Britball 1986…The Cliff Stroughter Season

The British game was about to enter its second full season of competitive play in 1986, and amongst the leading teams, a lot of progress had been made in the previous twelve months. Standards of play had risen, stadiums with good facilities were being used to host games, attendances were rising and teams were hiring import players. It all made for an attractive spectacle for the fans. The league authorities made available to the teams, a list of American collegiate players who had expressed an interest in coming to the UK. East Midlands outfit, the Nottingham Hoods were looking to replace their recently departed US coach, and reached out to a running back from the town of Vallejo, California, his name…Clifton Stroughter.

They agreed a deal and Stroughter flew in to meet his new teammates. It soon become obvious that he was an athletic freak. Similar in build to NFL legend Herschel Walker he had blazing speed once in the open field, but was happy to use his power to simply run over and through opposing defences. He started his playing career at Vallejo high school, then moved on to Contra Costa College before being recruited by division 1 programme Illinois of the Big Ten conference. Along with football, he also trained in the mixed martial art of Kajukenbo, which served to enhance his balance and explosiveness.

The Hoods were in the toughest division in the country. The Midlands conference would see them match up with the Birmingham Bulls, Leicester Panthers and the Milton Keynes Bucks, all powerhouse programmes. In the opening game of the season they hosted the Bucks, who had done the double over Nottingham the previous year, but with Stroughter in the backfield, things were about to change. The Hoods won the game with Stroughter opening his British account with two touchdown runs. The next match up was against Leicester, but despite his efforts Nottingham succumbed to a 46-27 defeat. He did continue to make an impression though, notching three more scores and drawing plaudits from the press, “Super Stroughter” said the headlines. Up next would be their hardest test, the Birmingham Bulls were in town and were expected to despatch the upstart Hoods. In a game that most observers rated as the best in the country of the ’86 season, around 2,000 fans witnessed a shoot out of epic proportions. Birmingham kept scoring to lead the contest, but every time they did, Nottingham in the form of Stroughter came right back. At the final whistle, the Hoods had edged it 40-35, and the man from Vallejo had rushed for almost 300 yards and 5 touchdowns.

He was now the talk of the country, and when the team travelled to the Ealing Eagles the following week for a Saturday night game, the crowd, including a delegation from the National Champion London Ravens, were treated to his best performance of the season. He ran for 404 yards and a bag full of touchdowns as the Hoods won 77-0. As the season progressed, he continued to deliver, racking up the yards and the points.

For the Nottingham faithful, any contest against the Panthers was a must win game, and when they travelled to Leicester for the return game that year, they were hoping to avenge their early season loss. In a feisty encounter, Stroughter was on top form, leading the Hoods to a 34-23 win, including at one stage, a bench clearing brawl!

Closing the regular season out with a 78-26 win over the Walsall Titans, Nottingham ended up with a 9 and 3 record and a place in the play-offs. Stroughter wrote his name large into the Britball record books. His single season rushing record of 3,104 yards and 51 touchdowns! still stands today, and is unlikely to ever be beaten.

When Cliff returned to the states he was signed by the San Diego Chargers, and when his playing days were over, he returned to Contra Costa to coach the football programme. He never lost his love for martial arts and continued to coach and compete at a high level, you probably won’t be surprised to hear that he was battling for a national title at the age of fifty.

Those who witnessed him play in ’86 will never forget it, particularly the defenders who had to try and tackle him!