CHAIRMAN'S MESSAGE

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to our American football match. Our aim is to raise money for two worthy causes. On the one hand the five towns plus hospice fund which was established to provide a day centre and hospice for the chronically ill in our local area. We have a full time hospice sister now and like British rail, we are getting there! The event today will also help to raise funds to help provide our Pontefract general infirmary with a special breast x ray machine to help in the early detection of breast disease. This will mean that those who require this facility will no longer have to travel to Leeds for the x ray to be done. I would like to thank our two teams, the Leeds Cougars and the Coventry Bears for their muscle power and their interest in our joint effort. May the best team win Also, many thanks to the Featherstone Rovers Rugby League Football club for the kind loan of the ground and for all the help they have given us behind the scenes. Our thanks too to the companies who have sponsored this event with their generous donations Last but not least a big thank you to you, without whose support today would not be the success we hope for

HAVE A NICE DAY

DAVID ASHTON
Chairman
Five Towns Plus Hospice Appeal Ltd

Leeds Cougars

The Cougars were formed early in 1984 and were one of the founder members of the old AFL(UK) which was formed that year In 1985 playing in the northern division they were pipped by the Spartans by one point and had to settle for second place but their reputation for a superb aerial game had developed. With a good offensive line quarterback Glenn Stevens had the time to feed his receivers which were usually tight end Tim Casey or "flying" Sammy Pryce. Pryce went on to be chosen for Great Britain as did offensive lineman Mick Hardaker and the both took part in the recent defeat of Holland.

The 1986 season was a bad one by the Cougars standards although they reached the playoffs and had four men in the top ten passing and receiving lists. Internal problems and a string of bad results soured the season for the club. On the brighter side the management signed 2 lucrative sponsorship deals with United News Shops and Canon UK For the coming year things look very good indeed with the cougars signing many experienced players from Mansfield Express and Bradford Dolphins including the dangerous "Tiggy" Bell who holds the single game rushing record of 445 yards So with Elland Road secured again and a business management team - Beaver Sports - working our sponsorship deals the "Air " cougars look set to fly in '87

Coventry Bears

The club was formed as the Warwickshire bears on February 1984 by two local men with a lot of assistance from the then head coach of the united states air base team at Chicksands The Bears played their first season in the American Football League's Midland Division which was arguably the toughest division in the Country. That year the Bears only posted one regular season victory, however, friendly games proved more productive, with the best result coming when they traveled to London to take on the unbeaten and eventual Summer Bowl finalists, Streatham Olympians. The Bears ran out easy winners with a 26:0 scoreline

1986 saw the Bears in the Anglo Conference Central Division where the proved to be too experienced for the others and won the division with an 8 won and 2 lost record. This includes a British American Football League record victory of 100:0 over the Black Country Nailers. They also played host to International opposition when they played the top Norwegian team, the Oslo Trolls, losing the match by one point on the last kick of the game.

The Bears were one of only two teams to beat the Fylde Falcons last year This year however due to retirements and job relocations the Bears will be relying as great deal on their crop of Rookies

The following Article was in this program and was typical of what could be found during the early days of the game in Britain

GRIDIRON IN BRIEF

The game of American Football is played with 11 men in each team, yet there is unlimited substitution of players which means squads often consist of around 40 players or more The winner of the game is the tam that, at the end of four quarters of play (15 minutes each quarter) has scored the most points can be scored as follows:-
1. TOUCHDOWN - 6 points. This is scored when a player either carried the ball over the goal line into the opposing teams end zone or by catching a pass in the end zone
2. POINT AFTER TOUCHDOWN - 1 point. After a touchdown you have the chance to covert the ball between the uprights or you may run or pass the ball in to the endzone for 2 points
3. FIELDGOAL - 3 points. This may occur any time during a game when the ball is place kicked through the uprights
4. SAFETY - 2 points. These are awarded when an offensive ball carrier get tackled in his own end zone.

The game starts with a player from one team kicking the ball into his opponents half of the field. The team returning the ball then proceed as far up the field as possible until the ball carrier is tackled. From the position of the tackle (line of scrimmage) the team with the ball (offence) must gain 10 yards of the field in four attempts (downs) the team trying to prevent them gaining 10 yards is the defence. If the offence fails to gain the yardage it must give the ball to the other team at the point where the fourth down occurred. Usually on the fourth down, a team not likely to gain the necessary yards will choose to kick the ball as far as possible into the opponents half of the field (punt). It is almost certain they will lose possession but they will have a better field position.
If a team does gain 10 yards in four downs, it retains the ball and tries to gain another 10 yards in 4 downs.
By successfully and repeatedly covering the 10 yards with each set of four downs, the team not only keeps possession of the ball but also moves downfield towards the opponents goal in search of a touchdown

LEEDS COUGARS HOME FIXTURES FOR 1987

MAY 4th WREKIN GIANTS AT BRAMLEY R.L.F.C.

MAY 17th CREWE RAILROADERS AT ELLAND ROAD

MAY 24th LOCOMOTIVE DERBY AT ELLAND ROAD

JULY 19th SCUNTHORPE STEELERS AT ELLAND ROAD

JULY 26th MANCHESTER HEROES AT ELLAND ROAD

AUGUST 2nd STEEL CITY GIANTS AT ELLAND ROAD

ADMISSION : ADULTS 2 pounds

CHILDREN 1 pound

ALL GAMES KICK OFF AT 2:00 p.m.

ROVERS HAVE THE LAST WORD

The management committee of Featherstone Rovers are pleased to make their ground and new facilities available today for the FIVE TOWNS PLUS HOSPICE APPEAL American Football Match

This season is the first one that our new grandstand has been used. It replaces a former mainly wooden stand that was so badly burnt that it had to be replaced. We are proud that the present one is the best in the rugby league and conforms to the most strict safety regulations.

Alongside, a completely new complex has been built, housing the most modern changing rooms and above is a nearly completed clubhouse that will be available for outside functions upon request

Featherstone Rovers have a proud record in Rugby League, having won the challenge cup at Wembley on no less than three occasions and have been runners up twice

They have also won the 1st and 2nd Division Championships at various times

Now you have seen and sampled our facilities, with more ground comfort improvements being carried out all the time, why not become a member or at least come to a match

For more details ring our secretary, Terry Jones on Leeds (0532) 531249