The big freeze has been and gone. All that maths is finally over, and the invitations to the 2026 WFTDA European Championships in Namur have been sent. Between now and the first whistle on June 12th, we are going to be shining a spotlight on the incredible Euro Derby Dozen who will be descending on Belgium. In absolutely no particular order, this series will break down the strategies, the identities, and the unsung heroes of Europe’s elite, hearing from the skaters themselves.

Next up in the Spotlight Series, we are turning our sights to a squad of apex predators ready to pounce on the competition and, for this writer, their story starts right on my old doorstep. Growing up in Penarth, my childhood bedroom overlooked Cogan (now Penarth) Leisure Centre. It’s the exact spot where I first fell in love with sports, and it just so happens to be the very venue where the Tiger Bay Brawlers play today. Watching the team from my old backyard step up to the biggest stage in Europe is a brilliant, full-circle moment.

Welsh powerhouse Tiger Bay Brawlers are prowling into the European Championships carrying a ferocious combination of wild energy and a joyful connection to the sport. Forget the calculators and the quiet plotting; they are locked in, stalking their prey, and are ready to remind the continent exactly why they should be feared.

Here is the essential intel on the Brawlers from the Bay:

Home City: Cardiff, Wales

Euro Seed: #10

Sanctioned Form: L – W – L – L – W

Team Colours: Orange and Black

Vibe: Athletic. Focused. United.

Instagram: @tigerbaybrawlers

Strategy: Ambush Tactics at EuroClash

If you want to know what kind of competitive instincts Tiger Bay possesses, you only need to look at the high-pressure, unpredictable environment they navigated at the end of March. Coming off an incredibly taxing year, heavily compounded by the physical and financial demands of the Roller Derby World Cup, Brawlers took a massive leap. Entering with fewer sanctioned games to protect their WFTDA GPA, the team banked everything on a do-or-die run at the EuroClash tournament in Newcastle.

Survival Instincts

That lack of a safety net quickly became a reality on the track, turning the weekend into an unforgiving proving ground. They opened with a massive 246-78 victory over Bear City, but the physical toll quickly mounted. They lost veteran core blocker Dos Santos to a nasty injury on Saturday, and by Sunday, they were skating without star jammer Geordie. 

Yet, an apex predator is never more dangerous than when it takes a hit. Despite the hits to their roster, they bounced right back from a tough Lomme loss to decisively defeat the tournament hosts, Newcastle (154-115), before dragging Göteborg into an 11 point nail-biter of a game (117-128).

“Euroclash was an incredible opportunity for us to experiment and see where we can develop our plays ready for Euro Champs,” the team explained.

That intense expedition into the derby wilderness has heavily influenced their preparation for Namur, shifting their focus to pure unit cohesion. 

“We’ve spent a lot of focus on togetherness, on track and syncing up our derby brains via footage review,” they noted.

Photo Credit: Life thru Argo’s Lens

Identity: Dynamic Joy

Do not mistake their playful nature for a lack of competitive bite. A team that is having fun is a team that is playing loose, fast, and completely without fear. When recently reflecting on their journey to the European Championships, the team made their current priorities crystal clear, reminding everyone that they aren’t machines built to satisfy an algorithm.

“Our biggest lesson has been remembering to have fun,” the team shared. “We play for the love of the sport and spending time with our team mates, so we want to live in the moment and enjoy the experience together.”

This joy translates directly into a fierce track identity: 

“Fun, dynamic roller derby! Finding the fun in the game with different play styles and strategies to keep things fresh and exciting.” 

A team that is constantly shifting their style is a beast that is virtually impossible to lock down into a predictable rhythm.

Unsung Heroes: Award-Winning Depth

While Tiger Bay humbly claims that “Tiger Bay is full of heros” and that it “would be impossible to pick just one,” the individual accolades they took home from EuroClash prove this roster is loaded with top talent.

If you want to beat the Brawlers in Namur, you have to find a way past the claws of Nuke, who took home Best Blocker at EuroClash. You have to outpace Crash Landers, who secured Best Jammer with MVP level numbers. You have to outlast the marathon-runner stamina of Plant, and somehow outmaneuver Tournament MVP Captain Evans.

You can’t just try to cage a single star skater; you have to be prepared to survive an ambush from all 15 tigers on this roster. 

Photo Credit: Paul Jones Photography

Past Hunts: Postseason History

If you want to understand how this team operates, you have to look at their track record. Tiger Bay’s history at WFTDA’s highest levels is a story of patient stalking and explosive strikes.

Early Years (2013–2017): Tiger Bay spent these years prowling the perimeter. They steadily climbed the global rankings but just missed the strict playoff cutoffs of the Division 1 and 2 era.

2018 Continental Cup (Birmingham): This was their breakthrough ambush. Making their first ever WFTDA postseason appearance, they made it count by going home with the Bronze Medal. After taking down Central City, they suffered a loss to eventual champions Kallio, but roared back to defeat Dock City Rollers in a thriller for third place.

2019 Continental Cup (Helsinki): Entering the jungle as the #7 seed, they faced a tough first round rematch and fell to Dock City. Unfazed, they moved into the consolation bracket and hunted down Dublin Roller Derby for a decisive victory to end their tournament on a high.

2020-2023 Hibernation: That which we do not speak of.

2024 Europe Regional Championship (Malmö): Brawlers re-emerged from the brush. Competing in the newly structured regional format, they traveled to Sweden as the #9 seed and locked claws with Antwerp. While a tough opening loss sent them to the consolation bracket, they proved their resilience by immediately bouncing back to hunt down Helsinki in a decisive victory.

2026 Euro Champs (Namur): Now, the squad is ready for postseason hunting. Qualifying this time as the #10 seed, they are returning to the stage hungry and ready to claim their territory.

Namur Forecast

While they are focused heavily on their own united front, Tiger Bay’s synced-up derby brains will be closely analysing the bracket alongside the fans. When asked what games they are most hyped for, they pointed straight to a potential rumble in the jungle…

“Barcelona v Helsinki,” they immediately highlighted. “These teams are close to us and we’ve faced off against both in incredibly tight games, so it’s going to be a great watch. Both teams are so strong, it’ll be a nail biter for sure.”

Think You Can Predict the Chaos?

Fancy a bracket brawl? The Euro Derby News Prediction Hub is officially open for business!

We’ve partnered with Challonge to bring you an ad-free platform to test your derby knowledge against the rest of the community. Because we love the wild unpredictability, we’ve opened the entire postseason slate at once.

You can lock in your picks for every bracket right now, but don’t wait too long, brackets lock automatically the moment the first jam of Game 1 starts.

Will you bet on the heavy favourites, or will you bank on untamed, wild-card teams like Tiger Bay to shred the bracket?

ENTER THE EDN PREDICTION HUB HERE

Pack is here!

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Don’t forget, we’re on Instagram too! Follow us @euroderbynews for live highlights and behind-the-scenes action.

Euro Champs are just around the corner, and you won’t want to miss a second of the chaos!

The big freeze has been and gone. All that maths is finally over, and the invitations to the 2026 WFTDA European Championships in Namur have been sent. Between now and the first whistle on 12 June, we are going to be shining a spotlight on the incredible Euro Derby Dozen who will be descending on Belgium. In absolutely no particular order, this series will break down the strategies, the identities, and the unsung heroes of Europe’s elite, hearing from the skaters themselves.

To kick things off, it felt only right to start with a roster that is synonymous with postseason chaos. When we think of a bracket challenge, we immediately think of Antwerp Roller Derby in 2019, stepping onto the track at the Continental Cup and blowing out 95% of the community’s brackets in the very first hour of the very first day. We were there for that serious 9am wake-up call in Helsinki! So…if anyone knows how to shatter expectations on the big stage, it’s Antwerp One Love.

While a 5 game losing streak might rattle some rosters, Antwerp has spent the spring willingly throwing themselves at Europe’s absolute top teams. They aren’t sweating the WFTDA maths, point differentials, and bubble battles, Antwerp has been playing the long game.

Here’s the essential intel on Belgium’s bracket-breakers:

Home City: Antwerp, Belgium

Euro Seed: #7

Sanctioned Form: L – L – L – L – L

(Note: Only higher ranked opponents)

Team Colours: Black and Pink

Vibe: “One Heart, One Team, One Love”

Instagram: @antwerp.rollerderby

Strategy: Depth over Desperation

Antwerp played the WFTDA rankings game with clinical precision this season. Instead of scrambling for incremental ranking bumps, they recognised their safety early on and chose the hardest path possible to forge an unbreakable roster.

“We have some real smarty pants on the team who know all about rankings and GPAs, so we have known for almost a year that our invitation to the post-season was safe and almost impossible to change.”

Facing the reality of the WFTDA algorithm, they noted, “We can’t even climb the rankings unless we go out for 4 to 1 score ratios at every game.” So, what’s a team to do in that situation? Plot yourselves a brutal, intentional gauntlet, of course!

“Instead, we decided the best thing to do was to use this time to develop our roster as deep as possible. We have played nothing but teams in the top 6 this entire time to achieve that goal.”

This means the team arriving in Namur is battle-tested from top to bottom.

“We may have some clear bright lights on our team, but we have ensured that no matter how deep we go in our roster, every single one of us is capable of shining.”

Photo Credit: Marije

Proof is in the Pack

If you want to see exactly how committed they are to this strategy, you only need to look at their late-season schedule. Following an incredible showing at the Super Seven weekend against European heavyweights Crime City and Paris, Antwerp took their roadshow across the Channel to Manchester.

On 19 April, with the ranking freeze already in the rearview mirror and their Namur spot secure, they didn’t coast or rest up. Instead, they squared up against two of the UK’s most formidable rosters in sanctioned WFTDA play.

Taking on both London Brawling (85-191) and the powerhouse that is Rainy City (59-265) in a single day is a test most teams would actively avoid once the maths is done. But for Antwerp, going toe-to-toe with the #1 and #6 was never about the final score; it’s all a testing ground to ensure their deep roster is ready and fully prepared for Namur.

Photo Credit: samantha.creates.stuff

Identity: Tactical Evolution

Antwerp’s signature strength is their impressive adaptability and collective derby brain. They have explicitly shifted their focus away from just physical dominance.

“ARD is all about evolving in ways that go beyond the gym or the track.”

Their secret weapon heading into Championships is their analytical prowess.

“We have been working more on our intangibles this last year than ever before. All of our skaters are experts in opponent analysis, execution of a long list of different strategies, and finding that slight tweak that will help the entire team succeed as a group.”

On top of that tactical edge, ARD is anchored by a massive structural upgrade on the sidelines.

“You’ll also find that One Love finally has a dedicated Bench Crew. Our bench coach has their own strengths in analysis and strategy creation and is also one of our trainers.”

To execute this seamlessly on the track, they rely on super unique auditory cues:

“Dark Pistol’s voice singing ‘Continue’ and ‘CawCaw’ cuts through all the other noise without being aggressive.”

Unsung Hero: Rose Well

If you are looking for a skater to fear on the track, keep your eyes peeled… if you can.

“Don’t sleep on Rose Well. Rose is fast and a great communicator, darts back and forth between offence and defence, and is a real threat when she takes the star. People don’t seem to mention her, but it’s probably because they can’t see her; she’s so FAST!”

Photo Credit: samantha.creates.stuff

Namur Forecast

Antwerp isn’t interested in playing favourites or predicting matchups; they are bringing a terrifying focus to the tournament.

“We love absolutely everyone, but we are 100% focused on being the team giving you the games you want to see.”

They leave the WFTDA community with one final, chilling reminder for anyone doubting their seeding:

“We know that we are up against some pretty big odds. But we would like to remind you that we have broken brackets before and we are ready to do it again.”

Think you can predict the chaos?

Speaking of breaking brackets, the Euro Derby News Prediction Hub is officially open for business! We’ve partnered with Challonge to bring you an ad-free platform to test your derby knowledge against the rest of the community.

Because we love the chaos, we’ve opened the entire post-season slate at once. You can lock in your picks for every bracket right now, but don’t wait too long – brackets lock automatically the moment the first jam of Game 1 starts.

Will you bet on the heavy favourites, or will you bank on teams like Antwerp to detonate the bracket once again?

ENTER THE EDN PREDICTION HUB HERE

Final note – Our new home

You may have noticed things look a little different around here. We have officially made the move away from Substack for two very simple reasons.

Firstly, in the whirlwind of the derby season, it’s one less platform for our small team to manage, allowing us to focus entirely on the coverage you care about. Secondly, we believe in being intentional about where we host our community; while many digital platforms have their pitfalls, some are “necessary evils” we have to endure to stay connected – but others can be avoided. We’ve chosen to avoid this one, and we’re excited to keep the conversation going here on our own terms.

For our current subscribers, rest assured that you have all been safely migrated to this new space, with all personal data protected in full compliance with GDPR requirements. Moving forward, our email list will remain the very first place to get the news, followed by highlights on Instagram, and finally a full release on the website.

Thanks for sticking with us as we grow!