Scottish Claymores The Scottish Claymores were an American football team from Scotland . The franchise played in the World League of American Football ( later renamed NFL Europe ) between 1995 and 2004 , alternately playing home games at Murrayfield Stadium , Edinburgh and Hampden Park , Glasgow . In ten seasons of NFL Europe play , the Claymores reached the World Bowl on two occasions , with victory in World Bowl IV but defeat in World Bowl VIII . Their name derives from that of the Claymore , a double - edged sword historically used in Scottish clan warfare . The Claymores experienced several notable swings in fortune during their ten years . Their World Bowl - winning season of 1996 was the league ' s first worst - to - first turnaround : having finished 1995 with a 2 - 8 record and no wins at home , the 1996 Claymores went 7 - 3 in the regular season and won all their home games . Equally remarkable was the contrast between their first home games of the 2003 and 2004 seasons . In week 1 of the 2003 season , the Claymores defeated the Berlin Thunder 62 - 31 - the highest scoring game in NFL Europe history - but in 2004 their home opener was a 3 - 0 defeat at the hands of the Amsterdam Admirals , tying the record for the league ' s lowest - scoring game . History . In 1992 , the World League of American Football was put on hold by the NFL , with the intention of restructuring the league to become completely European - based . As a result , the three existing European teams in Barcelona , London and Frankfurt survived to be joined by three new teams , and in 1994 it was announced that Edinburgh had been awarded one of them ( along with Amsterdam and Düsseldorf ) . The Claymores were assigned former Arena Football League coach Lary Kuharich to be their first head coach , but just days before their first game against Rhein , Kuharich was dismissed and replaced by former Boise State head coach Jim Criner . 1995 season . The Claymores ' first roster included five players sent to the club from the NFL , including quarterback s Matt Blundin from the Kansas City Chiefs and Lee Williamson from the Houston Oilers ; as with all World League teams , it included 7 " national " players , including wide - receiver Scott Couper . The Claymores played their first - ever game in Edinburgh on April 9 , 1995 , a 19 - 17 loss to the Rhein Fire ( Coincidentally , the Claymores ' three worst seasons ( 1995 , 1998 and 2004 : all 2 - 8 ) would all begin in the same way : with the Claymores falling to week 1 defeat on a missed field goal . In the other 7 seasons , the Claymores started 1 - 0 ) . The team ' s first win came two weeks later , 20 - 14 over the Galaxy in Frankfurt . Six straight defeats followed however , including a 31 - 0 shutout to the Amsterdam Admirals and an overtime loss to the Fire , before winning the final game of the regular season 22 - 9 against British rivals the London Monarchs . The Claymores finished bottom of the six - team division with its 2 - 8 record . Criner used four quarterbacks over the course of the season ; Blundin , Williamson , Terry Karg and a brief outing for Jim Ballard . The team ' s offensive leader was Siran Stacy , who rushed for 785 yards and 5 touchdowns , and caught receptions totalling 324 yards . Allan DeGraffenreid also made 624 receiving yards and four touchdowns . Attendances were around the 10 , 000 mark to begin , but slumped as low as 6 , 800 for the final home game of the season . 1996 season . The Claymores made an aggressive marketing push for the 1996 campaign under new general manager Mike Keller , which even included bringing in former Scotland Rugby union captain Gavin Hastings as a placekicker . Criner ' s 1996 roster featured an increased number of signed NFL players . Quarterback Steve Matthews ( like Blundin , contracted to the Chiefs ) opened the season , but when returnee Jim Ballard showed greater consistency coming off the bench to replace an injured Matthews in week 7 , Ballard would get the nod for the remainder of the season . Starting 1996 where they had left off 1995 , the Claymores opened with an overtime victory over the London Monarchs , followed up with home wins against the Barcelona Dragons ( 23 - 13 ) and the Amsterdam Admirals ( 21 - 14 ) . Despite defeat away to Rhein the 3 - 1 start propelled the Claymores into a mid - season showdown with the unbeaten Frankfurt Galaxy on May 11 , where under WLAF rules the winner would advance to the World Bowl as hosts . A 20 - 0 win meant the championship game was coming to Edinburgh . The Claymores ran out the regular season with a 7 - 3 record to top the division . On June 23 , the Claymores again faced the Galaxy in World Bowl 96 at Murrayfield . The hosts rode three touchdown passes from Ballard to game MVP Yo Murphy and held off a late rally to win 32 - 27 , thus completing the WLAF ' s first worst - to - first turnaround in front of a crowd of 38 , 982 . Siran Stacy was again influential in offense , with a nearly - identical haul to his previous season ' s ; 780 rushing yards and 317 receiving yards , for 9 touchdowns . Sean LaChapelle was a thousand - yard receiver but forced out of the World Bowl with a groin injury , while Yo Murphy managed five touchdowns on the season . On defense , safety George Coghill picked 5 interceptions , one returned for a touchdown . Coghill also forced a Galaxy fumble from the opening kickoff in the World Bowl , with all - round special teams player Markus Thomas returning the spilled ball for a touchdown ; he also led the team in tackles , and caught one pass on offense . Safety James Fuller shared Coghill ' s total of five interceptions , while defensive tackle Jerold Jeffcoat - brother of the Dallas Cowboys ' Jim - had 5 sacks on the season . 1997 season . Scotland ' s 1997 season opened with a 16 - 3 victory in Amsterdam , followed up by back - to - back defeats and closing out the first half of the season 3 - 2 . Two more straight wins improved World Bowl prospects , but a narrow 10 - 9 defeat to the Monarchs in the penultimate week left the Claymores needing a victory in Barcelona against the Dragons - however , they were trounced 46 - 18 and finished the season 5 - 5 , surrendering the second World Bowl spot to Barcelona in the process . Quarterback time was shared between the San Francisco 49ers ' Dave Barr and the Miami Dolphins ' Spence Fischer ( who doubled as occasional punter ) . However , they managed just 4 touchdown passes combined while throwing 10 interceptions and sharing 31 sacks . Siran Stacy completed another 785 - yard rushing season with four touchdowns ; Yo Murphy was the leading receiver with 559 yards and 2 touchdowns ; only he , Scott Couper and Allan DeGraffenreid completeed touchdown passes on the season . George Coghill again led the defense in tackles . 1998 season . A much - changed 1998 roster saw World Bowl - winning quarterback Jim Ballard back in Scotland after missing 1997 ; however , two of the team ' s offensive leaders from the previous year , Siran Stacy , and Yo Murphy , did not return . Jim Criner led his team into the opening game in Barcelona , where kicker Gary Parker missed what would have been a game - winning field goal from 31 yards , the Claymores losing out 19 - 18 . Three more defeats followed in Amsterdam ( 26 - 3 ) , at home to the Fire ( 20 - 10 ) and at the now - England Monarchs ( 14 - 10 ) , with the first win of the season only coming in Week 5 , 30 - 10 over the Dragons . Their 1 - 4 start made World Bowl qualification very unlikely ; their week 6 defeat to the Fire ( perfect to this point in the season ) sealed their fate . The side slumped to bottom of the division , finishing 2 - 8 . The new - lock backs and receivers failed to match previous seasons ' yardage figures ; leading rusher Carey Bender made 441 yards , while Chris Miller topped the receiving statistics with 34 receptions for 527 yards . In total the Claymores managed just twelve offensive touchdowns in ten games , punting the ball 53 times . Off the field , it was a troubled season for Scotland in the now rebranded NFL Europe League , where leaked information that a third German team was to be founded to add to the already successful Fire and Galaxy sparked concerns the Claymores may be closed down ( eventually , it would be the England Monarchs who would be replaced by the Berlin Thunder ) . It was also during the 1998 season the Claymores played at Hampden Park in Glasgow for the first time , a week 8 loss to the Galaxy ( originally , the Glasgow game was scheduled to be the week 10 visit of the Amsterdam Admirals at Firhill Stadium ) . 1999 season . For 1999 , Scotland were allocated Carolina Panthers quarterback Dameyune Craig , who opened the season with a narrow 21 - 20 win over the Rhein Fire , rushing for the winning touchdown himself late in the fourth quarter . The Claymores then hammered the league ' s newest team , the Berlin Thunder , 48 - 14 , Shon Bell catching two touchdown passes from tight - end . An overtime loss to Frankfurt followed ; but by the time Scotland had returned to Frankfurt in Week 6 , winning with a reverse of the 42 - 35 scoreline that the Galaxy had earned in Week 3 , Scotland were 4 - 2 and in contention to reach World Bowl VII . However the team then collapsed to four consecutive defeats , two of them back - to - back against Amsterdam , and finished ahead of only Berlin in the final standings . The side ' s leading rusher in 1999 was Jesse Haynes , with quarterback Craig contributing 50 rushing attempts and 3 touchdowns . Haynes totalled eleven touchdowns , seven rushing and four receiving . Yo Murphy returned to the Claymores with four touchdown catches ( and an 89 - yard kickoff return for a touchdown ) but the leading wide receiver was Donald Sellers , who totalled 931 receiving yards for seven touchdowns . Although the Claymores finished the 1999 season with a losing record , there would still be a historical moment : Craig would throw for 611 yards in the road victory in Frankfurt , a record passing total in professional American football . The helmet and number 2 jersey Craig wore that night are on display in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton , Ohio . 2000 season . The 2000 Claymores were fronted primarily by Kevin Daft ; a 32 - year old Siran Stacy was on the roster for 2000 but had very little playing time . Like previous seasons , the Claymores opened positively with opening wins against Amsterdam and in Frankfurt . A 42 - 3 demolition of the Berlin Thunder sent the Claymores to 3 - 1 , but with World Bowl qualification in the balance , the Claymores strung together three big late - season wins ; with defeat over the Fire at Hampden on June 10 secured a World Bowl finale between those teams . Scotland led 7 - 3 when Aaron Stecker went over with a 36 - yard first - quarter rush , exchanging field - goals for a 10 - 6 halftime lead . Pepe Pearson scored the second half ' s only touchdown for the Fire , leaving Rob Hart to attempt a game - tying field goal with eight seconds left ; it sailed left , and Scotland lost World Bowl VIII in what turned out to be Criner ' s last game as head coach as he would depart for the XFL 2000 was much more successful offensively for Scotland ; Aaron Stecker , an allocation from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers , was the first Scotland running back to near Stacy ' s early - season figures with 774 rushing yards , 276 receiving yards and 11 total touchdowns . Sellers again led Scotland in receiving yards ( 353 , 5 touchdowns ) . Scott Couper caught three touchdown passes ; in total , the Claymores outscored their opponents by 37 touchdowns to 18 . Three Claymores shared a season - leading total of seven sacks ; Antonio Dingle , Michael Mason and Jabbar Threats . 2001 season . For 2001 - the first season under Criner ' s replacement , Gene Dahlquist and the first home campaign that would be played entirely in Glasgow - the new Scotland quarterback was the Dallas Cowboys ' Clint Stoerner ; however offensive leaders of 2000 like Stecker failed to return . Close games were the nature of Scotland ' s early season , trading wins for losses over the opening six games , never by a margin of more than ten points . With the Claymores at 3 - 3 as the season entered its crucial period in June , the 2001 Claymores lost three games on the bounce as their predecessors had won them . A consolation victory against the Fire completed another losing season , the third in five years , 4 - and - 6 . Stoerner completed around 55 % of passes on the season and threw 10 touchdowns , compared to Daft ' s previous - season tally of 24 . His primary target was tight - end James Whalen , a fellow Cowboys recruit , while Dante Hall provided five touchdown catches ; the only other Claymores to catch a touchdown pass were Scott Couper and Gerald Williams . Anothony Gray led the Claymores in rushing at 445 yards and half of the franchise ' s four rushing touchdowns on the year . 2002 season . Another year , another quarterback for Scotland ; their fifth starter in five years was the Detroit Lions ' Scott Driesbach . His season opened well with a 45 - 17 demolition of Barcelona ; Driesbach ' s first play in a Claymores uniform was a touchdown pass to Scott McCready . The win was the only victory of Scotland ' s first four games , as they slumped to defeats of less than a touchdown to Rhein and Frankfurt ( twice ) . Scotland did not contest a game decided by less than ten points throughout the season ' s remainder ; three straight wins took them back to a promising 4 - 3 , but back - to - back defeats against the Berlin Thunder ended World Bowl hopes . Victory in Barcelona - for the first time ever - ended a . 500 season . Driesbach completed just 95 passes all season , and was replaced with James Brown ; totalling just 1518 offensive yards were top receivers McCready and Dondre Gilliam . Scotland ' s rushing game was a one - man show , with # 29 Herbert Goodman making 873 yards and every one of Scotland ' s six rushing touchdowns . To sixteen offensive touchdowns were added three interception returns , including a 69 - yarder by James Rooths . Rob Hart was a perfect 10 - 10 in field goals , sharing kicking time with Scottish - born kicker Lawrence Tynes . 2003 season . For 2003 , Craig Nall was recruited from the Green Bay Packers to play at quarterback ; Scott McCready was one of few players to return for a second Claymores season . An NFL Europe scoring record came with Scotland ' s opening 62 - 31 defeat of the World Bowl champion Thunder . There were four rushing touchdowns for Ken Simonton and a TD catch on return from " retirement " for Scott Couper . Over the next five games , Scotland added just one victory however , and were all but out of World Bowl contention by mid - May Shutting out the Rhein Fire 33 - 0 rekindled hopes , and strong victories over Barcelona and Amsterdam twice brought around a 6 - 4 conclusion , matching the season ' s best ; however , they were denied a spot in World Bowl XI on the tie - breaker of net results with the Frankfurt Galaxy and Rhein Fire , which was increasingly unfortunate as the World Bowl was to be staged at Hampden Park . Ken Simonton resprised Herbert Goodman ' s rushing role , totalling just two yards ( and two touchdowns ) less than Goodman ' s tally . Maurice Hicks received 74 handoffs as well , scoring four rushing touchdowns , including a 93 - yarder . Through the air , Nall ' s best receivers were Edell Shepherd ( 518 yards , 4 touchdowns ) and John Minardi ( 470 yards , 5 touchdowns ) . Ten Claymores caught touchdown passes on the season . TJ Bingham took seven sacks on defense . Dahlquist was fired after the 2003 season , and after the Barcelona Dragons became the second NFL Europe team to be relocated to Germany ( becoming the Cologne Centurions ) their head coach Jack Bicknell stepped into the vacancy . In his single season in charge , the Claymores finished 2 - 8 . 2004 season . 2004 opened very poorly for Scotland , with four consecutive losses to open up the season . Only a 13 - 12 win over the Rhein Fire prevented a first - half shut - out . The same 1 - 4 record was posted for the second half of the season , completing a 2 - 8 season for the third time ( equal worst in the team ' s history ) and failure to qualify for World Bowl XII . Closure . On October 21 , 2004 , NFL Europe announced that the Scottish Claymores would be discontinued in favour of a franchise in a more competitive German market . While Scotland ' s attendance average over their 10 - season history of 11 , 306 was comparable to some Scottish Premier League clubs , teams in Germany were able to consistently bring in more support . Scotland were ultimately replaced by the Hamburg Sea Devils on November 24 for the 2005 NFL Europe season . Despite closing , the Scottish Claymores identity is being maintained to induct players to their Hall of Fame , and as a means for promoting amateur American football in Scotland . Season - by - season . ! Totals | | 43 | | 57 | | 0 Hall of Fame . The Scottish Claymores Hall of Fame inducted new members every year from 1999 to 2006 , except 2005 .