![[NEUAL logo]](images/neualLogo.jpg)
NEUAL History
The history of NEUAL stretches back to start of the millenium, when the University of York Archery Club started making frequent trips to Scotland to compete in the SUSF championships as guests. After a couple of years of these trips, and noticing the improvement in performance of the archers in the national BUSA competitions, people started discussing the formation of a similar structure in the north of England. The main protaganists in these discussions were Michael Ward (York), Claire Brockett (Bradford), and Stewart Barcley (UKSAA). Having sounded out the various universty clubs at the 2002 BUSA Outdoor Championships, the league was founded for the 2002-3 indoor season.The structure of the competitions borrowed heavily from the SUSF model, with a season long league, and individual Novice, Indoor, and Outdoor Championships.
The league was based on an all-play-all format, with seven 3-way matches, so each team met all the others during the league season. The expectation was that each club would host one match, and travel to another two. Initially, 3 league points were on offer for a win, 2 points for second place, and one point for third.
2002-3
League winners : York Novice League winners : YorkFor its first year, NEUAL was the North Eastern Universities Archery League. It started with a membership of 7 clubs (Bradford, Durham, Leeds, Newcastle, Northumbria, Sheffield, York) of whom 6 currently compete in the league, but only 3 have competed every year. Unfortunately, both Newcastle and Sheffield clubs disappeared before they could start their league campaigns.
The first match was hosted by Durham, and set the tone for the season with York managing a close double win. (Having said this, the loss of an arrow from the hall might have caused an early dissolution of the league after it was found outside on a hocky pitch.)
2003-4
League winners : York Novice League winners : LancasterFor the second year, the league was rebranded as the North of England Universities Archery League. Following the loss of two clubs the previous year, the west coast universities of Lancaster and Liverpool (who have been stalwarts of the league ever since), and Bangor were invited to join. With the league now consisting of 8 teams, similar league structure was used, this time with nine 3-way matches (a "bye" team was added to make up the numbers). Again, another club (Northumbria) was lost before the start of the year, and problems at Bangor left them unable to compete.
2004-5
League winners : York Novice League winners : YorkThe third year saw the return of Sheffield to the competition, and the return to the 7 team format of the first year. While the clubs have experienced the traditional ups and downs inherent in university archery, the seven clubs that competed this year (Bradford, Durham, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield, York), have formed the nucleus of the league ever since. In order to encourage attendence at championships, the point structure was changed this year, with clubs receiving 1 league point for each attendance, and 2 points for a win, 1 for a second place at all events (including the championships).
2005-6
League winners : York Novice League winners : YorkThis year saw the expansion of the league once more, with Keele being added to the fold. This has proven to be a good move, as they brought a competitive edge to proceedings (Keele being the first team to beat York's senior team the following year). With an 8 team league, a different structure was trialled. 9 teams (as before, a "bye" team was added) would allow an all-play-all format to take place over 4 weekends, each one consisting of a set of three 3-way matches. This change allowed NEUAL to set a pair of weekends for each set of matches, reducing the difficulties of getting each match hosted on the designated weekend.
2006-7
League winners : Keele Novice League winners : Keeleadded hallam
first time York lost
2007-8
League winners : Sheffield Novice League winners : Sheffieldadded northumbria close scores - two matches decided on hits and golds
2008-9
League winners : Lancaster Novice League winners : Sheffieldchanged scoring added huddersfield
2009-10
League winners : Sheffield Novice League winners : Sheffieldpoints deducted for losing match results
2010-1
League winners : Keele Novice League winners : Lancasteradded Northumbria, MMU Cheshire structure changed - 13 matches bit of a mess!
2011-2
League winners : Sheffield Novice League winners : SheffieldAdded Sunderland changed structure - 19 matches Shuffle at the top - Michael joined by Lotty and Bethany to fix cracks in organisation
2012-3
League winners : Keele Novice League winners : KeeleLoose Northumbria, add Hull
2013-4
League winners : Liverpool Novice League winners : Liverpoolfirst win for Liverpool Used BUCS as a round Shuffle at the top - Michael moves to President, Bethany becomes organiser
2014-5
League winners : Unknown Novice League winners : UnknownFor the new season, the league has expanded once again, with the long awaited return of Newcastle and welcoming Teeside as a first time entry.
2015-6
League winners : Unknown Novice League winners : UnknownAnother expansion year, with Salford and Central Lancashire (Preston) joining the league. With 16 teams a new structure has been implemented, with the matches arranged within 3 conferences (East, West, and North). As well as the 3 matches each team attends, results from Novice Champs, BUCS and the Indoors count towards the league. Despite the split, there is still only one league table, so there can still only be one winner...