E-mail : stephen.broadhead1@uk.dreamcast.com
Hello there my name’s Stephen.
Lord have mercy!! I've sinned. Yes I am a Cougars fan!!!
Sorry just thought it sounded funny. I’ve been a fan of football for nearly 16 years now - wow. so long!!!
We've seen a lot of things happen in the NFL but my fav player would have to be Dan" the man" Marino. Yes I’m a dolphins supporter so what do you expect?
He was just so graceful dropping back to pass and letting a rocket go. I must admit though I always thought Lawrence Taylor was something special too!!
Biggest player of all time though would have to be Tiggy Bell - He could always run on anybody.
E-Mail : mark@rangeyMONSTER.demon.co.uk
(remove the word MONSTER for mail to get to me)
Okay then, I'm the author of this site.
I might as well be the first one to have a picture (or 2) up here then!!!
I was struggling to find a good one of me and unfortunately, this was the best I could come up with (taken in Ibiza in 1999).
Here's another one which is probably no better but I thought you could probably do with a laugh - B***dy Pigeons!!!
So, now you know what I look like you probably want to know a bit about me - To find out general stuff, please visit MY INFO PAGE and I'll concentrate on COUGARS stuff here.
So, why Leeds??? It's simple enough - I remember watching my first NFL game back in 1995 at Christmas time - It was from Miami and it may have been against the Patriots. Although I didn't really understand what was going on, I did get a feeling that it was new and exciting - Over the next season, I learned all of the rules and chose the New York Giants as MY team. Not a bad choice really as they went all the way in 86'.
Anyway, after getting to love the sport, I found a copy of First Down whilst on a school field trip to Hadrian's Wall and realised that the game was being played in Britain.
Living in Castleford, the nearest team was the Cougars (I never liked the Cobra's name so I wasn't going to support them!!!) and I duly started watching in 1987 - Again a good season to start as the went all the way to the Premier Bowl in Cardiff getting thrashed by the Bobcats - Fortunately for me, I had to miss the final as I was in hospital with torn knee ligaments!!!
It was during that first season that I also discovered the "magic" of the away trips". I was only just 15 at the time and it was one big adventure - Find your way to Morrison's car park in Morley, the bus trip to somewhere new and then the excitement of the game itself - Couldn't be beat!!!
Also, getting to Bramley was a real bind - 3 busses and 2 hours travelling still wasn't too much to stop me watching the great game.
Probably my best moment of watching the Cougars was seeing Tiggy beat the single game rushing record at Wrekin in that season although the game itself was pretty disappointing as Eddy Harry played at QB for most of the game!!!
Another highlight was watching them lose in the Semi Finals a couple of years later to the Bulls just off Spaghetti Junction.
It was certainly much easier to follow the Cougars once I could drive but it was at this time that the team (and the sport in general in this country) went downhill - There were still some good days though - I enjoyed watching the matches at Odsal (even the ones that were over 4 hours long!!!).
There were a few good games also when they had to play from Farsley Celtic but at the end, The team wasn't very good playing from Bramhope Rugby Union Club - More people were interested in the baseball taking place on the back field!!! :-(
Probably the funniest thing I saw at a game was during a match at Bramhope - One of the referees got flattened by a player making a run - The ref proceeded to stagger a-la James Cagney before going down in a heap with hundreds of items flying out of his pockets - God knows why he had some of the things that came out on him but it certainly amused me and my friends!!!
My favourite player ??? Either Paul Muscroft, Sammy Price, Dan Moore or Tiggy Bell.
Tiggy definitely had the most talent but his constant mouthing off and swearing on the sidelines made me dislike him as a person (I never actually met him) So, I going to pick Sammy Pryce.
Best coach - This one is easy - Chuck Brogdon - He brought a winning attitude and team to the Cougars.
Worst player - I'm sure that he wasn't actually the worst to wear a Cougar jersey but I'm plumping for import QB Joel Lamb - The Cougars must have really been struggling financially at this point if the best they could afford was this player.
Best Touchdown - The Cougars famous Power Sweep against the Manchester Allstars after coming from 16:0 down to fin our first game of 1998 after going 0:5 for the season- It was a brilliant move that Paul Pryce went in from about 50 yards out.
I'm sure that there was some other stuff I had to write but I can't remember what it was right now - It'll come back to me and I'll put it up here when it does.
Final point for now - This Website - I started the site back in 1997 just for a bit of fun and to try and learn how to write web pages. Since then, this thing has grown as has my ability (hopefully!!!). So far, it's been a great learning process and as the Net takes off more and more, I hope that many other ex-Cougars will enjoy visiting the site as much as I enjoy writing it - Cheers for now - Mark
E-Mail : phil@lynne98.freeserve.co.uk
I'm Phil an ex-Thames valley chargers player, just to say hi, I miss 'ball like mad, loved banging heads with you guys, isn't Britball a joke now, gone are the glory days. I loved watching Dexter Manley play, all heart. If anyone has any old photos of TVC could you mail me a copy.
best wishes
ccccchhhhaaaaarrrrrgggggggeeeeeee!
Phil
E-Mail : smallwoodgazza@aol.com
I am Anita Smallwood nee Birkby
AGE 30 something .Used to be a cheerleader from 1985
to 1990
Melanie Besford (nee Sutcliffe)
Hi there! I used to Cheerlead for
the Cougars for about 8/9 years until the end. I still think of one and all.
Miss the game terrible and all the friends I made there. I started watching the
Cougars at the age of about 10 at Elland Rd. I remember having my hair tucked up
in my Cougars baseball cap and been mistaken for a boy and as all kids did then
i was stood waiting to get autographs and my brother and myself was lead by Mick
Hardaker 70# into the changing rooms to get more
autographs. But instead I left with a red face pretty fast after copping an
eyeful of nude players. Not the greatest first memory. But nevertheless a fond
memory. But Sammy Pryce did have a habit of being naked on the field! never
mind the changing rooms. I only recently found
out about the website. I thought when the Cougars had finished that was it. I
just this year started thinking of the days of old and
looked up British teams. To my delight I found that the Yorkshire Rams were
playing not too far away. So I've been watching them at their home matches. It's
not the same and I tend to keep quiet so I don't shoot the wrong team.
Anyway it's great to see Cougars live on and hope to read more about you all.
Regards to all especially the one that might remember me, I used to come with my
mum (Anne) and dad (David who wrote the COOL CATS CHANT)
Regards
Melanie Besford (nee Sutcliffe)
E-Mail : LARAM1984@AOL.COM
#77
1987 LEAGUE CHAMPION LUTON FLYERS.
PLAYED LINEBACKER, FIRST PLAYER IN THE BAFL TO PLAY WITH NFL
EXPERIENCE. LOS ANGELES
RAMS 1984
E-Mail : John LaFleur
1989 Cougar
I've been married for 12 years and my wife Julie and I have 22 month old
spitfire named Monica Mae LaFleur.
I'm also in the process of completing a Ph.D. in Leadership. I'm working with
the United States Marine Corps and am also an
Associate Principal in a suburban Milwaukee, Wisconsin high school of 1,700
students grades 9 - 12.
I last saw any of the Cougars in 2002 - I met Orlando Weekes in Milwaukee. I'd
love to hear from you folks and learn of what everyone is doing.