GLASGOW (AFP) - The Scottish Claymores, Britain's leading American Football outfit, have been closed down by the NFL's European arm and are to be replaced by a new franchise that is expected to be based in Germany.
The Scottish team has been part of the NFL's European League since 1995 and had averaged attendances of 10,799 in ten seasons at Murrayfield, the home of Scottish rugby, and Hampden Park, the national soccer stadium.
NFL Europe's managing director, Jim Connelly, said the decision to close down the Scottish franchise had been difficult but inevitable.
"The Claymores have achieved considerable success over the past decade and for any sports team to average close to 11,000 fans per game in this market is commendable," he said.
"But the economics of our league and the interest shown by other cities have forced us to look at whether there are other markets that give us a greater opportunity of improving our business.
"We believe at this time that such an opportunity exists."
If a new franchise is created in Germany it will leave Amsterdam as the only non-German city with a team in the league, clubs in London and Barcelona having floundered over recent years.
The NFL will retain a football development team in Scotland to continue a grassroots programme pioneered by the Claymores, who won the World Bowl in June 1996. They moved to Hampden Park in 2001 and hosted the World Bowl there two years later.