Hertfordshire Cheetahs  The Hertfordshire Cheetahs (formerly the Watford Cheetahs and Chiltern Cheetahs) are an American football team based in St Albans, competing in SFC 2 East of the BAFA National Leagues (BAFANL), with their home games played at St Albans 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 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. 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.