Belgian American Football League

Current season, competition or edition: 2021 BAFL season
Sport	American football
Founded	1987
No. of teams	18
Country	Belgium  Luxembourg
Most recent champion(s)	Ostend Pirates[1]
Related competitions	FAFL & LFFAB
Official website	www.BFL.com

The Belgian American Football League (BAFL) is a sports league for American football in Belgium founded in 1987. The league currently consists of 18 teams from Belgian cities and regions and one team from Luxembourg. The league is divided into two conferences—the Flemish American Football League (FAFL) and Ligue Francophone de Football Americain de Belgique (LFFAB). At the end of each regular season, three teams from each conference play in the BFL playoffs, a six-team single-elimination tournament that culminates with the championship game, known as the Belgian Bowl.^[1]

Seasons

Football rules

The BFL uses the American college football rules: (2013/2014 NCAA Rulebook). These differ from the popular professional league of the United States, the NFL. The officials are organised in the Belgian american football officials committee (BAFOC).

The conferences

The BFL is divided into a Dutch-speaking conference and a French-speaking conference, based on the northern Flemish Community and the southern French Community of Belgium. These two communities intermingle in the territory of Brussels, two teams based in Brussels play in the Dutch (FAFL) and one team plays in the French (LFFAB). The LFFAB has one team from Luxembourg, the Steelers. The conferences are important for the championship game as they determine who will participate in the play-offs. Teams only play interconference games in the play-offs.

Teams

There are 18 BFL teams. The La Louvière Wolves are on hold. New teams must be located 20 km from an existing team. This rule does not apply for Brussels.

Team	City or area	Founded	Website
Flemish American Football League, FAFL, Flemish Community
Antwerp Spartans	Antwerp, BE	2019	Antwerp Spartans
Brussels Black Angels	Brussels, BE	1989	Black Angels
Brussels Bulls	Brussels, BE	2005	Bulls
Ghent Gators	Ghent, BE	1999	Gators
Izegem Tribes	Izegem, BE	1989	Tribes
Leuven Lions	Leuven, BE	1986	Lions
Limburg Shotguns	Leopoldsburg, BE	2008	Shotguns
Ostend Pirates	Ostend, BE	2013	Pirates
Ligue Francophone de Football Americain de Belgique, LFFAB, French Community
Andenne Bears	Andenne, BE	2002	Bears
Ardenne-Gaume-Lorraine Razorback	Ardenne-Gaume-Lorraine, BE	2015
Braine-le-Comte Sharks	Braine-le-Comte, BE	2015
Brussels Tigers	Brussels, BE	1998	Tigers
Charleroi Coal Miners	Charleroi, BE	1993	CoalMiners
Louvain-la-Neuve Fighting Turtles	Louvain-la-Neuve Fighting Turtles, BE	2008	Turtles
Liège Monarchs	Liège, BE	1986	Monarchs
WAPI Phoenix	Tournai, BE	1986	Wapi Phoenix
Waterloo Warriors	Waterloo, BE	2011	Warriors

Team locations

Pirates

Tribes

Gators

Titans

Diamonds

Lions

Shotguns

Bulls

Black Angels

Tigers

Monarchs

Turtles

Phoenix

Coal Miners

Sharks

Bears

Warriors

Steelers

Location of the teams in the Belgian Football League

BFL Records

• Most national championships:
  • 8 West Flanders Tribes (2000, 2001, 2006-2011)
• Most appearances in a national championship:
  • 12 Brussels Black Angels (1996-1998, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2015-2018)
• Most consecutive national championships:
  • 6 West Flanders Tribes (2006-2011)^[2]
• Most consecutive appearances in a national championship:
  • 6 West Flanders Tribes (2006-2011)
• Most consecutive appearances in the playoffs:
  • 10 Brussels Black Angels (2001-2011)
• Most consecutive wins:
  • 50 West Flanders Tribes (27 February 2007 - 4 June 2011)^[2]
• Longest streak no losses:
  • 53 West Flanders Tribes (21 May 2006 - 4 June 2011)
• Most consecutive perfect seasons:
  • 4 West Flanders Tribes (2008-2011)
• Most consecutive unbeaten seasons:
  • 5 West Flanders Tribes (2007-2011)^[2]