WORCESTERSHIRE Black Knights will be playing competitive American Football for the first time.

They have been accepted into the British American Football Association (BAFA) National League Division Two, South West Conference which begins in April.

“Two years of hard work has paid off and our application for league entry has been successful,” said delighted chairman Si Watten.

“There's been a lot of hard work from the committee and coaching team.

“We still have a handful of players who were at our first-ever taster session in February 2015.

“The process has seen the involvement and support of many people over the period, each contribution being vital for the team’s growth.”

The Black Knights will be facing teams from Bristol, Swindon, Dorset, Torbay and Newquay on a home and away league basis.

They will be playing in a 10-game regular season which will run from April until the end of August.

Rich Smith is the head coach and will be assisted by Andrew Lillington, Stephen Banks, Clive James and Tim Watton.

The Black Knights will be playing their home matches at Kings Norton Rugby Club.

However, they have a strong relationship with the University of Worcester and a host of players from the region.

Ryan Breakwell, Ben Mallinson, Ben Dillon, Matt Clark are among the players from Worcester.

Malvern duo Matt Payne and James Styles are part of the Black Knights along with James Lawrence is from Hereford.

They also have players from Gloucester, Tewkesbury, Evesham, Pershore, Droitwich, Kidderminster, Stourport, Bromsgrove, Redditch, and Halesowen.

Watten said: “We held three taster sessions over the winter and the first one saw 30 new guys attend.

"We are still getting messages from people who want to play.

“We have a great relationship with the University of Worcester and their American Football team, the Royals.

“We share some coaching staff and some of our players coach their team as well.”

Watten added: “For the 2017 season, we will play all our home games at Kings Norton.

“We would love to bring the team into Worcester in the future, however, Kings Norton are very accommodating.

“They know what we can bring to their club and, most importantly, they want us there.”

The Black Knights are on the look-out for new players and sponsors but would like to thank Mode Sports Bar and Grill, McDonalds and WJ Sports Therapy and Fitness for their support.