The Finsbury Park club's under-19s beat top seeds Nottingham Caesars 12-8 in Coventry for an 11th national title, with Abdul-Samad Ilupeju named MVP.

The London Blitz under-19s beat Nottingham Caesars 12-8 to win the national championship, on a weekend the club went into as the underdogs.

The British American Football Association, the sport’s governing body in the UK, records it as the club’s eleventh national title.

The detail of the final:

  • Result: London Blitz 12, Nottingham Caesars 8
  • Competition: U19 Division One, the top tier of under-19 contact football
  • Where and when: Nick Newbold Stadium, Coventry, Saturday 5 September 2026
  • Most valuable player: Abdul-Samad Ilupeju, London Blitz
  • Crowd: more than 1,000 across the BritBowl weekend, BAFA says

The Caesars went in as top seeds. The two clubs had met in a national final before, in 2023.

Why this is a Haringey story

The London Blitz is based in Finsbury Park. Haringey Council described it in its own preview of the final, published two days before the game, as “Haringey-based” and representing the borough and north London.

American football is not a sport this borough gets written about for. It is a national title all the same, won by a junior team from a club a little over a mile from Crouch End Broadway, and it went almost entirely unreported locally.

A record most local clubs would take

The council’s preview set out what the under-19 side has done since 2011. It said the team had lost just five games in that time, and was about to contest its 11th National Championship in 14 years.

There is a wrinkle in those two numbers that is worth naming rather than glossing over. The council, writing before the final, called it the club’s 11th championship appearance. BAFA, writing after it, called the win the club’s eleventh national title. The two descriptions only square if the Blitz has won every final it has reached. Neither organisation publishes a year-by-year list of U19 champions that would settle it, and the club’s own news page stopped being updated in November 2024. We have reported each organisation’s wording as it stands rather than resolving it ourselves.

What is not in doubt is the scale of the run. A junior team losing five games in fifteen years, in the top division of its sport, is unusual in any code.

What the club says it is for

In the council’s announcement, U19 head coach Jason Henry put the titles second:

“At the London Blitz, championships are a by-product of our core purpose. We measure our real success in mentorship, building character and opening doors for these young people.”

He also said: “Reaching the national final is always a credit to the discipline and commitment our young athletes show from winter workouts through the summer.”

The council’s release gives two figures for what that means in practice. It says more than 95% of players who stay two years go on to university, and that eight teenagers from the 2026 squad secured placements at American high schools, prep academies and colleges.

What it means for you

If you have a teenager who wants to try the sport, the Blitz runs junior teams at under-16 and under-19 and takes complete beginners. Its Join Us page is the club’s own route in, and the BAFA club listing carries its contact details.

Be prepared to chase. The club’s own news page has not been updated since November 2024, and carried nothing about the final or the result when we checked on 19 September. Training dates and fees are not currently published there in a form you can rely on, so ask before you turn up.

The season has finished. BAFA’s report describes BritBowl weekend as the end of the 2026 contact season, with flag football finals a week later. Recruitment for the next contact season normally runs over the winter.

Getting there from Crouch End is the W7, which runs from Muswell Hill Broadway to Finsbury Park and is back on its normal route now that Crouch Hill has reopened. Our roadworks and travel page has the current bus position, and things to do in Crouch End covers the other clubs and sports facilities within reach.

Sources