Told they’d lose every game, the Sheffield Sabres went unbeaten, won their first BUCS title, and completed a comeback season no one saw coming.

“No matter how many games we won or what we did off the pitch, we were still always told we were going to lose the next.” 

The story of a team that persevered and fought to succeed despite constant doubt, the Sheffield Sabres not just overachieved but proved everyone wrong this year, as they completed a record-breaking season for the club. The University of Sheffield American football team won their first BUCS trophy, gaining promotion from division two, going unbeaten for the first time in their 26 year history. Also winning ‘club of the year’ at sports awards and the university’s sports volunteering award, Sheffield Sabres exceeded expectations on and off the pitch, just two years after being relegated and almost folding as a club.

Mikey Guinness, club captain, played a pivotal role in the team’s success and was Sabres’ defensive coordinator for the final. He says, “It’s really hard to explain. We won quite convincingly in our final, and you know you’re going to win for a while, but you don’t let yourself feel in until the final whistle. 

“It doesn’t feel real until it’s over. One moment to culminate for the last three years mentally of hard work and it’s just one final whistle. You really can’t contain it.” 

But that moment almost wasn’t possible, as the club nearly folded due to financial difficulties just two years prior. The Sabres came into the season without many coaches, and due to a lack of players, funding from memberships was low. With their primary source of income for the club being memberships, the club relied on sponsorships as their main way of generating money. This meant they were heavily impacted when their primary sponsors, Bronco’s, folded, leaving the club in debt. 

“We started the season about 3 or £4000 in debt, and we only had about 30 players, so only 30 membership fees. We had to start cost saving; we got relegated that year because of it.

“It’s an incomparable feeling. You invest so much time into it and get almost nothing back. You just think, ‘what do you even do? How do you get out of this?’” 

Sheffield Sabres were given deadlines from the university to pay off their debt, which if they didn’t meet, would result in their disbandment. Their entire recruiting process had to change – instead of focusing on scouting elite talent, the focus became growing the club into a larger society. Sabres changed their pitch to promoting their sport as an alternative sport and one for those who didn’t want to play mainstream sports. This more accommodating approach to recruitment led to a massive increase in memberships, meaning more money and that the club was able to stay afloat. With the financial problems no longer a factor, Sabres now looked to improve on the pitch. 

“I think getting relegated helped us in away. Because we survived the initial financial issues, and we were now playing a worse quality of opponent, it helps people stick around. 

“When you’re joining for the first time, playing teams that are effectively worse helps because you have more fun, which makes the sport more enjoyable.”

After overcoming financial trouble and regrowing the club to the level it was, Sheffield Sabres improved on the pitch, and after a steady first season in division two, the focus switched to getting promotion. 

Coming into their second season, Sheffield Sabres were overlooked and were expected to fail. 

“A lot of media outlets and people funding completely wrote us off. Being an underdog is when you’re not even talked about. You’re so unconsidered that it’s like ‘oh, they’re done – they’re finished.

“On the Mediacom coverage, we played our final and everyone said we were going to lose, even after winning every game. No matter how many games we’ve won, or what we did off the pitch, we were still always told we were going to lose the next.

“We get a lot of these media people, they don’t watch every game. We play in a division where our games aren’t live streamed, so they’ve not even really seen us play, and they still just presume that we’re going to lose. And it’s like, they’re formed in an opinion based off nothing and then just putting it on us publicly.”

The psychology of being the underdog helped the Sabres to perform, as it removed pressure. American football being a team sport, which is still heavily impacted by individual roles and actions, pressure can often be exemplified, but with the Sabres expected to lose, there was no pressure of expectation. 

“We believe we should win. We still have this idea that if we don’t, no one’s going to look at us with embarrassment. We’re not going to get any fingers pointing from our external sources. I think it does take a lot of the pressure away, and that does help people, especially, like, the important individual players perform and just do their job better.”

Now returning to Division One, Sheffield Sabres are looking forward to competing against old rivals. “We’ve been in their division forever. I think internally, they probably almost want to see us come back. When you play a team for 10-15 years straight, and then they get relegated, you’re going to miss playing them. 

Now we’re back and we get to play all our old fixtures. It’s like a mainstay that’s returned that you get to play every year.”