Watford Cheetahs The Watford Cheetahs ( formerly the Chiltern Cheetahs ) are an American football team , based in Watford competing in Division 2 East of the BAFA Community Leagues ( BAFACL ) , with their home games played at Fullerians Rugby Club . The senior team was first formed in 1986 and entered senior competition the following year , making them the third longest continuously competing team in the United Kingdom behind only the Birmingham Bulls and Glasgow Tigers . During their history , the Cheetahs have reached the Divisional Playoff final on three occasions in 1997 , 2004 and 2005 . The Early Years ( 1986 – 1989 ) . The Chiltern Cheetahs were formed in the summer of 1986 by a group of friends based in Amersham , Buckinghamshire . With some outside help , the team developed and they played their first friendly on 30 November 1986 — a 0 – 9 defeat to the St Albans Kestrels played at the home of Chesham United football club in front of 1800 spectators . A further three pre - season matches were played after the New Year ; an 18 – 6 win against the F14 Tomcats , a 41 – 2 win against the Bristol Blackhawks , and a 34 – 9 win against the Chiltern Panthers . After these pre - season successes , they entered league competition in the summer of 1987 , competing in the Capital League ' s County Division . They finished with a record of seven wins and three defeats , narrowly missing out on the playoffs . The Cheetahs moved to the British National Gridiron League the following year , but were affected by the loss of their two American coaches . Despite one team in their division being banned from competition and two teams pulling out before the season began , the Cheetahs struggled throughout and lost all six of their games . They performed slightly better in 1989 despite losing more players , winning three out of their ten games . 1990 – 1995 . The following season , the Cheetahs were moved to the Southern Conference of the BNGL ' s Premier Division , but they struggled once again , finishing bottom of the four - team group with just two wins out of ten . This resulted in the Cheetahs being relegated to Division One , where they were assigned to the East Midlands Conference . They moved home once again , playing their games at Newlands Park College in Chalfont St . Giles . They began the season with two ties away from home , before narrowly losing their first home game against the Stratford Tempests due to alast minute field goal . Two further defeats were followed by three successive victories , with the Cheetahs eventually finishing fourth in the group . 1992 saw them winning six of their games , again narrowly missing out on a playoff spot . Their first real success came in 1993 . After appointing a pair of new coaches , the team won all but one of their games to win the First Division South Central Conference , claiming their first ever conference title and qualifying for the playoffs . They were drawn at home to the Weymouth Renegades , whom they beat 15 – 8 with their three running backs each getting over 100 yards . In the quarter - final , they travelled to the Hereford Chargers — after conceding 22 points in the first quarter , they were unable to recover and ended up losing 15 – 22 . The following year , the Cheetahs switched over to the newly formed British American Football Association ( BAFA ) league . They were assigned to the Division 3 Midlands Conference , which also contained the Cambridge Cats , Colchester Gladiators and Norwich Devils , with their home games against the Gladiators and Devils being their only two wins that season . The following season also saw them struggle , with two of their three wins coming as the result of the London Mets forfeiting their games . 1996 – 1997 . 1996 saw the Chiltern Cheetahs celebrating their tenth anniversary with a friendly match against the visiting Hamlen Dragons — the Cheetahs defeated their German opponents 60 – 0 . The team were moved to the newly - formed British Senior League , where they played in the Division 3 Midlands Conference . Although they finished the season with five wins and five defeats , they recorded a number of individual records — quarterback Rob Suttling became the first Cheetahs player to pass for more than 1000 yards in a season , and safety Jay Rayner recorded nine interceptions , the highest total in Division Three . The following year was one of their most successful . After a good start followed by three consecutive defeats , a run of five wins saw the Cheetahs finishing second in their group and qualifying for the playoffs for only the second time in their history . An away win against the Leicester Huntsmen was followed by a 26 – 16 home win over the Yorkshire Rams in the semi - final , a result secured by two interception touchdowns . The team then travelled to play the Division 2 playoff final at the Saffron Lane stadium in Leicester against the Bristol Aztecs , a team who had only conceded 32 points all season , with the Aztecs winning 6 – 27 . Compared with 1997 , the next few seasons were unremarkable with the Cheetahs generally finishing in mid - table . 2004 – 2005 . It wasn ' t until 2004 that they again experienced success , when they finished top of Division 2 South East with ten wins out of ten . This meant they finished at top seeds in the entire division , and so were assured of home draws . A 30 – 6 win over the South Wales Warriors in the quarter - final was followed by a 34 – 6 semi - final win over the Sussex Thunder . This set up their second playoff final , this time played at the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield in front of 1440 spectators . However , they were unable to finish the season with another win , losing 16 – 32 to the Doncaster Mustangs . Despite losing the final , the Cheetahs were promoted to Division 1A of the British American Football League . After winning their first match against the Southern Sundevils , they struggled at this higher level and only managed to win one more of their games , ultimately finishing third out of four teams in their group . However , this was still enough to gain a wild - card slot in the playoffs and they made the most of this opportunity , defeating the Staffordshire Surge and the London Blitz to gain a place in the final for the second successive season . As with their first playoff final eight year before , they played the Bristol Aztecs and lost only by a single touchdown . 2006 – 2007 . They didn ' t recover from this and lost all ten games in the following season , only managing to score 32 points . They were therefore relegated back to Division 2 , where they played the 2007 season in the South East Conference at their new home in Watford . They continued to struggle , winning only two of their ten games . Watford Cheetahs ( 2008 – present ) . In 2008 , the team were renamed the Watford Cheetahs and were reassigned to the Eastern Conference , where they finished with a record of two wins , seven defeats and one draw . 2010 . 2010 was an eventful year for the Cheetahs . Drew Anderson was appointed as Head Coach , numerous adjustments and new arrivals made it a busy off season , including the Cheetahs being transferred to the BAFACL Division 2 West . The pre - season began with two scrimmage games v . London Blitz and Cambridgeshire Cats . They began the 2010 League campaign 3 - 0 with consecutive wins away from home including a thrilling 27 - 14 win against the Cornish Sharks . Three consecutive defeats then followed , twice against the Berkshire Renegades and an unfortunate defeat away to Hampshire Thrashers , which made the Cheetahs 3 - 3 . Two thrilling come - from - behind home wins v . Gloucester Banshees and runaway divisional leaders Hampshire Thrashers , which gave the Cheetahs a chance of sneaking into the playoffs . A devastating 35 - 13 loss at home to Milton Keynes City Pathfinders put paid to any Cheetahs playoff hopes and the season ended with another home defeat to Cornish Sharks . The Cheetahs finished the season 5 - 5 and 3rd position in the division . 2011 . 2011 was another eventful season for the Cheetahs , the club celebrating their 25th Anniversary , with more several comings and goings in the Playing Roster and Coaching staff . Linebacker Jamie Brown was installed as the team ' s new Defensive Co - ordinator and a partnership on Offense between retired Kicker Douglas Andrews and Quarterback Martin Brown , after the departure of previous coach Adrian Stemp . Brown became the team ' s new starting QB ahead of the established Paul Symonds , who took the opportunity of also playing Wide Receiver as well as Quarterback after recovering from an arm injury sustained the season before . Backup Quarterback Nik Maxey , who once played for the Great Britain Crusaders ( Under 18 ) and Bulldogs ( University ) teams would also take a more active coaching role as the 2011 season unfolded . Head Coach Drew Anderson announced towards the end of the season that he would step down to become the head of BAFA ' s Community Football scheme . Before the 2011 season kicked - off Cheetahs formed a partnership with the University of Hertfordshire Hurricanes team , culminating in two scrimmage games to help prepare the Hurricanes for their winter football season . So successful were the games that several players , led by former Cheetahs Linebacker Richard Ward returned and brought a few Hurricanes players with him to play for the Cheetahs in the 2011 season . The club also announced that they would form a Youth Kitted team with help from the local youth and community authority . Before the season kicked off proper in April , the Cheetahs were transferred back to the Eastern Conference of BAFA ' s Community League to be reunited with their old rivals from Kent , Norwich , Bedfordhire , Essex and Milton Keynes , who themselves spent a season with the Cheetahs in the West Conference joined them back in the East . The season began with the team away from home against the Bedfordshire Blue Raiders in which the Cheetahs shut - out their Bedford - based rivals 15 - 0 . Another shut - out in the following game , which would be the team ' s 25th Anniversary Game at home v a severely depleted Norwich Devils with the Cheetahs thumping the Devils 37 - 0 . The Devils announced shortly after that they could not continue playing for the remainder of the season which meant the Cheetahs had an extra win under their belts , albeit by default . A history - making third shut - out in succession happened in the next game away in Kent against the Maidstone Pumas . The Cheetahs destroying their opponents 61 - 0 . This made the Cheetahs 4 - 0 for zero points conceded , ahead of what would be the most testing time of the Cheetahs ' season . The Cheetahs themselves would suffer a shut - out themselves in the following game away against the Kent Exiles . The Cheetahs , failing to move the ball effectively at a drizzle - soaked Crockenhill suffered an 18 - 0 loss in what was the Conference - topping game . A bruising 31 - 20 loss against a physical and much improved Milton Keynes City Pathfinders team pushed the team further out of the Playoff picture with the season record standing at 4 - 2 . The following game , the Cheetahs bounced back at home at a sweltering Fullerians with temperatures well in the 1980s against the table - topping Essex Spartans in which the Cheetahs ran out 19 - 6 winners . A close , and unfortunate defeat away at Milton Keynes by 20 - 16 would ultimately crush the Cheetahs ' post - season Playoff hopes . The Cheetahs exacted revenge against the Exiles in the return - game at home by 23 - 14 which saw the game suspended temporarily in the 4th Quarter by a brief thunderstorm . The final home game then saw the Cheetahs thump Bedfordshire by 43 - 6 . The Cheetahs finished the 2011 season with their first winning season since their 10 - 0 season in 2004 with a record of 7 wins for 3 losses and 0 ties , and the fourth lowest points - conceded in the entire division . Logo & Uniforms . Uniform . The team has worn the colours of Gold and Black ever since the club ' s inception in 1986 , given that the Cheetah is of a golden colour fur plus the fact that the clubs founders were passionate fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers , hence why the club calls its primary colour " Steeltown Gold " . The uniform mainly consisted of yellow / gold jerseys with black numbers and sleeve stripes with black pants and white socks with a white road jersey . Due to budget reasons some of the early uniforms and the uniforms from the 1990s and early 2000s ( decade ) were mixed together with the black " CHEETAHS " type appearing on the back of the some jerseys as well as the front . It wasn ' t until 2004 that the Cheetahs invested in a new , striking uniform made by UK - based Rhino Sports . This was in a lighter shade of gold and included the Chiltern logo on the left shoulder and had a more fitted look and feel . This coincided with the two most successful seasons in Cheetahs history , making an appearance in two Bowl games as well as their least successful season in 2006 . The move to Watford meant that the Cheetahs had to update their uniform . This would be made by Rhino again and was of a stronger material , the Chiltern logo omitted for obvious reasons and was of a darker , more amber looking colour . The Cheetahs next major investment came in 2011 with a much more dynamic , striking design made by Alpha Performance , the jersey was much more fitted , the main body was of traditional airtex material with professional - looking tackle twill numbering . Gone however were the two black sleeve stripes , which formed part of the Cheetahs uniform since the very beginning . Logo . Ever since the club was formed in 1986 , the Cheetahs have always used the picture of a cheetah in some form . Not much is known about the very earliest logo but the main one which was used until 2008 consisted of an aggressive cheetah ' s face surrounded by a " C " for Chiltern . As was the case with the uniform , the move to Watford meant that the current logo was no longer viable so the club changed the logo to a more modern , dynamic side - on Cheetah head which was formally introduced on the Cheetahs ' helmets in the 2011 season .