The Queen wasn't the only one celebrating a "Golden Jubilee" during the summer of 2002, as our Week 9 game versus the Berlin Thunder at Hampden saw the Cheddarheads complete the unique feat of attending their 50th consecutive Claymore game together. Shuggie in fact has made 62 straight games to the end of 2002 (and all associated flights whatever anybody might tell you), starting with World Bowl 96 at Murrayfield.

It all started at the beginning of the 1998 season, when we packed our newly painted Cheeseheads and headed up to Luton Airport to catch a flight to Barcelona for the opening game of the season. The omens didn't look when our friend Lesley, who was flying down from Edinburgh, had her flight struck by lightning!

Game 1 in Barcelona 1998 (left) and Game 49 in Berlin 2002 (right) shows that we've not changed much through the years

But when the thunder clouds cleared we took off for Barcelona, albeit a few hours late. Having lost some vital drinking time, we decided to make it up for in grand style when we arrived in our Friday night stop - Calella (the tourist capital of the Costa del Maresme, about an hour north of Barcelona). Heading to a bar Shuggie and Lesley discovered during their World Bowl 97 stay, we were greeted with a hero's welcome by the owners Ralf and Bella. Their German hospitality once again proved near fatal, as we were all woke up the following morning having no idea how we got home and whether we paid the tab! (We had somehow).

Saturday saw us head south of Barcelona, to our favourite destination in these parts - Sitges. This is another Tourist mecca for its great beaches, but it is also a football mecca as the Dragons are housed here (on a beachfront hotel) as well as our good friends John and Montse who run the Sitges Sack fanclub. After, what would become a usual night for us here (Eat at the Sports Bar, Dance at Tito's nightclub, Skinny dip in the sea etc) we headed on up to Barcelona on Game Day to check into the team hotel - The Plaza.

We got dressed up and went down to the lobby to get a pre-game drink. It was there we met FOX's Paul Kennedy and Ray Bentley, who loved the Cheeseheads, and then posed us a question that we hadn't decided an answer for. "What the hell do you guys call yourself?" It was then that we had to make a snap choice between our 2 candidates - "Tartan Cheeseheads" or "Scottish Cheddarheads". Thankfully we chose the latter, and when we mentioned this to STV's Graeme "The Moore Man" Moore later in a bar somewhere, he put it on his game recap on Scottish Television the following week - and our infamy was complete.

With Ray Bentley on the morning of Game 1 - at this stage the brand new Cheddarheads we were wearing had never seen a beer stain!

Of course we lost the game in Barcelona (see Top 5 Heartbreakers), and there would be more losses to come - but it couldn't stop us following the Claymores! Everywhere we went in 1998, fans were great to us, and it just spurred us on to do more. Why else fly back to Barcelona 5 weeks later to watch the Dragons stuff the Galaxy? To do a tripleheader of course! Why else go to Bristol? To watch the Fire kick some English butt, and get the overnight ferry back to Europe with the Fire fans en route to our game in Amsterdam the next day! The 1998 season was full of crazy firsts, and while later seasons tend to blur into each other, each has been tremendous in their own right.

Completing the Tripleheader, Barcelona 1998

1999 saw the Claymores finally blessed with an exciting offense, courtesy of QB Dameyune Craig, and every other week seemed to be a 42-35 scoreline. Lack of defense killed that years team, but in 2000 the arrival of the Hounds of Scotland defensive line changed that, and we barked our way to World Bowl 2000 in Dusseldorf, just falling short in the dying seconds. 2001 saw a new coach, but a tough defense once again - but the failure to win on the road condemned us to another losing season. 2002 has been a typical roller coaster of a season too, with a 3 game losing streak followed by a 3 game winning streak, when the struggling offense finally made some plays. And although another World Bowl berth now looks out of the question, we'll keep following the Claymores for as long as they keep trying to win another Championship or until our bodies just simply pack it in!

We were the first team to play in Berlin in 1999 - we haven't won there since!

1998 Week 7 - Monarchs 24 at Claymores 27
Gary Parker kicks a 21 yard FG with no time left to give the Claymores victory versus the Auld Enemy in their final meeting. It's a tense final 2 minutes. First Parker ties the game with 1:17 left with a 27 yard FG, and then Brad Kenney recovers a fumble recovery by Monarchs QB Josh LaRocca after a Steve Brannon sack. Back-up QB Mark Grieb then leads the team downfield to set up a 27 yard attempt for Parker. But the kick is blocked! However the Monarchs had jumped off side and Parker makes no mistake with his re-take and we win the Scottish Telecom Cup, from which there is much beer drunk from much later this night!

Week 7 1998: Drinking from the Scottish Telecom Cup after beating the Monarchs one final time!

1999 Week 2 - Claymores 48 at Thunder 14
Our first visit to Berlin was most definitely our favourite. Four 1st half TD passes from Dameyune Craig gave us a 35-7 half-time lead (setting the franchise record for points after only 30 minutes). Included in this was a franchise record 86 yard pass play from Craig to Jesse Haynes. The 2nd half was a mere formality and gave us a chance to celebrate our first road win as Cheddarheads, as well as doing some naughty things on German TV. 2 and 0 Baby!

Week 2 1999: Yo Murphy heads in for 1 of 5 first half TD's

1999 Week 6 - Claymores 42 at Galaxy 35
The 611 night. In a game that never seemed like it was going to end, Dameyune Craig sets a professional football record with 611 yards passing - a performance that earns him a display in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. However the Claymores need an interception from Joey Eloms in the dying seconds to seal the win. Jesse Haynes 1 yard TD early in the 4th gives them a 35-14 lead but the Jake Delhomme throws for 2TD's in the 3 minutes to set up a nail biter with 3:12 left. Craig's 5th TD of the night 18 seconds later, 41 yards to Donald Sellers (who set a league record 264 yards receiving on the night) makes it 42-28, but Delhomme hits Mario Bailey for a TD with 1:24 left and then the Galaxy recover an onside kick! Then thankfully Joey stepped up and made his defensive play or this game could still have been playing.

Week 6 1999: Dameyune celebrates 611 yards

2000 Week 8 - Claymores 42 at Admirals 10
Forever known as "The One-Way Game". Game officials decided, just a couple of hours before kick-off, that one end zone at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam was unsafe (the Astroturf covering wasn't gripping in the wet conditions). So they came up with the novel idea of the game being played in one direction (each offense would attack only end zone). This must have inspired the Claymores as they produced one of their best displays, running up a 35-3 halftime lead. In all six different players scored TD's, starting with Scott Couper who hauled in a 5 yard TD from Kevin Daft when the Admirals failed to cover him. Even better was the fact that all the TD's came in front of the travelling support that had 10 yard line seats at the "active" end zone. Ironically Amsterdam closed the scoring with a TD in the "illegal" end zone when Rico Clark picked off a Daft passes and ran it back the "wrong way".

2000 Week 9 - Fire 24 at Claymores 31
A scintillating victory over the Fire that effectively clinched a World Bowl spot for the Claymores. The league's two best teams, led by the two top passers Danny Wuerffel and Kevin Daft, produced a hard fought battle that wasn't sealed until Aaron Stecker squirted in from 3 yards with 15 seconds left. Earlier 2 Daft TD passes to Donald Sellers and Rickey Brady had given the Claymores a 24-13 4th quarter lead, but ex-Claymore Kevin Drake's 2nd TD of the game, plus a Pete Elezovic FG tied the score. After Rob Hart missed a 43 yarder, the Claymores D held with back-to-back sacks by Rasheed Simmons and Noel Scarlett. Then with just seconds ramining, Sulecio Sanford returned the ensuing punt 80 yards to set up Stecker's score. The D was just awesome, holding the league's top offense to just 180 yards, including 7 sacks. However the travelling Fire fans had reason to cheer hours later when the Admirals loss in Berlin clinched their WB berth too. It made for a wild and unforgettable party later that night in Edinburgh's Cambridge Bar!

Week 8, 2000: The Hounds were released on Danny Wuerffel!

(From Week 1 1998 to Week 9 2002)

50 games (with an overall record of 20-30)

Most points for: 48 at Berlin (Week 2, 1999)
Fewest points for: 3 at Amsterdam (Week 2, 1998)
Most points against: 42 vs Frankfurt (Week 3, 1999) and at Barcelona (Week 8, 1999)
Fewest points against: 0 vs Barcelona (Week 7, 2000)