Newly elected Eurobowl captain for Team Scotland, BB_Jock today announces his squad of twelve that will lead the charge in Budapest as the quest to win Eurobowl hosting rights continues.
There’s been quite a rapid evolution of approach from long-standing practices where squad places were awarded on performances at Scottish-based tournaments moving towards an application process. Along with the expansion from eight to twelve coaches in the official squad.
Asked about why these changes have been brought in the Captain, Jock had this to say,
“On the change of selection by automatic rights to one of applications there are a number of key reasons for this change. One-day tournaments are limited in showing how ready a coach is to perform at the highest level of the game against some of the best coaches in the world, which forms the majority of tournaments in the Scottish Championship. If we want to compete as a nation at Eurobowl then we need to be encouraging our coaches to seek opportunities to test themselves against strong opposition more regularly at two-day tournaments.”
Moving to applications and the squad of twelve has been heralded by Jock as a key way to engage the wider community and grow the skill-base in the long-term, not just the eight coaches who happened to have been selected to play on the Eurobowl team in any given year. Asked about the applications, how it’s gone and what he hopes to achieve Jock said,
“I’m delighted by the response and I’d like to thank every coach who took the time to put their name forward.
We had twenty-four good applications, with a range of skill and experience across the coaches who applied. The idea is for those who want to get better in the long-term to join in with the official squad to aid their development.
I’m pleased to be launching the Tartan Army for Budapest so that any Scottish coach wishing to go to Europen can do so alongside and with the support of the main squad. Hopefully they’ll benefit from learning from more experienced coaches and having a good time to boot.
The overall standard was high and with the support of the selection committee made up of Purdindas, my vice captain and last year’s Eurobowl captain, Loki - Scotland’s most successful Eurobowl coach and Chris Rafferty, Scottish Blood Bowl Chairman they were on hand to give a different perspective as I devised the make-up of the squad of twelve.
I’m confident we’ve got the depth of experience and skill across a range of good races to go and do the business in Budapest.”

Team Scotland in Athens at Eurobowl XV
Introducing the Scotland Squad
The Eurobowl XVI squad sees a mix of some familiar old faces stepping out of ‘retirement’ and pulling on the Scotland shirt once more alongside four new faces in the squad. Without further ado, let's meet the squad:
Captain - BB_Jock
When he first loaded up BB2 back in 2021 he chose Dark Elfs what with their positional flair appealing to his swashbuckling nature. After a few months of online play a fellow league mate invited Jock to attend Thrud, his first tabletop tournament, in the summer of 2021. He was immediately hooked, which led him onto his second tournament ever, NAFC in 2022, managing a credible 6th place going 5-0-1.
Wracking up other top 10 and top 5 finishes in big tournaments like Waterbowl Jock has established the knack of being on the top tables come round five and six on a Sunday, whilst being exceptionally hard to beat sporting a 12% loss rate in just under 200 matches. As Captain he’ll be looking to lead from the front whilst supporting the squad around him to rise to the challenge.

BB_Jock being presented with League Champion at NAF Champs 2023 by the TO, DeeferDan
Vice Captain - Purdindas
Purdindas, four-time Scotland Captain and most capped Scottish coach comes with a tonne of experience and will be the able right-hand that Jock will rely upon for a sounding board as he settles into his role as Captain. Not only that but his experience will no doubt help the the four new caps settle into the challenge of their first Eurobowl.
Ant has played a myriad of different races, picking up Necromantic in Athens last year. This flexibility of play will be put to good use as the squad looks to understand the nuance of the Hungary ruleset, which has turned the recent tournament meta on its head.

Purdindas - this year's Vice Captain and the glue of the social scene of the team!
The Old Guard - Loki, LordGarlack, Sann0638 and Valen
Loki long-standing Lizard coach and Scotland’s most successful Eurobowl coach in terms of his individual record at Eurobowls over the years has been an anchor coach that the squad often builds out from. He’s been joined by long-standing coaches coming out of ‘international retirement’ and will be looking to turn in another big performance in Budapest.
LordGarlack, multiple Scotland caps under his belt and winner of the 2024 Scottish Championship, NAF Series, was the first name on the teamsheet having gained automatic qualification rights. A quiet, understated coach, who has built his tournament success largely off the back of skillfully piloting Undead - an important race in the Hungary ruleset.
Sann, former NAF President, data over-lord and at one point no #1 Black Orc coach in the world is another coach who’s been round the block as a three-time winner of Thrudball and part of the winning Barbarian squad of the inaugural Home Nations Bowl last year, he is not to be trifled with on the board. He gives the squad a depth of experience and having played all the races his flexibility is going to be an important part of the jigsaw.
Next up, Valen, having played the game for more than two decades, a winner of the major, Chaos Cup in the US (and twice runner-up), four races with 200+ Elo and a granite approach to the game is a welcome return to the Scotland set-up. Whether its the finesse of High Elfs or the brute positional grind of Dwarfs he’ll make a big impact whatever race he lines up with in Budapest.
Middle of the boat - Shriyke and Sporran
Shryike having gained his debut cap in Athens is back for more. Known for his astute Blood Bowl brain he’ll be relied upon for theory crafting and cracking the code of the Budapest ruleset. Equally comfortable on rats or big dinosaurs whatever he takes he’ll bring some swashbuckling to the team and a positive voice in the dressing room.
Sporran, NAF Champion 2022, is a giant of a man on and off the board. Whether it’s his favoured Orcs or Undead he’s a titan of the Scottish game who can always be relied upon to just deliver the results in a pinch. A cracking sense of humour he’s a bright light that adds a lot of fun to the Squad as well a tonne of skill.

Sporran sporting the NAF Championship trophy in 2022
The New Caps - Camelchops, i_done_goofd, Talonbay and VMCat
The squad of twelve is rounded off by four new faces to the Scotland Squad and they’ll be working hard to try and secure a slot in the Eurobowl eight when coaches and rosters will be locked in just after the Home Nations in the summer. First up…
Camelchops has wracked up an 18 game streak without losing and has masterfully cruised passed the 200+ Elo mark on his favoured Skaven into the top ten Scottish coaches using the Danish ranking system. Adept at the one-turn, as you’d hope for in a rat coach, he could easily bring a swagger to the team. Although with a 4-2-0 on Necro at this year’s UKTC there’s a bit of flexibility to Camelchops’ game that could be taken advantage of.
i_done_goofd another new Scotland cap in the making had an impressive 2024 season recording his first NAF win at Dumfries Border Brawl and a series of top five placings in tournaments securing automatic selection from the old Extended Leaderboard system. Adept with Orcs, Undead and a few other races means a positive record from him in Budapest wouldn't be a surprise.
Talonbay played his first NAF tournament way back in the mists of time in 2006 with Wood Elfs. However in 2020 he’s taken a real shine to Underworld delivering the results pre and post-swarming with a win-rate north of 70% on this much maligned race! Underworld have dropped in popularity, but Talonbay is a very capable coach that could see him having snots jumping on your head in Hungary!
Last, but by no means last in the Scotland Squad of twelve is VMCat clocking up a staggering 882 NAF table top games dating back to his first tournament in 2004 over 20 years ago. So it’s safe to say Val’s been around the block whilst last season he maintained an impressive 71% win rate whilst giving up a miserly average 0.58 TDs per game. Like other coaches in the squad adept at many races, but has a penchant for the mighty Chaos Chosen, which could give Scotland a different racial approach to squad building.
In addition to the twelve coaches who make up the official Eurobowl Scotland Squad will be joined in Budapest by a Development Squad captained by Fromherashes who undoubtedly contain the future talent and caps of Scottish Blood Bowl in the Eurobowls to come.
Scotland Squad | |
BB_Jock (c) | Sporran |
Purdindas | Shriyke |
Loki | Camelchops |
LordGarlack | i_done_goofd |
Sann | Talonbay |
Valen | VMCat |
Development Squad | |
Fromherashses (c) | Mr_Frodo |
Veldora | StripeyDave |
Tartan Army | |
TheBunneh (c) | Doogle666 |
Deepfruit | Nobbla |
Fullfatbeard + co. | LewishM + co. |
Other Scottish Coaches Welcome! |
Scotland Squads heading to Hungary for Eurobowl XVI and Europen
How was the team selected?
Often coaches within the Scottish community ask for insight into how the team was selected and there is a lot of curiosity about what it takes for coaches to make the step-up to playing Blood Bowl for Scotland. A detailed answer to these question is for another day, and indeed open analysis of this year’s selection has been promised by the Scotland Captain once the team is up and running.
“I was elected on a manifesto that marked out a clear selection criteria and this will continue to evolve over time. I’m driven by the idea of encouraging all Scottish coaches to improve their game and enjoy the Blood Bowl journey they want to undertake, at whatever level of the game.
If that includes trying to make the grade to represent Scotland at Eurobowl then I and other senior coaches of the community will happily support these endeavours. Once I’ve got the squad up and running my next task is to turn my attention to help Scottish coaches close the gap of their understanding in what it takes to seek, successfully, selection for Eurobowl in Poland in 2026.”
Selection of this year’s squad made use of the widely published Selection Criteria and the quantitative analysis made use of the Scottish Coach metrics tool based off NAF data. (Thanks to Sann for building)
Congratulations to those selected and best of luck to the Eurbowl XVI Scotland Squad
I’m sure the whole of the Scottish Blood Bowl Community will join in the chorus of well wishes and good luck as the Squad now begins its long road of preparation in the lead up to Budapest. There will be plenty of Fumbbl practice matches within the team and against other Eurobowl Squads.
Then there is the highlight of the Home Nations in Loughborough in early July to provide a stiff test and unparalleled opportunity for a competitive practice session against the other Home Nations, France and Italy. By the time the squad is ready to sample their first goulash in Budapest they should be more than ready for the challenge of winning hosting rights for Scotland at Eurobowl XVI.
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