Home Nations IV is heading for the record books
414 coaches signed up in a single day. One team place remains.
Well, that escalated quickly.
Registration for Home Nations IV - World Cup Edition opened on Sunday morning and, within the space of a few hours, 69 teams and 414 coaches had registered for the tournament set to take place in Loughborough next July.
Not only does that make this comfortably the largest edition of The Home Nations, it also puts the tournament on track to be the biggest UK Blood Bowl tournament in history!
Jam-packed with big names heading to Loughborough
The tournament field is looking extremely competitive, with some strong home-grown talent including the legendary All the President’s Men, past Home Nations winners Tactics and Theatrics (pictured), and current and former league champions Blood n Tears and Team Redshirts, to name but a few.
However, it’s not just local talent that’s planning to compete for honours at the Home Nations - World Cup Edition. If I were to say to you Les Azes, former World Cup winners led by Biereforever (great coach name), Chimera led by the Swiss Captain, Siggi, or Team Finland led by the indomitable RatOgre then you’ll know we’re in for lots of strong but friendly rivalry.
That’s before we even talk about Barbossa bringing Holy Six, and Liam leading the line for Evolution, both squads from Italy. If those coach names ring bells, well, that’s because they and their team-mates are Team Italy caps who’ve won back-to-back Home Nations Bowls!
We’re also pleased to welcome back our long-time friends from Malta, the host nation for next year’s World Cup. Team Poland coaches are back after running Italy close in the Bowl in Home Nations II. Then there's Hungary who are represented, with former Eurobowl TO, TimeBandit returning after his team finished runners-up in the Open last year.
Special mention must also go to our furthest-travelling team, the Canadian Blockheads, with Team Canada Captain Drakenspear leading the way!
And of course, no Home Nations would be complete without Celtic representation. Fiki is bringing Skulls for the Craic, with a promised appearance from everyone’s favourite roster critic, Keithabix!
Then we have Orcster and TheShepherd bringing plenty of recognisable Team Wales coaches with them.
Not to be outdone, Scotland sees the Tartan Trailblazers return after a top-five finish last year, with a peppering of Team Scotland coaches spread across several other teams. The list could go on, but one thing is guaranteed: a cracking weekend from start to finish, beginning with the first pint raised at JC’s bar on Friday night!
So, who is actually coming?
Below is the current list of registered teams. No rankings, no form guide and no attempt yet to work out who has made an inspired signing and who has simply rounded up five mates in the pub. There will be plenty of time for that nonsense later.
Team No. | Team | Captain |
1 | All the President's Men | Jimjimany |
2 | Arkadius Gaming | ChuckDredd |
3 | Arkadius Gaming 2 | Karaksan |
4 | Artful Dodgers | Slosha |
5 | Beds, Blocks And Beyond | toby_b |
6 | Blood & Tears | Yellow-Ox |
7 | Blood for the Star | TimeBandit |
8 | BriBBe All Stars | SaltySeaWench |
9 | Canadian Blockheads | Drakenspear |
10 | Chimera | Siggi |
11 | Claw on Tour | dusher1 |
12 | Coventry Barbarians | theafterhours |
13 | Crossfire on Tour | thebunneh |
14 | Crusaders | 14843 |
15 | DABBL | Veldora |
16 | DBBL Skulls | Slinky78 |
17 | Democratic Republic of Yorkshire | Slimjono |
18 | Derby Rams and Sheepdogs | kissthehurricane |
19 | Dice in the alley | Fluffy-Kraken |
20 | Dice Lords | gitgrinder |
21 | Dice Lords Second Eleven | DangerRat |
22 | Disturbing Presidents | Sparky |
23 | Evolution: Sledgehammer Alliance | Liam |
24 | Forge Breakers | NOTAGOTH |
25 | Hakflem Globetrotters: Team Blue | cornish |
26 | Handled Globetrotters: Team Red | Cornish |
27 | HEBBL Ish Superstars | Ploppy_McPloppy |
28 | Holy Six | Barbossa |
29 | Iced Gems and Jammie Dodgers | BiscuitGaz |
30 | KFoged on the Tyne | Don_Vito |
31 | Kingdom Of Mourne | Agingergoblin |
32 | LES AZES | Biereforever |
33 | Lions First Claw | Padster |
34 | Lions Second Claw | Padster |
35 | Lions Third Claw | Padster |
36 | Mayhem the Bells Toll | Blahmehblah |
37 | Mayhem- 6 ends, 1 bell | Skitters |
38 | New Dice Please & Friends | TheBrieliever |
39 | No Eyed Deer | Col |
40 | NOBBL JESTERS | Artful_Dodger |
41 | Nuffle's Nomads - Team Custard Creams | Garvfield |
42 | O Brothers, Where Art Pow? | fake_moustache |
43 | Orcster’s Six | Orcster |
44 | Pathway Pals | 03philpota |
45 | Planav Ukhaggas | TheShepherd46 |
46 | Points4U | Comissionerref |
47 | Portsmouth Pirates | danimal |
48 | Project Mayhem | Wynters_Dad |
49 | RHA - Poland | Misiek |
50 | SBL Ultras | SaltyMurcutt |
51 | Scots Exiles | sann0638 |
52 | SCRUBB League | SamLikesSka |
53 | Skulls for the Craic | Danton |
54 | Snake Eyes and GFI's | TheCowDaddy |
55 | South West Scrumpers | 36666 |
56 | Squad Chaos Tzeentch | Santa |
57 | Tactics and Theatrics O | Punchymcragefists |
58 | Tactics and Theatrics X | Thulean |
59 | Tartan Trailblazers: Alba | ChrisRaff88 |
60 | Tartan Trailblazers: Caledonia | Amsfeld |
61 | Team BASH | dayday |
62 | Team Cornwall | Bb_nut |
63 | Team Finland | RatOgre |
64 | Team Mercia | Coach.Carl |
65 | Team Redshirts | Howlinggriffon |
66 | Team Waterbowl | Vagabond1982uk |
67 | The B Staff | New NAF |
68 | The Islanders II - Electric Boogaloo | Marsh |
69 | Thick skullz | Palmtaiga |
Table 1.1. Home Nations - World Cup Edition, Squad roll-call listed alphabetically.
One place left
At the time of writing, there is space for one final six-coach team. If you’ve been hovering over the registration page, this would probably be the moment to stop hovering.
Once that final place goes, we’ll move to the waiting list.
What happens next?
If your captain has successfully registered your team, congratulations, the difficult bit is done. We’ll contact captains with the next steps, including payment, individual coach registration and everything else we need to turn 69 team names on a form into 414 actual coaches in Loughborough next July.
For now, thank you to every coach who has backed the tournament and signed up. The Home Nations - World Cup Edition promises to be a spicy record-breaker!
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