1992: The Bristol Aztecs Youth American Football Team was formed

1993: YKL Southern Conference 4-3*
A strong Aztecs Team made the playoffs this season, beating Gloucester Gladiators, Cardiff Mets home and away, splitting the series with Southern and losing to Bournemouth twice. The team came from behind to win their first playoff game before drawing a Northern team in the next round and lack of finances meaning having to forfeit. Nevertheless a great season.
Graduated Players still on an active Aztec Roster: Jamie Wilkinson

1994: YKL Southern Conference 4-4*
The Aztecs Youth team had preseason coaching issues, having to part company with new Head Coach Joe Pike, Joe Brooks was brought in as the new Head Coach but there were problems with registration and the team was forced to merge with local rivals the Gloucester Gladiators. The joint team managed to put together an even .500 record and clinched playoff qualification with a home victory over Bournemouth. The team traveled to eventual winners Birmingham Bulls, where they went down 60-18 against a team stacked with superstar talent.
Graduated Players still on an active Aztec Roster: Ben Herod

1996: Youth Flag 1-5
The Aztecs Youth team was reformed after a year in the wilderness. Steve Jones took up the job as Head Coach after coming from basketball. A small advert in the paper sparked some interest and the core of the team was formed. The team went 1-5 in their first flag season, a learning curve for all involved.

1997: Youth Flag 5-1*
The rookie team had developed, and went 5-1 in the '97 season. The team qualified for the playoffs and won through the first round. The second round of the playoffs happened to coincide with a local school geography trip which meant nine starters were unavailable. The plucky "second team" fought hard, eventually losing 26-14.

1998: YKL Southern Conference 4-4
The team decided to go kitted in 1998 and (re)joined the Youth Kitted League. A 4-4 season was a great result for the developing team, only losing in close games and just missing out on playoff competition. Unfortunately the core group of players had now become too old for youth football and the team was shelved until 2001.
Graduated Players still on an active Aztec Roster: Matthew Dyke

2001: BYAFA Southern Conference 0-4
A year that began with such promise with new Head Coach Bob Turner being appointed, seemed to be destined to fail. A dispute with Coach Turner led to him parting company with the organisation and the defection of part of the team to the new Bath Cardinals who wouldn't play their first league game until 2003. The team struggled through the winless season, battling especially hard against PA Knights and London Blitz. The team managed to get ahead by halftime in 3 of the 4 games, only for fatigue of the small squad to eventually lose the games for them.
Graduated Players still on an active Aztec Roster: Tom Proctor

2002: BYAFA Southern Conference 0-4
The Aztecs Youth struggled in 2002 with erratic player turnout, often struggling to get the minimum 12 players to a game. The results although spirited showed this. A 30-12 loss to eventual champions Southern Sundevils was probably the highlight of the season, with the Aztecs leading the game 12-0 going into the 4th quarter and managing to stop this pass oriented team completing from completing a pass all game. The core of the team was strong, including Great Britain players Proctor, Stobie and Olly Barrett, 2002 was going to be seen as a stepping stone for the future development of the team.
Graduated Players still on an active Aztec Roster: Matthew Barrett

2003: BYAFA Affiliated 2-1
The Aztecs Youth team scheduled a rebuilding year, determined to get a successful programme off the ground after two tough winless years in league competition. A new coaching staff was brought in, spearheaded by Bullets HC and former nineties Aztecs Youth HC Steve Jones. Steve brought with him Matt Dyke as Offensive Coordinator, Paul Dolan as RBs coach and Lee Richards to help with the Defense. The results spoke for themselves. The first outing was a 56-0 away trip to Kent Brewers, also an affiliated team. The Aztecs Youth then took on Army Academy team, and league side Harrogate Hawks, who they disposed of just as easily 54-0. Unsure about how good they really were, the team decided to test themselves against a combined London Blitz and London O's team. It was a really tough battle and the Aztecs Youth fell 22-12, but proved they were good enough to compete with the best, the only real difference being the London team's Team Europe tailback, Lennox Johnson. The Junior team (13-15) had an equally tough battle in their first EVER fixture, losing 26-21 to the London Allstar team.
Graduated Players still on an active Aztec Roster: Craig Wilkinson

2004: BYAFA Southern Conference 5-1 Southern Conference Champions
After the passing of Bristol Youth's and University Head Coach Steve Jones ex Bristol Aztec Youth and Adult player Ben Herod took the reigns as Head Coach of the Youth Team. Retaining the services of Offensive Coach Matt Dyke and several key players from the year before the youth team re-entered the league. Their squad size had grown from 11 to 50 in one off season and re-entering the league meant the start of a rivalry between the Aztecs and the Bath Cardinals. Bristol opened their season well with solid wins against the London Blitz away (with a winning 30 yard field goal from Lewis Nixon in the pouring rain) and Kent Exiles before dropping a home game to the Bath Cardinals 11 - 8 thanks to a 54yard field Goal by Bath Kicker Chris Hunt (now an Aztec Adult player) but with a score called by on a dubious call their was a lot of belief in the squad that they could beat Bath in the re-match. One week after the loss Bristol traveled to the Cardinals home ground and showed that they were for real and posted a 25 - 5 scoreline becoming the first team to stop the Cardinals from scoring a touchdown in their short league history. The Aztecs rounded out the season by doing the double over both the London Blitz and the Kent Exiles to take the Southern (English) Conference Crown. In the National Play-offs they met Bath again and this time could not match the form of the earlier meeting thanks in part to not having played a game for 5 weeks and lost out to the eventual 9on9 kitted National Champions the Bath Cardinals. The largely rookie team had the largest number of players selected to the National Youth team that year though with 10 players being selected (10 of them pictured). Players selected were: Nick Shotten Gayle, Kris Hodges Peck, Jeff Gill, Lewis Nixon, Adam Stenlake, Rich Sutherland, Oliver Barratt, Rob Hardy, Graham Einfelds, Ed Collins.
The team's offense scored more points in the regular season than any other team whilst conceding fewer than any other. The leagues top scoring offense and stingiest defense were not enough to progress to the National Final though.
Graduated Players still on an active Aztec Roster: Oliver Barrett, Rob Hardy, Nick Shotten Gayle (NSG), Graham Einfelds

 

2005: BYAFA English Conference 7-1
For the first time in 10 years the National Youth League went back to 11 man football and the Aztecs Youth Team's defense of their crown started well. Coach Herod had added long time friend and ex London Blitz Head Coach Damon Kirby to his coaching staff as assistant Head Coach and retained Coach Dyke for another year. Coach Kirby came to the club with a wealth of youth footballing experience including National Youth Titles in the 90's as Head Coach of the Farnham Knights. A forfeit from London O's followed by a win against neighboring Bath and wins against Milton Keynes and Kent put Bristol in the driving seat. The Youth League was once again a two horse race with London hot on Bristol's unbeaten start to the season. When it came time for London and Bristol to meet for the second time London ran out easy winners thanks to speedster running back Devar Gayle. Bristol finished the season without dropping another game doing the double over Milton Keynes, Kent and local rival Bath. The Aztecs ended up losing their divisional crown to London O's on points difference and went into the play-offs awaiting the rematch with the team from the Capital. Once again the Aztecs youth team fell one hurdle short with a loss in the National Semi Final once again to the Eventual National Winners the London O's Youth.
Again the youth team had the largest number of players selected to the National Team and this time 3 coaches as well in Head Coach Ben Herod, Damon Kirby and Adam Stenlake (who assisted as a coach at just 18 years old). Other players selected were Laurence Cull, Alex Taylor, Tom Wallis, Nick Proctor, Stef Williams, Nick Rogers (Captain), Eric Bruce, Ben Cooper, Anthony Lartey, Liam Miller, Mike Brookes, Olly Skuse.
Graduated Players still on an active Aztec Roster: Anthony Lartey, Nick Proctor

 

 

 

2006: BYAFA English Conference 8-0 English Conference Champions, National Bowl Runners Up
The most successful season in youth football for the Aztecs did not start well with the news that long time Offensive coach Matt Dyke had to leave the club to concentrate on his role as Bristol Bullets Head Coach (a move that paid off well for the Bullets with a National Title under Coach Dyke in 2007). Assistant Head Coach Damon Kirby took over the Offensive play calling and Cliff Wallis came on board to run the Special Teams. The defending National Champs the London O's had changed their name to the Warriors but still forfeited the first game of the season to the Aztecs giving the team a 1-0 start again without playing a game. This year though the Aztecs would remain perfect all the way to the National Final. Tough double wins over the Farnham Knights and Tamworth followed by solid home wins against Essex and Kent put the Aztecs back in the play-offs as the number one seed and saw them retake their crown as English Conference Champions from the London Warriors. In the National Semi Finals this time they cruised into the National Final with a crushing win over the Clyde Valley Hawks. Awaiting the Aztecs in the Final was hot favourite the London Warriors. Many had predicted the Warriors would win by more than 20 points. Despite the Aztecs having the leagues stingiest defense once again the London Warriors were posting scores of over 40 points on every team they played. The Aztecs matched up well in what was called the best youth final ever eventually losing out in overtime 20 - 14. This was not the last game for the Aztecs Youth Team though as they had been invited to play a special exhibition game against the winners of the Scottish Division the Glasgow Tigers at Don Valley Stadium before the Adult National Final. The Aztecs romped to victory putting behind their narrow loss to the London and finishing the season with 10 wins. The season also finished with the good news that Ben Cooper, Adam Stenlake, Oliver Skuse and Eric Bruce were called up to the NFLE Trials along with ex Aztecs Youths Rob Hardy and Anthony Lartey. Eric Bruce and Anthony Lartey progressing through the first round of trials.
Graduated Players still on an active Aztec Roster: Joey Dawson, John Ngwenya, Mitch Turner, Eric Bruce, Adam Stenlake, Liam Miller, Toran (Ty) Williams, Tom Johnson, Oliver Skuse

 

All Aztec Youth Graduates still on an Aztec Roster:
Joey Dawson, John Ngwenya, Mitch Turner, Eric Bruce, Adam Stenlake, Liam Miller, Toran (Ty) Williams, Tom Johnson, Oliver Skuse, Anthony Lartey, Nick Proctor, Oliver Barrett, Rob Hardy, Nick Shotten Gayle (NSG), Graham Einfelds, Craig Wilkinson, Mathew Dyke, Ben Herod, Matt Barrett, Tom Proctor, Jamie Wilkinson