Are You Ready for the NFFL Premiership and Division 1 Matchups in Week 1 and 2?

Image: Inside Britball Media

Whilst the majority of the National Flag Football League (NFFL) Division 1 already have week 1 one in the bag, we see an action-packed weekend of flag football this weekend with the eagerly anticipated curtain raiser for the NFFL Premiership.  With the Olympic announcement, strategic reviews, resignations, and controversial inclusions, the offseason has seemingly been a whirlwind of celebration, confusion, and concern where the return of competitive football will be a much-welcomed change of focus. This weekend delivers in abundance across the whole weekend with Saturday and Sunday tournaments spread across the Premiership and Division 1.

Premiership

The weekend offers some great match ups for the Premiership and whilst I would love to highlight them all, there are a few tantalising fixtures that catch the eye.  Firstly, newly promoted Moray Distillers are getting thrown straight into the deep end with a match up against the much-revered Aberdeen Oilcats that will be a good litmus test for their Premiership campaign.

The controversy surrounding the inclusion of London Rebels in the Premiership following a sabbatical from BAFA competition adds extra intrigue to their campaign kick-off.  They have been rewarded with a first tie against the back-to-back Champions in London Smoke that will surely test their skills and game management as they come up against one of the best tactical teams in the country.  For London Smoke, they will be keen to avoid an upset in their fixture against their third team London Spark.

The final stand out fixture features another newly promoted team in Coventry Panthers who will be keen to finish the week 1 tournament strong against local rivals Coventry Phoenix.  The favourites for the spoils of this fixture will be the Phoenix, however with city bragging rights at stake, the Panthers will be keen to be the disruptors and potentially provide the upset of the week.

Premiership Fixtures

Division 1

Week 2 sees the first of the popular cross conference tournaments where all eyes will be on the seven teams who carry the moniker of undefeated.

With the undefeated teams in mind, the standout fixtures of the weekend must be the West Lancashire Serpents fixtures against the two undefeated Highland conference teams in West Lothian Chargers, and Grangemouth Mustangs. The Serpents have a mammoth task ahead of them and will need to be firing on all cylinders if they are to maintain their unbeaten status.

We also see the Division 1 South A kick off their season this weekend by going straight into the cross-conference games. The recently relegated Victoria Park Panthers will need to rely on their Premiership experience as they start their tournament against a strong team in the Swansea Hammerheads. The Hammerheads have already made their intensions clear for this year with two wins from two, however, it doesn’t get any easier for the Panthers as they face the other two teams that are currently reside in the top three of the Division 1 South B conference.

Finally, the Calderdale Locomotives will be keen to get their season back on track following some heavy defeats in week 1.  They face a set of midlands teams who have only won one out of their three games in week 1 which indicates that we could be in for a collection of interesting results.  

Division 1 Fixtures

Undefeated: West Lothian Chargers, Grangemouth Mustangs, West Lancashire Serpents, Border City Centurions, Newcastle Blackhawks, Waveney Wolves, Swansea Hammerheads.