Ipswich Cardinals
Ipswich Cardinals | |||
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File:Cardinalfight.jpg | |||
First season | 1986 | ||
Head coach | 2nd season, 3–7–0 (.300) | ||
Stadium | Northgate International Sports Centre (capacity: 400) | ||
Field surface | Grass | ||
Location | Ipswich Suffolk | ||
League | BAFL | ||
All-time record | 134–88–2 (.603) | ||
Bowl record | 2–5–0 (.286) | ||
Claimed national titles | 2 | ||
Division titles | 13 | ||
Current uniform | |||
File:CardinalsUniform.png | |||
Colors | Burgundy and Gold | ||
Website | Official website |
The Ipswich Cardinals are an American Football team from the United Kingdom based in Ipswich, Suffolk. The team plays in the South-East Conference of BAFL 1 – the second tier of the British American Football League.
Formation
Formed by Colin Cox, Mark LePorte 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.
What's in a name?
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 referance to the cardinal bird, ours is a tribute to thislocal historical figure.
The teams first training session was set for Jan 1986 at Gainsborough sports centre, Ipswich over a 100 hopefuls turned up for tryouts, a lot of them went by the way but there were a lot of hopefuls. Don Laisure put the hopeful players through their paces along with Gary McCartney. 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 rolls Whilst Don Laisure stepped down and played instead.
The Early Years
1987 - 1994
May 1987 saw the Cardinals in their first league appearance, beating the Selsey Badgers 60-6. They continued as they began, winning all of their 13 following matches and losing in the UKAFL final to the St Helens Cardinals 26-28.
In 1988 the Cardinals were given a place in the Budweiser Division One. They ended the season with a 9-1 record, and again reached the divisional final, this time losing to Herts Phantoms 34-48.
In 1989 a depleted Cardinals squad struggled through to a 7-2-1 record beating Warrington Scorpions in the semi-finals to gain a place in their third successive Bowl game. With wide receiver Ian Girling playing quarterback, the Cardinals put up a commendable fight against archrivals Norwich Devils, but lost 9-18.
Undeterred by yet another final loss, the Cardinals regrouped for another attack on the BNGL title. The team were given a terrific boost by the clinching of a sponsorship deal with Pizza Hut, in addition a dozen or so East Coast Leopards joined the squad to add extra depth. The team compiled a 9-1 record, winning the South East Conference title.
In the play offs victories over Thames Pirates and Medway Mustangs resulted in the Cardinals fourth Bowl appearance at Saffron Lane, Leicester. In a fantastic comeback come back display, the Cardinals defeated the Clydesdale Colts 34- 22, to gain their first National title!
1991 saw the Cardinals being chosen to represent the nation in the Eurobowl competition. On Easter Sunday, the French Champions Aix-en-Provence Argonauts came to Ipswich for the second round clash, which would see one of the teams go into the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Sadly the result was a 51 0 defeat and elimination from Europe. However, the preparation and game day organisation was of a high standard and showed that small clubs can compete with the big ones where management is concerned!
Two weeks later saw the Cardinals enter the fray in the BNGL for a third season. After an uncertain start to the season, the Cardinals ended with a 6-2-1 record, gaining a place in the play offs. With home field advantage the Cardinals defeated the Cardiff Tigers 68-16 and division rivals London Barons 19-0.
In the semi-final Ipswich travelled to London to take on the Capitals, who had already beaten the team in regular season 36-22. With a severely depleted squad of 23 players the team were blown out 50-0 by the London side, the first time in Cardinals history that a British side has kept the Cardinals from scoring a single point.
Though the 1992 season ended in relative disappointment for the Cardinals they still achieved something that a handful, if any British clubs have done, gaining a place in the last four, five years in succession.
1992 saw the Cardinals turn out for their sixth successive season in an organised league, and their fourth in the top division of the BNGL.
As ever, the Cardinals had only a small squad, compared to many of their rivals. Manulife Financial again sponsored the team in its efforts to reach the play offs for a sixth time and the Bowl for a fifth. Some new opposition such as Oxford Saints and Bedford Bombardiers, as well as old adversaries the East Kent Cougars.
By the Cardinals standards the season was not exceptional but relatively successful finishing 5-5, with many rookies in the squad.
In 1993 the Cardinals saw action in the BNGL top flight for a fifth year, and were backed by Manulife for a third season. The return of many experienced veterans and influx of some new talent into the side promised much for the season ahead.
For a second year Oxford and Bedford were to be the teams closest rivals, along with a new opponent for Ipswich in the shape of Rockingham Rebels.
The nucleus of the team was again strong, but lack of big league experience and mistakes at crucial moments led to the Cardinals losing 5 of their games by a very small margin. As in 1992, the Cardinals broke even with a 5-5 record, but the potential could be seen for an excellent side for 1994, and the players packed up their pads looking to the future.
Record
In 1987 the Cardinals finished runners-up in the UKFL Championship, losing 28-26 in the final to St Helen Cardinals (this was Ipswich the first seasion).
In 1988 the Cardinals finished runners-up in the Budwiser div 1 Championship,losing 48-34 in the final to Harts Phantoms.
In 1989 the Cardinals finished runners-up in the BNGL 1 Championship,losing 18-9 in the finals to Norwich Devils.
In 1990 the Cardinals finished Champions in the BNGL 1 Championship, beating the Clydesdale Colts 34-22. The Cardinals were also Europe reps for the UK, losing to the French National Argonautes team 44-0.
In 1991 the Cardinals finished as semi-finalists in the BNGL losing 50-0 to London Capitals.
In 1992 the Cardinals finished in BNGL National Division South/East Midlands Conference 5-5-0 record.
In 1993 the Cardinals finished in BNGL National Division Midlands Conference with a 5-5-0 record.
In 1994 the Cardinals finished in BAFA Division Two South Eastern Conference with a 1-9-0 record.
In 1995 the Cardinals finished in BAFA Division Three East Midlands Conference with a 3-7-0 record.
In 1996 the Cardinals finished as quarter-finalists in the BSL Div 3 losing 14-0 to Winchester Rifles.
In 1997 the Cardinals finished in BSL Division One South Eastern & Midlands Conference with a 4-6-0 record.
In 1998 the Cardinals finished in BSL Division One South Eastern Conference with a 2-8-0 record.
In 1999 the Cardinals finished in BSL Division One Eastern Conference with a 2-6-0 record.
In 2000 the Cardinals finished as runners-up in the BSL Div 2 Championship ,losing 41-7 in the final to Farnham Knights.
In 2001 the Cardinals finished as champions in the BSL Div 2 Championship,winning 47-15 over the Norwich Devils.
In 2002 the Cardinals finished as quarter-finalists in the BSL Div 1 losing 14-3 to Birmingham Bulls.
In 2003 the Cardinals finished as semi-finalists in the BSL Div 1 losing 12-7 to East Kilbride Pirates.
In 2004 the Cardinals finished Wildcard in the BSL Div 1 losing 46-0 to London O.
In 2005 the Cardinals finished in BSL Divi 1 with a 3-6-1 record
In 2006 the Cardinals finished as semi-finalists in the BAFL Div 1A losing 20-7 to Bristol aztecs.
In 2007 the Cardinals finished runners-up in the BAFL 1 Championship, losing 47-7 in the final to Farnham MH Knights.
In 2008 the Cardinals finished in BAFL Division 1 (south) with a record of 5-5-0.
In 2009 the Cardinals finished in BAFA Division 1 (south) with a record of 3-7-0.
2010
The Cardinals 2010 pre-season campaign began Wednesday 9 September. They train every Wednesday night at David Lloyd Leisure from 8pm.
The season schedule has yet to be released by the BAFL but the coaches and players are already in heavy preparations with an expected re-vamping of both offensive and defensive playbooks.
Rivalries
Ipswich has a long standing rivalry with the city of Norwich in all sports and American football is no different. The Cardinals and the Devils games are always fiercely contested with both teams stepping up their games.
2008 Season
This rivalry can change a season for the teams involved. In 2008 Ipswich were wallowing at the bottom of the BAFL Division 1 (South) with five straight losses, their sixth fixture was away to a newly promoted and fired up Norwich. Both teams fought hard and dug deep and in a closely fought match-up Ipswich emerged the victors 20-30. This result (Combined with the newly appointed offensive coordinator Ian Girling) served to ignite the Cardinals season who then went on to gain five straight victories and finish the season with a 5-5-0 record.
Celestial Battle
It is an amusing accident that one of the leagues biggest rivalries features teams with religious logos. With Ipswich being represented by an adaptation of Cardinal Wolsey and Norwich being represented with a depiction of a devil. Are there higher powers at work here?, probably not but it all adds to the intensity of the games when these two teams face off on the field.
Logo and uniforms
Early Days
The original uniform first adopted by the Cardinals was a blue helmet with the cardinals head, blue home shirt, white away shirt, red 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 favor of their current ones.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d1/Cardinals_pre2007.jpg/250px-Cardinals_pre2007.jpg)
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.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/df/IpswichCardinalsDefence.jpg/250px-IpswichCardinalsDefence.jpg)
Current Uniform
The Cardinals current home uniform is made up of three colours, the first, and primary colour is white. 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 burgundy which is the colour of the pants and outlines the jersey numbers. The socks are white in colour.
The away uniform is largely the same as the home with the only difference being that the white jersey is replaced with a burgundy jersey with gold numbering outlined by white.
Logo
The Logo worn on the helmet was originally a cardinals head, then the "Fighting Cardinal" (a representation of Cardinal Wolsey) was designed by Mark Aryes the first QB, Kevin Davis took it to an artist at the Port of Felixstowe to refine it.
Current Roster
Quarterbacks
Running Backs
Wide Receivers
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Tight Ends
Offensive Linemen
Defensive Linemen
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Linebackers
Defensive Backs
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Reserve Lists
Practice Squad Rookies in italics |
Coaching Staff and Front Office
- Chairman/General Manager: Ralph Alexander
- CEO Hospitality/Entertainment: Jan Alexander
- CEO Matchday Operations: James Alexander
- Matchday Manager: Julian Baines
- Treasurer: Clive Longden
- Communications Manager: Kevin Clark
- Social Secretary: Ann Woolf
- Head Coach: Ian Girling
- Offensive coordinator:Ian Girling
- Defensive coordinator: Luke Box
- Line Coach: Howard Borstal
- Special Teams Coach: Tony Groden
- Linebacker Coach: Tony Groden
- Director of Statistics: John Goode
- Club Physiotherapist: Ruth Cheesley
- Strength and Conditioning Coach: Kevin Charlton
Cheerleading Squad
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a9/Cardinelles.jpg/200px-Cardinelles.jpg)
As of the 2009 season the Ipswich Cardinals will for the first time field its own cheerleading squad. The name of the squad is the Cardinelles, squad numbers are increasing and it is yet another exciting edition to the Ipswich Cardinals organisation.
Cardinelles
- Sarah-Jane Atkinson
- Sophie Cox
- Kerrianne Crane
- Caroline Holman
- Tamisha Orton
- Kristina Grant
A New Era
New Offensive Coordinator
After a five game losing streak in the 2008 season the team believed it was in real trouble when quarterback/wide receiver Ian Girling broke his hand. But he was to return in a different guise, taking up the role of offensive coordinator and helping guide the team to victories in their remaining five games ending the Cardinals season with a 5-5-0 record.
New Owner
Also in 2008 the Ipswich Cardinals saw a change of ownership when in march of that year former Philadelphia Eagles Lineman and Sky Sports presenter, Ian Allen took over ownership of the team.
Like Father, Like Son
Further history was made that season when for the first time the son of a former player joined the team this was Donald Laisure III who joined as a cornerback.
The Future
Several changes have been made in preparation for the 2009 season. Firstly the Ipswich Cardinals have reported that they have terminated their association with former owner and Sky Sports presenter, Ian Allen.
Secondly the Chairman and General Manager Ralph Alexander has announced that the Cardinals will for the first time use their white jersey as the home uniform with the burgundy uniform being used for road games, this is because the burgundy shirt does not display the club's main sponsor Old Orleans on it.
Also in early 2009 the Cardinals appointed Kevin Charlton as their Strength and Conditioning Coach.