Baseball in the United Kingdom

Baseball is a growing, minor sport in the United Kingdom, with an estimated 3,000 (baseball only) participants in 2011[1] rising to over 22,000 (combined) softball and baseball participants by 2016.[2]

This article is about the New York code of baseball in the UK. For the indigenous sport, see British baseball. For historical use of the term baseball, see Origins of baseball.

Baseball in the United Kingdom
Country	United Kingdom
Governing body	British Baseball Federation
National team(s)	Men's national team; Women's national team
First played	1862
National competitions
British Baseball Federation AAA, AA and A divisions

The sport is governed by the British Baseball Federation, which runs a multi-tier national league. There are also independent regional leagues, and around 20 universities field teams currently in existence. In 1938 the Great Britain national baseball team won the Baseball World Cup, and were runners-up in the 1967 and 2007 European Baseball Championship. As of 2020 Great Britain competed internationally at under 12, under 15, under 18, under 23 and senior levels. The under 23 team placed fifth at the 2019 European Under 23 Baseball Championship.[3]

Despite relatively low numbers of participation in the United Kingdom, there have been a number players to have played in the MLB.[4] Amongst over 90 British and Irish players to have played in the MLB [5] Danny Cox, Lance Painter and Bobby Thomson are notable. Thomson hit the Shot Heard ‘Round the World that took the New York Giants to the World Series in 1951.

A number of high profile MLB players who can trace their ancestry to Britain and who qualified to represent the Great Britain national team despite never residing in the United Kingdom include former British national team coach and Hall of Fame inductee Trevor Hoffman, whose mother was English and whose grandfather was a professional footballer with Southend United.[6]

History

Origins

It is argued that modern ‘American baseball’ can trace its roots to 18th century Britain,[7][8][9] with the earliest known mention and illustration of the game appearing in John Newbery's A Little Pretty Pocket-Book in 1744. The earliest known rules were printed in 1796, in Germany, as "Das Englische Base-ball". For a fuller context of the origins of baseball games in Britain see British baseball.

Although early varieties of baseball may have originated in Britain modern baseball, as Americans would understand it, started to be played in Britain as early as the 1870s and it was fully developed by 1890, when the National Baseball League of Great Britain and Ireland was established. Professional baseball was especially popular in Britain during the 1930s and it enjoyed a heyday before the Second World War, but the outbreak of war led to a decline. Since the 1870’s exhibition matches between American teams have been staged in Britain,[10] culminating in the MLB London Series in 2019, which sold out 120,000 tickets in less than an hour.[11] As a result a number of MLB teams have small but dedicated fan clubs in the United Kingdom.

American influence in the 19th century

In the 1870s, baseball teams from the United States, including the Boston Red Stockings and Philadelphia Athletics, toured the United Kingdom, in an effort to popularise the sport,[12] but with limited success. At that time, John Wisden and Co. were the most famous supplier of essential baseball equipment, "as used by the baseball clubs now in England in all their matches", which shows that organised clubs did exist in England in some form as early as the 1870s.[13] Wisden remains a prominent name in international cricket today.

In 1888 the President of St. Louis, on returning to the United States from their European tour, remarked that "England is now educated up to American sports", and encouraged other American baseball club presidents to continue promoting the game in England.[14] Later in 1888, John Barnes, of the Western League St. Paul club, discussed his plans to travel to England to establish a "baseball syndicate" in London, Birmingham and other large cities.[15]

In 1889 the wealthy Albert Goodwill Spalding used his position as a former star player and as a leading sporting goods supplier to arrange yet another tour of the United Kingdom by American baseball stars including the Chicago White Stockings,[16] building on the earlier tours in the past decades. As with previous tours the cricket establishment of England was used to promote baseball, with the Prince of Wales one of the "very large number of spectators" to witness the game at the Oval,[17] and over 8,000 attended a game at Lords.[18] On arriving at Bristol, Spalding paid tribute to the English cricket star W G Grace,[19] "the best known Englishman in the world".

Derby Baseball Club were one of Britain's leading baseball teams in the 1890s

This tour led to a number of new baseball clubs springing up, such as York Baseball Club, formed at Stotts Refreshment Rooms in Parliament Street as early as March 1889.[20] The most notable of these new clubs was formed 1890, in Derby, as Ley’s Recreation Club, by Francis Ley, a local man who had experienced the game on a trip to the United States. Following their first ever game (as Ley’s Recreation Club) Ley began to appeal for "professionals aged 20 to 25" and "cricketers who can field smartly" to attend Ley's Recreation Centre to form a club, in March 1890[21] and Ley’s Recreation Club became Derby Baseball Club. Despite evidence showing clubs such as York were formed slightly earlier than or at the same time as Derby, Ley erroneously claimed “we were really the first club formed in Great Britain” when discussing Derby in 1890.[22]

Ley, who certainly had “introduced baseball amongst his employees”[23] and was instrumental in providing superb facilities at Derby, was not in attendance in October 1889, when noted supporters of a new National League of Baseball of Great Britain met at the Criterion, London, to formally establish the new baseball association, though he was elected as a provisional officer. Representatives of Preston North End, Gloucester County Cricket Club, Essex County Cricket Club, Staffordshire County Cricket Club, Aston Villa and the National Rounders Association all were represented and elected as officers to the association, with Newton Crane elected to the chair.[23]

The new association quickly moved to establish a headquarters at 38 Holborn Viaduct, London, from where it would agree on and promote a set of rules by which the new National League would be played.[24] By July 1890 it was estimated that there were over 90 baseball clubs in England alone, with Derby Baseball Club being widely believed to be the best professional club in England.[25] Yorkshire proved to be a surprising hotbed of baseball by 1890 when it was reported that “there are more baseball clubs in Yorkshire than in any other county in England.”[26] It was not totally unexpected when the Secretary of Essex County Cricket Club, Mr Betts, resigned his position to take up the role of Secretary of the newly formed Baseball Association of Great Britain, in July 1890.[27]

Aston Villa, now known exclusively as a football club, won the only professional baseball championship in 1890. The competition was hindered by poor weather and disappointing crowds and made a loss for its investors.[28] Aston Villa's win was not without controversy, however, with both Aston Villa and Preston North End being found guilty of cheating during the season.[29] For much of the season Derby Baseball Club did lead the championship, however, pressure from other teams in the league over the number of American players on the Derby team and low attendances led to Derby being expelled before the end of the season, though at the time the club insisted they had ‘retired’ as champions,[30] despite evidence to the contrary.

In response to the accusations against Derby of employing too many talented American baseball players, Ley wrote letters to editors of newspapers to state “Derby Baseball Club is the only one of the four League clubs to have not imported professional players from America” and went to lengths to point out the lack of support Spalding provided to Derby compared to the other clubs, which he was a major shareholder in.[22] Ironically, given the finger pointing at Ley for employing too many talented Americans, of the various American baseball players sent across to coach and play baseball in England, in the 1890 season, the most prominent was arguably Preston North End captain Leech Maskrey, who had played Major League Baseball. In August 1890 the Preston club organised a presentation for their captain, who was returning to the United States.[31] Meanwhile, Spalding turned his attention to establishing collegiate baseball in the United Kingdom[32] with very little success.

In March 1890 Edinburgh Northern Baseball Club began to meet for practice[33] and Spalding’s influence was obvious when The Spalding Baseball Club of Aberdeen sprung to life in July 1890, their headquarters being at 59 Princes Street.[34] By August 1890 the financial backing of Spalding resulted in two local rivals emerging in Aberdeen, the Spalding Baseball Club and Aberdeen Baseball Club, who played at The Links. The two competed for the Spalding 50 guinea Challenge Cup[35] and the right to take on the University Baseball Club of Edinburgh, evidence of Spalding’s desire to establish collegiate baseball in the United Kingdom. Wales, possibly due to the continued popularity of British or Welsh Baseball, was slower to adopt the American game. In April 1893 The Cardiff Central were formed, and claimed to organise “the first game of American baseball played in South Wales.” They were based at Grangetown.[36]

The Golden Age and Postwar Decline

Baseball's peak popularity in Britain was in the years immediately preceding World War II. Professional baseball teams often shared grounds with football clubs and the game was run at a professional standard with up to 10,000 spectators per game. In 1933, in response to a challenge from Major League Baseball’s National League President, John Haydler, the wealthy British gambling tycoon, Sir John Moores, established the National Baseball Association and continued to fund the establishment of amateur and professional leagues in England.

With the golden age, British baseball achieved a major milestone in 1938, with the victory of Great Britain over the United States, in the 1938 Amateur World Series, considered the first World Cup of Baseball. The series was created by Sir John Moores, with the 1939 Amateur World Series competition initially being named the John Moore's Cup.

With the backing of Sir John Moores an England baseball team was given financial support to compete in the 1939 series, in Havana, presumably as defending champions Great Britain. In doing so they would have become the first national representative team to compete outside the United Kingdom[37] but the outbreak of the Second World War interrupted the development of British baseball, the team withdrew and the sport entered into decline. Following the war, in July 1951, Wolsley Athletic (Birmingham) became the first British baseball team to play in continental Europe, in an official game, in Belgium.[38]

British and Irish players in Major League Baseball

Over 90 players born in Britain and Ireland, or who qualified to play for the Great Britain national team, have played in the MLB. This includes players born in Ireland before the partition of Ireland and Ireland ceding from the United Kingdom and players from the Bahamas who qualified through ancestral heritage.

At present

Today, there are 74 active baseball teams, and 1,500 adult and Junior (under 18) players ranging geographically from London to Liverpool, St Austell to Edinburgh. The Junior Great Britain national team consists of 15 players and recently competed in the European championships.

There have been numerous league formats since 1890. The British Baseball Federation (BBF) is the governing body for baseball in the UK and the baseball leagues. The season runs from April until August. Affiliated baseball clubs pay annual affiliation fees to be a member of the BBF and play in the BBF Leagues and Junior Leagues. There are three leagues independent of the British Baseball Federation: the Scottish National League, run by Baseball Scotland; the Northern Baseball League containing mainly teams based in Northern England; and the South West Baseball League, representing all but one of the teams in the South West of England. There is also a full Great Britain Baseball Programme which comprises the Great Britain Baseball Academy,[39] junior national teams and Great Britain 'Seniors' Baseball Team. British national teams have competed in the European Baseball Championships[40] and the World Baseball Classic.[41]

The BBF league format is divided into the national divisions, consisting of four tiers from the National League, down to the Single A league. At the end of the season, all divisions compete in post-season tournaments where the top teams from each conference play knockout matches, with the winning teams then progressing to the Championship Series. The Championship Series of the National League is best of three; the AAA, AA and A championships are single games.

The Independent leagues compete against the teams in their own leagues, and in 2017 the first Independent leagues finals weekend was held at Hull, which consisted of semi-finals between the champions of the Independent leagues and a final held the next day. This was followed by an England v Scotland friendly All-Star game.

Baseball in Northern Ireland is affiliated to Baseball Ireland for practical reasons. Northern Ireland's only team, the Belfast Northstars, play in the Irish Adult League.

British University Baseball has also been growing, with 20 universities with clubs at the end of the 2015/16 season: Cambridge, Coventry, Durham, Edinburgh, Essex, Hull, Imperial, Leeds Beckett, Leeds Gryphons Baseball Club, Loughborough, Manchester Metropolitan University (Cheshire), Nottingham University, Nottingham Trent University, Sheffield, Southampton, Stirling, Swansea, UCL and University of East Anglia. The University season runs from September to May, the typical off-season for the sport. Without a British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) league, teams compete in the National University Baseball Championships (NUBC) tournament, which happens twice a year in the spring and the autumn and is run by BaseballSoftballUK (BSUK). The Spring 2016 Champions are Loughborough, and have won the past 3 NUBC tournaments. Despite not having a BUCS league, a Northern University Baseball League was set up for the 2015/16 season, and is planned to expand and be renamed to the National University Baseball League, and have a similar set up to the BBF leagues.

National Baseball Champions

Season	Winners	Score	Runners-up	Comments
1890	Aston Villa		Preston North End	No playoff
1892	Middlesbrough	25-16	St. Thomas's
1893	Thespian London	33-6	Darlington St. Augustine's
1894	Thespian London	38-14	Stockton-on-Tees
1895	Derby Baseball Club	20-16	Fullers
1896	Wallsend-On-Tyne	16-10	Remingtons
1897	Derby Baseball Club	30-7	Middlesbrough
1899	Derby Baseball Club	14-3	Nottingham Forest
1900	Nottingham Forest	17-16	Derby Baseball Club
1906	Tottenham Hotspur
1907	Clapton Orient	8-7	Fulham
1908	Tottenham Hotspur	6-5	Leyton
1909	Clapton Orient	6-4	Leyton
1910	Brentford	20-5	West Ham United
1911	Leyton	6-5	Crystal Palace
1934	Hatfield	13-12	Albion
1935	New London	7-1	Rochdale Greys
1936	White City	9-5	Catford Saints
1937	Hull	5-1	Romford Wasps
1938	Rochdale Greys	1-0	Oldham Greyhounds	15 innings
1939	Halifax	9-5	Rochdale Greys
1948	Liverpool Robins	13-0	Thames Board Mills
1949	Hornsey Red Sox	10-5	Liverpool Cubs
1950	Burtonwood Bees	23-2	Hornsey Red Sox
1951	Burtonwood Bees	9-2	Ruislip Rockets
1959	Thames Board Mills	12-4	East Hull Aces
1960	Thames Board Mills	6-1	Liverpool Tigers
1962	Liverpool Tigers	8-3	East Hull Aces
1963	East Hull Aces	8-3	Garringtons
1965	Kingston Aces	4-2	Stretford Saints
1966	Stretford Saints	3-1	Liverpool Aces
1967	Liverpool Yankees	4-2	Beckenham Bluejays
1968	Hull Aces	4-1	Hull Royals
1969	Watford-Sun Rockets	8-7	Liverpool Trojans	11 innings
1970	Hull Royals	3-1	Hull Aces
1971	Liverpool Tigers	8-3	Hull Aces
1972	Hull Aces	6-4	Hull Royals
1973	Burtonwood Yanks	23-3	Hull Aces
1974	Nottingham Lions	5-3	Hull Royals
1975	Liverpool Tigers	5-3	Nottingham Lions
1976	Liverpool Trojans	5-4	Spirit Of '76
1977	Golders Green Sox	9-5	Hull Aces
1978	Liverpool Trojans	14-12	Crawley Giants
1979	Golders Green Sox	9-7	Hull Aces
1980	Liverpool Trojans	12-1	Hull Aces
1981	London Warriors	23-1	Hull Aces
1982	London Warriors	16-7	Liverpool Trojans
1983	Cobham Yankees	10-3	Hull Mets
1984	Croydon Blue Jays	9-8	Hull Mets
1985	Hull Mets	10-8	London Warriors
1986	Cobham Yankees	12-5	Hull Mets
1987	Cobham Yankees	6-0	Southglade Hornets
1988	Cobham Yankees	16-1	Burtonwood Braves
1989	Enfield Spartans	15-9	Sutton Braves
1990	Enfield Spartans	22-3	Hull Mets
1991	Enfield Spartans	9–7, 2–4, 4-1	London Athletics	Spartans won 2 games to 1
1992 BBF	Leeds City Royals		Humberside Mets	Awarded championship by walkover
1992 NL	London Warriors	23–0, 5-4	Enfield Spartans	Warriors won 2 games to 0
1993 BBF	Humberside Mets and Chicksands Indians			Title decider not played
1993 NL	London Warriors	2-1	Enfield Spartans
1994 BBF	Humberside Mets	2–3, 10–0, 8-0	Essex Arrows	Mets won 2 games to 1
1994 NL	Enfield Spartans	8-5	Waltham Forest Angels
1995	Menwith Hill Pirates	3–2, 7-6	London Warriors	Pirates won 2 games to 0
1996	Menwith Hill Pirates	14–9, 11–23, 18-12	London Warriors	Pirates won 2 games to 1
1997	London Warriors	11–5, 31-12	Kingston-upon-Hull Cobras	Warriors won 2 games to 0
1998	Menwith Hill Patriots	13–5, 17-15	London Warriors	Patriots won 2 games to 0
1999	Brighton Buccaneers	16-4	Windsor Bears
2000	London Warriors	11-7	Brighton Buccaneers
2001	Brighton Buccaneers	8-5	Windsor Bears
2002	Brighton Buccaneers	5-1	Windsor Bears
2003	Windsor Bears	9-4	Brighton Buccaneers
2004	Croydon Pirates	12-10	Windsor Bears
2005	Croydon Pirates	11–4, 10-9	Brighton Buccaneers	Pirates won 2 games to 0
2006	Richmond Flames	7-11, 8–5, 9-0	Croydon Pirates	Flames won 2 games to 1
2007	London Mets	7–2, 11-1	Croydon Pirates	Mets won 2 games to 0
2008	London Mets	11-4	Richmond Flames
2009	Bracknell Blazers	16-4	Richmond Flames
2010	Richmond Flames	10-1	Bracknell Blazers
2011	Harlow Nationals	13-3	Lakenheath Diamondbacks
2012	Harlow Nationals	6-3	Herts Falcons
2013	Southern Nationals	12-7	Southampton Mustangs
2014	Essex Arrows	5–1, 5-4	London Mets	Arrows won 2 games to 0
2015	London Mets	6–2, 11-2	Southampton Mustangs	Mets won 2 games to 0
2016	Southampton Mustangs	0–1, 7–3, 9-4	London Mets	Mustangs won 2 games to 1
2017	London Mets	15–14, 6-0	Southampton Mustangs	Mets won 2 games to 0
2018	London Mets	16–1, 11-1	Herts Falcons	Mets won 2 games to 0
2019	London Mets	14-4	London Capitals

Championships by Region

Region	Number of championships	Towns/Cities
London	34	London (34)
North West	16	Liverpool (9), Warrington (3), Preston (1), Rochdale (1), Stretford (1)
Yorkshire and the Humber	14	Hull (9), Harrogate (3), Halifax (1), Leeds (1)
South East	10	Cobham (4), Brighton (3), Bracknell (1), Southampton (1), Windsor (1)
East of England	7	Harlow (2), Purfleet (2), Bedford (1), Waltham Abbey (1), Watford (1)
East Midlands	5	Derby (3), Nottingham (2)
North East	2	Middlesbrough (1), Newcastle (1)
West Midlands	1	Birmingham (1)
Scotland	-
South West	-
Wales	-

2019 Teams

Division	Team	City/Area	Ball Park	Coordinates	Founded
National Baseball League
NBL	Essex Arrows	Waltham Abbey, Essex	Townmead Leisure Park	51°40′53″N 0°0′33″W	1983
	Herts Falcons	Hemel Hempstead, Herfordshire	Grovehill Ballpark	51°46′38″N 0°27′35″W	1996
	London Capitals ^LON	Haringey, London	Finsbury Park	51°34′29″N 0°5′57″W	2018
	London Mets	Haringey, London	Finsbury Park	51°34′29″N 0°5′57″W	1988
Triple-A
Triple-A	East London Latin Boys	Waltham Forest, London	Salisbury Hall Playing Field	51°36′19″N 0°1′20″W	2011
	Essex Redbacks	Chelmsford, Essex	Melbourne Park	51°44′57″N 0°27′1″W	-
	Herts Londoners ^HER	Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire	Grovehill Ballpark	51°46′38″N 0°27′35″W	2019
	London Mammoths ^LON	Haringey, London	Finsbury Park	51°34′29″N 0°5′57″W	1988
	Oxford Kings	Oxford, Oxfordshire	Horspath Road	51°44′12″N 1°11′17″W	1999
	Richmond Knights	Richmond, London	Connare Field	51°26′30″N 0°19′19″W	1992
	Kent Buccaneers	Hadlow, Kent	Hadlow Park	51°13′47″N 0°20′12″E	2018
Double-A
Pool A	Bournemouth Bears	Ferndown, Dorset	The Bear's Cave	50°48′14″N 1°54′3″W	2018
	Brighton Brewers	Brighton and Hove, East Sussex	Pavilion Field	50°51′49″N 0°10′11″W	2016
	Bristol Badgers	Keynsham, Somerset	Somerdale Pavilion	51°25′26″N 2°29′50″W	2008
	Guildford Mavericks	Guildford, Surrey	Christs College	51°15′24″N 0°34′42″W	1992
	Herts Hawks ^HER	Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire	Grovehill Ballpark	51°46′38″N 0°27′35″W	1996
	Richmond Dragons ^RIC	Richmond, London	Connare Field	51°26′30″N 0°19′19″W	1992
Pool B	Brentwood Stags	Brentwood, Essex	Warley Field	51°36′25″N 0°17′45″W	1994
	Cambridge Monarchs	Cambridge, Cambridgeshire	Coldhams Recreation Ground	52°12′27″N 0°9′19″W	2011
	London Marauders ^LON	Haringey, London	Finsbury Park	51°34′29″N 0°5′57″W	1988
	Milton Keynes Bucks	Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire	Woughton on the Green	52°1′44″N 0°42′49″W	1986
	Norwich Iceni	Norwich, Norfolk	University of East Anglia	52°36′18″N 1°17′0″W	2017
	Sidewinders Baseball Club	Enfield, London	Enfield Playing Field	51°39′13″N 0°3′53″W	-
Single-A
Central
	Birmingham Bandits	Birmingham, West Midlands	Marston Green Recreational Ground	52°28′0″N 1°44′5″W	2003
	Birmingham Outlaws ^BIR	Birmingham, West Midlands	Marston Green Recreational Ground	52°28′0″N 1°44′5″W	2016
	Cambridge Lancers ^CAM	Cambridge, Cambridgeshire	Coldhams Recreation Ground	52°12′27″N 0°9′19″W	2019
	Cambridge Royals ^CAM	Cambridge, Cambridgeshire	Coldhams Recreation Ground	52°12′27″N 0°9′19″W	2011
	Leicester Blue Sox	Leicester, Leicestershire	Western Park	52°38′11″N 1°11′5″W	2006
	Long Eaton Storm	Long Eaton, Derbyshire	West Park Leisure Centre	52°54′5″N 1°17′33″W	2014
	Northants Centurions	Northampton, Northamptonshire	St. Crispin's	52°14′5″N 0°51′40″W	2013
South A	Bracknell Inferno	Bracknell, Berkshire	Westmorland Park	51°25′47″N 0°43′32″W	1992
	Essex Archers ^ESA	Waltham Abbey, Essex	Townmead Leisure Park	51°40′53″N 0°0′33″W	1983
	Forest Glade Redbacks ^ESR	Chelmsford, Essex	Melbourne Park	51°44′57″N 0°27′1″W	-
	Herts Eagles ^HER	Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire	Grovehill Ballpark	51°46′38″N 0°27′35″W	2019
	Herts Raptors ^HER	Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire	Grovehill Ballpark	51°46′38″N 0°27′35″W	1996
	London Musketeers ^LON	Haringey, London	Finsbury Park	51°34′29″N 0°5′57″W	1988
	London Mustangs ^LON	Haringey, London	Finsbury Park	51°34′29″N 0°5′57″W	2019
	Richmond Dukes ^RIC	Richmond, London	Connare Field	51°26′30″N 0°19′19″W	1992
South B
	Brighton Jets ^BRG	Brighton and Hove, East Sussex	Pavilion Field	50°51′49″N 0°10′11″W	2016
	Guildford Millers ^GUI	Guildford, Surrey	Christs College	51°15′24″N 0°34′42″W	1992
	Kent Buccaneers (Rookies) ^KEN	Hadlow, Kent	Hadlow Park	51°13′47″N 0°20′12″E	2018
	Kent Mariners	Aylesford, Kent	Cobdown Park	51°17′57″N 0°27′21″W	-
	South Coast Pirates	Hastings, East Sussex			2018
	Tonbridge Bobcats	Tonbridge, Kent	Deaconsfield	51°11′53″N 0°16′4″W	-
	Tonbridge Wildcats ^TON	Tonbridge, Kent	Deaconsfield	51°11′53″N 0°16′4″W	-
Regional – Northern Baseball League (Non-BBF)
AAA	Cartmel Valley Lions	Cartmel, Cumbria	Cartmel Priority School Field	54°11′49″N 2°56′56″W	1993
	Liverpool Trojans	Sefton, Merseyside	Bootle Stadium	53°27′13″N 2°58′25″W	1946
	Nottingham Rebels	Nottingham, Nottinghamshire	Rebels Field	53°0′56″N 1°11′59″W	2010
	Sheffield Bruins	Sheffield, South Yorkshire	Thorpe Green Park	53°20′12″N 1°21′17″W	2018
AA	Halton Robots of Doom	Runcorn, Cheshire	John Mills Ballpark	53°18′52″N 2°40′11″W	2019
	Harrogate Tigers	Harrogate, North Yorkshire	Tiger Field	54°0′1″N 1°31′16″W	-
	Hull Scorpions	Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire	Eastmount Recreation Centre	53°46′50″N 0°16′30″W	-
	Liverpool Twojans ^LIV	Sefton, Merseyside	Bootle Stadium	53°27′13″N 2°58′25″W	1946
	Manchester A's	Wythenshawe, Manchester	Wythenshawe Park	53°24′14″N 2°17′18″W	1947
A
	Manchester Bee's ^MAN	Wythenshawe, Manchester	Wythenshawe Park	53°24′14″N 2°17′18″W	1947
	Newcastle Nighthawks	Newcastle, Tyne and Wear			2017
	Sheffield Bladerunners	Sheffield, South Yorkshire	Thorncliffe Recreational Ground	53°28′22″N 1°29′1″W	1985
	Sheffield Bladerunners II ^SHF	Sheffield, South Yorkshire	Thorncliffe Recreational Ground	53°28′22″N 1°29′1″W	2019
Regional - Scottish National League (Non-BBF)
SNL	Aberdeen Express	Aberdeen, Scotland	George W. Chalmers Field	57°157105"N -2°082094"W	2019
	Edinburgh Cannons	Edinburgh, Scotland	Bobby Thomson Field	55°57′51″N 3°12′3″W	2010
	Edinburgh Diamond Devils	Edinburgh, Scotland	Bobby Thomson Field	55°57′51″N 3°12′3″W	1985
	Edinburgh Giants	Edinburgh, Scotland	Bobby Thomson Field	55°57′51″N 3°12′3″W	2010
	Glasgow Comets	Glasgow, Scotland	Tolcross Field	55°51′1″N 4°10′46″W	1997
	Glasgow Galaxy	Glasgow, Scotland	Tolcross Field	55°51′1″N 4°10′46″W	1997
	Granite City Oilers	Aberdeen, Scotland	George W. Chalmers Field	57°157105"N -2°082094"W	2013
Regional - South West Baseball League (Non-BBF)
North	Bristol Bats ^BRS	Keynsham, Somerset	Somerdale Pavilion	51°25′26″N 2°29′50″W	2013
	Bristol Buccaneers ^BRS	Keynsham, Somerset	Somerdale Pavilion	51°25′26″N 2°29′50″W	2019
	Cardiff Merlins	Cardiff, Wales	Pontcanna Fields	51°29′37″N 3°12′4″W	2018
	Weston Jets	Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset	Hutton Moor	51°20′39″N 2°57′6″W	2018
Central	Exeter Spitfires	Exeter, Devon	Chadwick Field	50°42′26″N 3°26′26″W	2000
	Taunton Muskets	Taunton, Somerset	Muskets Field	51°0′38″N 3°4′14″W	2014
	Yeovil Whirlwinds	Yeovil, Somerset	Johnson Park, Yeovil	50°57′19″N 2°39′8″W	2019
South	Cornish Claycutters	St. Austell, Cornwall	St Mewan School Field	50°19′55″N 4°48′56″W	2017
	Newton Brewers	Bishopsteignton, Devon	Michaels Field	50°31′16″N 3°35′44″W	2015
	Plymouth Mariners	Plymouth, Devon	Wilson Field	50°22′51″N 4°8′58″W	2000
Regional - West Midlands Baseball League (Non-BBF)
WMBL	Stourbridge Titans	Stourbridge, West Midlands	Gibson Field	52°28′3″N 2°7′15″W	-
	Wolverhampton Baseball Club	Wolverhampton, West Midlands			2019
	Worcester Sorcerers	Worcester, Worcestershire	Merlin Field	52°11′18″N 2°13′46″W	2019

^BIR Affiliate of Birmingham Bandits ^BRG Affiliate of Brighton Brewers ^BRS Affiliate of Bristol Badgers ^CAM Affiliate of Cambridge Monarchs ^ESA Affiliate of Essex Arrows ^ESR Affiliate of Essex Redbacks ^GUI Affiliate of Guildford Mavericks ^HER Affiliate of Herts Falcons ^HUL Affiliate of Hull Scorpions ^KEN Affiliate of Kent Buccaneers ^LIV Affiliate of Liverpool Trojans ^LON Affiliate of London Mets ^MAN Affiliate of Manchester A's ^RIC Affiliate of Richmond Knights ^SHF Affiliate of Sheffield Bladerunners ^TON Affiliate of Tonbridge Bobcats

See also

• British Baseball Hall of Fame
• Baseball awards#United Kingdom
• Baseball awards#Europe
• British Baseball

References

1. Palmer, Brian (10 August 2011). "Why Are They Using Baseball Bats Instead of Cricket Bats in the U.K. Riots?". Retrieved 4 October 2016 – via Slate.
2. "Number of baseball and softball players in Britain reaches all-time high". Baseball Softball UK. 18 May 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
3. Morosi, John Paul (5 March 2020). "Classic, London Series growing game in UK". MLB. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
4. Katz, Gregory (27 June 2019). "Baseball hasn't taken off in Britain, despite deep roots there". Global News. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
5. Lynch, Steven (9 April 2013). "Britain's Baseball Stars". ESPN. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
6. Bloom, Barry (22 September 2016). "Hoffman honors British ties as coach". Retrieved 31 July 2020.
7. Hooper, Simon. "Did baseball begin in 18th-century England?". CNN. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
8. agencies, By Telegraph staff and (11 September 2008). "Major League Baseball told: Your sport is British, not American". Retrieved 4 October 2016.
9. "BBC NEWS - UK - England - Surrey - Baseball's UK heritage confirmed". Retrieved 4 October 2016.
10. editor, Lucy Sherriff Multimedia; UK, The Huffington Post (19 June 2015). "MLB Players Want To Come And Play Baseball In London. So Why Don't They?". Retrieved 4 October 2016.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
11. Waldstein, David; USA, The New York Times (26 June 2019). "Baseball in London? It's a Real Thing, Even When the Yankees Aren't Visiting". Retrieved 14 July 2020.
12. "American Baseball Players". The Buckingham Express. 8 August 1874. p. 6.
13. "Cricket, Football and Baseball". Sporting Life. 5 September 1874. p. 4.
14. "Circular Notes". Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News. 10 March 1888. p. 6.
15. "Sporting Notes". Rugby Advertiser. 10 November 1888. p. 3.
16. "America's National Game: Baseball Players on Tour". Sporting Life. 13 February 1889. p. 5.
17. "Baseball in London". Eastern Morning News. 13 March 1889. p. 3.
18. "Baseball". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. 14 March 1889. p. 8.
19. "The American Baseball Players". Yorkshire Evening Press. 16 March 1889. p. 4.
20. "A Baseball Club for York". York Herald. 30 March 1889. p. 16.
21. "Wanted". Derby Daily Telegraph. 26 March 1890. p. 3.
22. "Sports and Pastimes: Notes and Gossip". Lancashire Evening Post. 13 July 1890. p. 4.
23. "A Baseball Association Formed". Derby Daily Telegraph. 10 October 1889. p. 3.
24. "Baseball in England". Sporting Life. 4 December 1889. p. 7.
25. "Baseball". Dundee Evening Telegraph. 2 July 1890. p. 3.
26. "Odds and Ends". Dundee Evening Telegraph. 16 July 1890. p. 3.
27. "Cricket". Cricket. 17 July 1890. p. 10.
28. Kendrick, Mat. "Aston Villa: The day the claret and blues won the baseball league". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
29. "The Baseball Championship: Aston Villa the Winners". Sporting Life. 3 September 1890. p. 1.
30. "Derby Baseball Grounds: Notice". Derby Daily Telegraph. 4 August 1890. p. 3.
31. "The North End Baseball Team". Preston Herald. 27 August 1890. p. 5.
32. "Baseball Team to Visit England". Pall Mall Gazette. 28 February 1890. p. 4.
33. "Baseball in Edinburgh". Edinburgh Evening News. 5 May 1890. p. 3.
34. "The Spalding Baseball Club". Aberdeen Press and Journal. 12 July 1890. p. 3.
35. "Baseball in Aberdeen". Aberdeen Press and Journal. 5 August 1890. p. 3.
36. "Local Sporting Notions". South Wales Echo. 15 April 1893. p. 2.
37. "England Baseball Team to Tour". Leeds Mercury. 30 July 1938. p. 11.
38. "Short Jabs". Sunday Mirror. 22 July 1951. p. 16.
39. "MLB - Baseball in Europe is about to take off". Espn.com. 13 September 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
40. Sulat, Nate (26 July 2013). "Why isn't baseball more popular in the UK?". BBC News. Retrieved 4 October 2016 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
41. "Inspire, develop, perform: Unheralded British baseball chasing history". ABC News. 24 September 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2016.

External links

• BBF (British Baseball Federation)
• Great Britain National Baseball Team
• Project Cobb, the Project for the Chronicling of British Baseball.
• Great Britain Baseball Scorers Association, the home of baseball scoring in the UK.