American football was introduced to the United Kingdom during the early part of the 20th century by American servicemen stationed in the country. The first recorded match took place on 23 November 1910 at Crystal Palace, London, where a team made up of the crew from USS Idaho defeated their counterparts from USS Vermont 19–0. During the Second World War, matches were played by American and Canadian servicemen stationed in the UK at venues throughout the country. This included the 'Tea Bowl' game played at the White City Stadium in 1944, and this was followed by the creation of the United States Armed Forces Europe (USAFE) league in 1946. This league consisted of teams from American military bases throughout Europe, with one of the league's three conferences made up of teams based in the UK – teams from this conference won the league championship thirteen times until the competition ceased in 1993.

The first teams open to British players were established in 1983, and competition began the following year in the form of a series of one-off games. The match results were compiled into a 'Merit Table', with teams playing more than three games eligible for the championship—the first champions were the London Ravens, who won all ten of their matches. Hundreds of clubs have since been formed, playing both full contact football and flag football at senior, university and youth level. Many of these clubs have since folded, renamed or merged with other local teams, but a few of the older clubs survive today.

The sport is administered by the British American Football Association (BAFA), with two main bodies of competition; the BAFA National Leagues (BAFANL) and the British Universities American Football League (operating as part of the British Universities and Colleges Sport competition).

National Football League As part of the NFL International Series, the National Football League, which otherwise has all of its teams resident in the United States, has one team with a permanent part-time residence in the UK.

Team Location Term Frequency Jacksonville Jaguars Wembley Stadium, Wembley, London 2013–2020 One game per year Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London 2021–present

The league also plays neutral-site games in London under the International Series banner. Since 2007, these have all been at Wembley Stadium; in 2019, the neutral-site games moved to the new home of Tottenham Hotspur.

BAFA National Leagues The BAFA National Leagues (BAFANL) was formed in 2010 by the BAFA in response to the British American Football League's decision to split from the governing body.

The senior league's membership comprises 68 teams based in towns ranging from Newquay in the south of England to Aberdeen in Scotland. The league is split into two regional conferences; the Southern Football Conference (SFC) and the Northern Football Conference (NFC). The teams within each conference are spread across three tiers with promotion and relegation between each level. The bottom two tiers are further divided into regional conferences. The top-ranking teams in each division compete in playoffs culminating in divisional finals—the championship game contested by the top Premier Division teams is known as the BritBowl. The 2017 champions are the Tamworth Phoenix, who defeated the London Blitz 34–28 in the final held at the Sixways Stadium.

In addition to adult contact football, the BAFA runs youth, junior and women's contact football, and also flag football across all age ranges. A number of the teams within the league operate teams across two or more of these competitions. The British American Football Association defines the age ranges used within the league as follows:

Designation Ages (contact) Ages (flag) Adult 18 and above 16 and above Women 17 and above 16 and above Under 19s 16 to 19 — Under 17s 14 to 17 17 and below Under 12s — 12 and below

+ Key*Team competing in the BAFANL's Adult Contact League (2020 season)