Scottish coaches at the NAF World Cup V in Alicante, September 2023
The Road to Athens begins here for Scotland as Purdindas, Scotland Captain, announced his coach line-up this weekend for the Scotland Bloodbowl team due to represent the nation next September in Greece at Eurobowl X.
The team sees three old-hands in the squad with plenty of experience; Purdindas gaining his seventh cap whilst Loki and LordGarlack will both be gaining their fifth cap in the Scotland jersey.
Purdindas has announced Loki as the team’s vice captain and with an impressive Eurobowl record of 13-6-5 Loki is going to be a dependable anchor for the team to build results from.
Asked what the aims were for Scotland at Eurobowl Ant had this to say,
“First and foremost, fun. It goes without saying it's about the team enjoying the special occasion that Eurobowl is and meeting and playing top coaches from all over Europe. After that the ambition is naturally to do the best that we can, with the objective of winning hosting rights for Eurobowl. It would give me, and I’m sure the whole Scottish Bloodbowl community immense pride, to play host to the premier Bloodbowl team tournament in 2026.”
Looking at the rest of the team there will be three coaches newer to Eurobowl in terms of caps each having previously gained their first cap in Malta; MarkyMarc, Phil78 and Sporran. Marc, or McNaughton as he’s more commonly known, is a seasoned traveller having played his Bloodbowl in Cardiff, Berlin and Bilbao to mention a few tournament hotspots. He was part of a Scots team that came runner up at UKTC in 2023, so knows how to turn on the style in a team tournament setting. He’s also comfortable playing an array of races so when it comes to picking who plays what he’ll offer the captain a welcome level of flexibility. Phil is a seasoned veteran of nearly 400 NAF games of Bloodbowl and whilst Malta was his first Eurobowl cap he has appeared at two previous Euro Opens in Cardiff and Porto as well as the Dornbirn World Cup so he’ll know what to expect. A noted woodies coach he could be the tip of the spear that goes hunting for wins.
Sporran, Kris, a relative newcomer to Bloodbowl, but he’s got a notable feather in his cap. Taking orcs he was crowned the 2022 NAF Champion in Nottingham. Bringing home the title from ‘The Wimbledon of Bloodbowl’ is no easy feat when over 300 coaches regularly vie for one of the four majors. Whether it’s the green skins or those of a more ghoulish disposition, Sporran offers a solid option in the middle of the team.
Finally there are two debut caps for BB_Jock and Shriyke. Jock burst onto the tabletop scene in 2021 having picked up Bloodbowl 2 on Playstation for a fiver. His first tabletop tournament was Thrudball in August 2021 and it wasn’t long before he racked up notable finishes; sixth in his first NAFC (the year Sporran won), the League Champion (second) at NAFC in ‘23’ and fourth place finishes at Waterbowl and Thrudball this season. Jock also pipped Sann to top Scot at the World Cup in Alicante this year with a 6-2-1 record so more of this in Athens will be a welcome addition to enhance the team's overall prospects. Asked for his reaction on being selected Jock said,
“I’m thrilled and honoured to have got the nod from Ant to be one of the two new caps on the squad and it will be a very proud day when I get to pull on the Scotland jersey in Athens. I love to compete and I'll be busting a gut to keep my end up for my team mates. Being in the mix with some of the best coaches in Europe will be a weekend to remember - I just hope we can do well enough to bring Eurobowl home to Scotland in 2026!”
Shriyke, Callum, the other debut coach also started playing his first tabletop tournaments in 2021 and is comfortable in a team-setting having played at UKTC twice and two winning appearances in the Dundee Doubles as well as a third tournament win. With just under 100 NAF games he’ll be keen to bring his previous consistency of results to the team in Athens.
So Scotland will go to Athens next September with arguably one of its strongest ever squads with the ambition of making the Scottish Bloodbowl community proud whilst trying to win hosting rights for Eurobowl 2026. Only time will tell if that’s the case, stay tuned for updates on the Road to Athens!
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