CARNEGIE American Football Club are celebrating after its flag team reached the British American Football League (BAFA) national play-offs for the first time.

The club, which was established in 2014, operates adult and youth full contact teams – the Dunfermline Kings and Dunfermline Saints – as well as the Carnegie Flag side, who play a non-contact version of the game popularised by the NFL.

After making it to the Division One play-offs last year, and winning promotion to the BAFA HNC (Highland North Conference) Premier League, they have now clinched a place at the national play-offs in Manchester for the first time in the club's history, which was confirmed after their final two league games on Sunday.

Wins over Clyde Comets (38-32) and Edinburgh Outlaws (31-20) helped send them on their way, and they will face back-to-back British champions, the Baker Street Button Hookers, on August 17.

The play-offs will feature the country's top eight teams, and on their Facebook page, the club said: "We have know illusions that this will be a tough match-up, and one that no team would like in the first round, but we have nothing to lose.

"We are overall ranked seventh out of the eight teams based on our record, and will be the fourth seed from the north. This gave us the match against the Button Hookers, who are ranked first in the country but also first in the south.

"It's a huge achievement for the club no matter what happens, so congratulations to all the players, coaches, committee, friends, family and followers who have been with us during this journey as a club."

While the flag team are preparing to make BAFA history, the Kings are aiming to touch down in British competition themselves and moved another step closer last Saturday.

They played their first game in the 'associate' application process to join the league for 2020 at their Duloch Leisure Centre base on Saturday, in which they entertained the Inverclyde Goliaths.

The match was overseen by league assessors and, although they were beaten 36-0, the team's Richard Douglas commented: "Going through the process, they are looking to see if you can host and are organised to host league games, and at the number of players.

"The minimum number is 35, but we had 37 or 38 – and that was with 16 missing. To get 37 players shows the club is in a really good position in terms of structure and the number of players.

"They look at teams' attitude, and the referee praised us and said we made their lives easier, so there's a lot of positives to take."

The club are set to play their next two associate games – home and away to the Highland Stags – later this month, and for more information on the club, find them on Facebook or at carnegiefootball.com.