern Football Conference Division 2 - East 6 2 0 199 168 Quarter-finalists losing 44-14 to Hertfordshire Cheetahs 2019 BAFA Southern Football Conference Division 2 - East422 - -Quarter-finalists losing 20-0 to Essex Spartans2020BAFA Southern Football Conference Division 2 - East - - - - - Season postponed due to the Covid-19 Pandemic2021 BAFA Southern Football Conference Division 2 - East350 - -
Rivalries Ipswich has a long-standing sporting rivalry with Norwich, which extends to American football. Games between the Ipswich Cardinals and the Norwich Devils are typically competitive and attract interest as part of the wider rivalry between the two cities.
Other local rivalries are with Colchester Gladiators and the Essex Spartans.
Logo and uniforms
Logo The Logo worn on the helmet was originally a cardinal's head, then the "Fighting Cardinal" (a representation of Cardinal Wolsey) which was designed by Mark Ayers, the first quarterback. Kevin Davies took it to an artist at the Port of Felixstowe to refine it. Mark Ayers, memoir
Early days The original uniform first adopted by the Cardinals was a blue helmet with the cardinals head, white with blue and red numbers home shirt, blue with white and red numbers away shirt, red pants.then red shirts white numbers away, white with red numbers home shirts, white pants . It is believed these colours were chosen as they matched the local football team Ipswich Town FC, it is not known however, when or why the team decided to abandon these colours in favour of their current ones.
Pre-2007 Later on the Cardinals switched to burgundy and gold for their helmets and home uniform, and all white for their away uniform. The helmets were gold with a central stripe of white flanked by two strips of burgundy. The jersey is burgundy and the pants gold.
The away uniform was white trimmed with red numbers and two red stripes on the arms.
Current uniform The Cardinals current home uniform is made up of three colours; the primary colour is burgundy. The second is gold which runs from the base of the pants up the outside of the legs and follows onto the jersey before moving under the arms to the top of the shoulder, and is also the colour of the shirt numbers. The final colour is white which outlines the jersey numbers. The pants are burgundy with gold trim and the socks are white.
The away uniform is largely the same as the home with the only difference being that the burgundy jersey is replaced with a white jersey with burgundy numbering outlined by gold.
Retired numbers
At the end of the 2010 season Ralph Alexander, GM & Owner of the Ipswich Cardinals, made the decision to retire the club's first ever number. Head Coach Ian Girling has seen service with the organisation since its inception in 1985 first as a player in the Wide Receiver and Quarterback role, later as offensive coordinator and finally as the current Head Coach (As of 2010). In that time he has won 2 National titles and represented British American football in Europe. It was decided that a fitting way to recognise this outstanding commitment to the organisation was to retire his number from the team's roster. At the Cardinals' 25th anniversary party the GM presented the number 7 to Coach Girling and thanked him for all he has done to help make the team as strong as it is today.
Following the death of Defensive Lineman, Captain Christopher Butcher in October 2017 it was decided to retire his number 76 and a framed jersey was presented to his father, Terry Butcher.
References
External links Official website BAFACL