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First SMOG logo, Nov 2012
SMOG was founded in November 2012 by a group of students at the University of York as an open team. Among these were long time SMOG players Josh Briggs (SMOG's first captain), Max Moseley, Sam Geddes-Smith, and Callum Spiers.
The origin of the name of the group is shrouded in mystery, some accounts say that Briggs had it revealed to him in a dream, only to discover that Moseley had the exact same dream.
There still remains confusion over the correct pronunciation of SMOG - whether smog, smoaj, smoozh, smoog, smurg or another variation. The dreamlike manifestation exacerbates this issue, as neither Briggs nor Moseley heard the name spoken aloud.
Other accounts say that the name was a linking of the early mantra of the group: Sit down, get Mad, Get Off me son, which was in turn derived from a Brodie Smith video https://youtu.be/B68MJATBIqo?t=26
2013
This was the first year of competition for SMOG, which is why the official establishing date is marked as 2013. The first SMOG tournament was Bangor Senseless, in March 2013 (see photo right).
The team competed indoors at events like Lincoln Spirit Derby and Stoke Scooberfest, and showed signs of improvement over the year.
Long time SMOG players like Andy Turner, Jack Chapman and Sarah Donaldson were added from UoY in 2013
The team's first outdoor tournament was Fishbowl 2013, which they won.
The 'OG SMOG kit' was first delivered on 4th February 2013.
First ever SMOG team: L to R Fiona Kwan, Sam Geddes-Smith, Callum Spiers, Max Moseley, Josh Briggs, Mickey Arnold
3rd place at Yindoors, 12th Jan 2014.
Team from L to R: Jules Woolrich, Carlo Conner-Hill, Ben Moseley, Max Moseley, Callum Spiers, Harry Glasspool, Josh Briggs, Sam Geddes-Smith
2014
2014 saw a radical change in SMOG. It was the final year of university study for many players on the team and there was appetite for expansion. The talent pool within the university of York was good, with players like Conrad Wilson and Jools Woolrich soon joining the SMOG ranks, but had been exhausted.
Up to this point, all players on the team were University of York based, but it was decided to add some fellow northern students. Durham students Carlo Conner-Hill, Thomas Bennett and Harry Glasspool were three of the first recruits into the SMOG fold, followed closely by Nick Williams and Alex Mazzon.
2015
This season marked the coming of age for SMOG, and transition into mixed ultimate. Sarah Donaldson put together the first ever SMOG Women's team, competing in the women's division at Yindoors.
There was a SMOG team at Mixed Tour 1 2015 in Cardiff (the first outdoor fully mixed team), despite a number of former SMOG veterans playing on GB U23 Mixed (Moseley, Spiers, Mazzon). That particular tournament was memorable for the appalling playing conditions. SMOG finished 22nd.
The team list might have included: Annie Glasspool, Harry Glasspool, Tom Bennett, Laura Triggs, Lucy Hyde and Andy Turner, but unsure.
SMOG also entered MT2 in Salford in 2015, improving to 21st place.
On 11th March 2015, Josh Briggs wrote The SMOGifesto - a four year plan outlining plans for the club. The document informed the set-up for the 'Modern Era', with the club surpassing many targets. Briggs trialled for Clapham, intending to learn lessons and return that knowledge to SMOG, but as of Dec 2020, he is yet to return in a meaningful capacity.
Photo from 20th Jan 2015, team officially titled 'Smeglettes'
L to R: (backrow) Becca Moremont, Hev, Annie Glasspool, Helen Brooks
(front row) Gemma East, Sarah Donaldson
SMOG 1 at MT3. back row L to R: Sarah Donaldson, Kat Walker, Laura Triggs, Tiffany Anderson, Annie Glasspool, Helena Slater and Jasmin Strickland.
front row L to R: Nick Williams, Andy Turner, Harry Glasspool, Callum Spiers, Tom Bennett, Alex Walsh, Kris Kerswell, Max Moseley, Sam Geddes-Smith
2016 and the start of the 'Modern Era'
December 2015 saw a kit redesign and 2016 brought fresh new attention on outdoor mixed ultimate. This was the first season of open trials, aimed at attracting talent from York, Durham and Newcastle universities, and there was a first and second team.
Callum Spiers and Lucy Hyde (SMOG's first female captain) co-captained this season.
SMOG 1 attended all three mixed tours, finishing 5th at MT1, 10th at MT2 and 4th at MT3 (the first semi-final appearance at Tour).
SMOG 2 were 37th at MT1, 30th at MT2 and were unable to enter MT3 due to lack of numbers.
SMOG 1 also entered UKU Nationals, finishing 5th.
23rd of November, Annie Glasspool gave birth to the first ever SMOGling! James Glasspool has been a SMOG supporter since birth!
2017: Worlds & EUCF Qualification
The second full season in the modern era brought around the possibility for qualifying for the World Club Championships in 2018. It seemed unlikely, as we had finished 5th in the previous season and needed to improve to 1st or 2nd for a guaranteed spot.
Callum Spiers and Lucy Hyde co-captained again this season, with Harry Glasspool joining the leadership team for Nationals.
MT1 saw the first finals appearance of the team, with SMOG 1 losing to a split Black Eagles team to take 2nd place. At MT2, SMOG 1 lost to a Black Eagles team in the semi final on universe point, before finishing 3rd. A disappointing MT3 saw SMOG 1 finish 8th overall.
SMOG 2 finished 26th at MT1, 19th at MT2 and 23rd at MT3.
Both SMOG teams were showing real improvement in results. After cruising through (the UK's first) mixed regionals, despite losing the regionals final to no other than Black Eagles, SMOG felt confident going into Nationals.
In the post season, SMOG Open entered nationals for the first time - finishing 13th.
SMOG 1 finished 8th at the European Ultimate Championship Finals 2017, the club's first appearance at EUCF. We had two big wins against SeE6 and Colorado to start the tournament, before an odd loss to Terrible Monkeys derailed the party bus. A universe win against Sesquidistus led to straight losses against Hassliche Erdferkel, VIF and a final last game against - guess who - Black Eagles, who won 15-13.
SMOG 1 at Nationals 2017 Roster: SMOG 2017
SMOG X Nationals 2017
Saturday - Pool Play
Black Eagles (L) 12-15
Deep Space (W) 15-13
Dublin Gravity (W) 14-9
Pool play went straight into semi finals, so the 15-13 win over Deep Space was a pivotal moment for SMOG. Many of the Deep Space roster had been to worlds previously as part of Cambridge Ultimate, who finished 6th at WUCC 2014. They had the experience, but we had the 15 goals.
Sunday - Semi-final against Glasgow
The winner of this match was destined for the world championships in Cincinnati, as well as going to the final. It was a close match, with hero plays from the Glasgow superstar Fraser MacDonald, coming down to universe point with SMOG on D. SMOG got a turnover from a huck going out the side of the pitch, before dropping the disc in the endzone. Glasgow's next possession saw another throw out of the side of the pitch, which there was a call on. Sideline support saw the call go in SMOG's favour, before Tom Bennett ripped deep to Tessa Hunt and Alex Mazzon of course stole the goal for himself.
Glasgow (W) 12-11
Final against Black Eagles (L) 10-15
We lost to Black Eagles a lot this season, as we struggled to contain their hucking game. They had match ups for us all over the pitch and were probably the better team most of the time.
2018: The World Club Championships & SMOG 2 rising
SMOG added Alexis Long to the leadership trio of Lucy Hyde, Harry Glasspool and Callum Spiers for the 2018 season.
SMOG picked a worlds team (SWOG) and still had a SMOG 2 team. At Mixed Tour, SWOG divided into different teams. At MT1, SMOKE finished 3rd, while MIST finished 8th. At MT2, MIST beat SMOKE in the 5v6 (which was incorrectly reported to UKU) and at MT3, both teams united into SMOG - finishing 4th.
SMOG 2 reached new heights - 17th at MT1, 12th at MT2 and 14th at MT3. This spectacular season laid the groundwork for the successes of 2019, with players like Ivan Mladjenovic, Dom Knight and Hari Tidswell impressing.
MT2 saw the debut of SMOG 3 - a development team lead by some SMOG mainstays!
In the post season, SMOG Open finished 10th at Nationals (improving from 13th) and SMOG Women were unable to enter regionals so couldn't qualify for Nationals.
SMOG's first women's tournament - the XX Factor - was held in May 2018.
SMOG also organised the inaugural SMOG Hat tournament in Didsbury, Manchester to raise money. It was a smashing success, and it hasn't been repeated since.
SMOG 2 at MT2 2018. Back row L to R: Kenn Kurzbock, Dom Knight, Hari Tidswell, Fred Davies, Nick Williams, Ivan Mladjenovic, Ross Nugent. Front row L to R: Ellie, Lizzie Plasom-Scott, Niamh
SWOG at WUCC 2018
Pool Play
Cafe de Luida were second seed in our pool, and Slow White were top seed. It wasn't a huge upset to lose to them. Yanomami finished dead last. We squeaked out a tight win against Mubidisk, involving a final point travel call on a Bennett huck to Tessa Hunt. He replay hucked for the win. The turning point in the campaign was losing to Black Sheep (eventual 43rd place, after losing star player Ben Davies), as that lead to a three way tie, which Mubidisk won and Black Sheep lost.
GBR SMOG 11 - 15 JPN Cafe de Luida
GBR SMOG 15-7 VEN Yanomami
GBR SMOG 15-13 ESP Mubidisk
GBR SMOG 13 - 15 NZL Black Sheep
GBR SMOG 11 - 15 USA Slow White
GBR SMOG 15 - 10 CHI Disco Sour (X) [To get into Championship bracket]
Finishing third in the pool gave us a pre-prequarter just to make sure we earned our way into the championship bracket.
GBR SMOG 7 - 15 USA Seattle Mixtape [Championship Round 1]
This game is on Youtube. Mixtape didn't turn over often, so punished every error. A win against Black Sheep would have put us against Colorado, a German team, who we'd beaten at EUCF 2017, but did finish second place at EUCF. This emphatic loss ended the title hopes, and dumped us into the 16-32 bracket.
GBR SMOG 15 - 13 JPN IKU
GBR SMOG 11 - 15 CAN Banana Cutters
GBR SMOG 14 - 9 JPN Shinsu Loose
GBR SMOG 7 - 6 CAN Battleship
21st Place: 6 wins, 5 Losses
Goals for: 134, goals conceded 133. Goal difference +1.
Spirit score 10.6
Black Eagles finished 12th, losing 15-11 to Mixtape the game after we lost 15-7 to Mixtape. 6 wins, 4 losses.
Reading won SMOG's bracket: finished 17th with 7 wins and only 2 losses, losing to Wildcard in pool play and losing in Championship Round 1 to Marvellous DC (NZ).
Glasgow finished 31st, 3 wins, 6 losses.
SWOG in Cincinnatti 2018. Kit was specially designed for the season by Tom Bennett.
2019: National Title #1, SMOG 2 go to Euros
SMOG Mixed again went with a two team format, under the leadership of Alexis Long and Lucy Hyde.
Mixed Tour saw split teams going ahead again - at Y Ddraig Goch, by MIST won the 10 - 11 vs SMOKE at Mixed Tour 2. At the Grey Towers Of Durham, SMOKE took 3rd and MIST nabbed 6th. SMOG didn't enter a third tour event, as they were tier 2 events.
SMOG 1 won the club's first ever National title in the mixed division, while SMOG 2 qualified for Euros for the first time, with a 3rd place finish. This is the first time a team has sent a first and second team to Euros.
In the post-season, SMOG 1 finished 9th and SMOG 2 finished 11th/12 at Euros. We still hadn't figured out Euros.
SMOG 1 lost pool games to Flow, Salaspils, Ah Ouh Puc Coed and Grut, then beat Leftovers and Die 7 Todsunen twice for 9th place. 3W 4L
SMOG 2 opened Euros with a win against Leftovers, but a universe loss against Disc'over Lisboa led to a 14-12 loss against PuTi. Sunday was a loss to Deep Space, a win over Hassliche Erdferkel, a loss to Die 7 Todsunen and a second win against Leftovers. 3W 4L
The combined forces of SMOG 1 and SMOG 2 at nationals 2019, after SMOG 1 had won the championship and SMOG 2 secured 3rd place.
At regionals, SMOG 1 walked into the final. SMOG 2 faced a tough pool, and ended up beating Cambridge 8-6, Birmingham 10-8 and squeaking out a universe point win against LeedsLeedsLeeds. These huge pool results meant an 11-8 win over Leamington Lemmings sent SMOG 2 to nationals, via a final with SMOG 1.
The final saw a well rested SMOG 1 see off the hard-fought SMOG 2, somewhat anti-climatically.
Regionals Schedule | Nationals schedule
Nationals 2019: SMOG 1 Undefeated
A cruel twist of fate saw SMOG 1 and SMOG 2 begin in the same pool. SMOG 1 won the pool, beating SMOG 2 15-10. The closest game of SMOG 1's tournament was the 12-9 opener against Birmingham. SMOG 1 practically walked to victory in a dominant display throughout the tournament. An unfortunate collision in the final meant a hospital visit and broken wrist for Kim Marsh, plus 20 minute playing delay, but SMOG 1 picked up where they left off with a 14-9 victory over Deep Space.
SMOG 1 12 - 9 Birmingham Ultimate
SMOG 1 15 - 10 SMOG 2
SMOG 1 15 - 8 Cambridge Ultimate
SMOG 1 15 - 4 Guildford (semifinal)
SMOG 1 14 - 9 Deep Space (final)
Nationals 2019: SMOG 2
A true underdog story, SMOG 2 believed when other might have doubted. A repeat win over Cambridge, but a loss to strengthened Birmingham (with a mix of young talent, some of the 2014 national title winners, plus Sion "Brummie" Scone on the team), meant that SMOG 2 started day 2 in 6th seed against PELT (IRE). The 8:45 game was a 15-8 thrashing. This lead to 'the game to go to the game to go', against Guildford. GU were riding high after a universe point win against Reading the previous day, though they had just been smashed by SMOG 1 on Sunday.
SMOG 2 executed brilliantly, with a 15-10 win over Guildford. This meant they were in the Game To Go To Euros. Their opponents, none other than Reading. Reading were previous nationals winners, had been to Worlds the year before and have done consistently well in Europe. Of course, they were no match for SMOG 2, who saw them off handily, 15-11, qualifying for Euros outright!
SMOG 2 13 - 11 Cambridge Ultimate
SMOG 2 10 - 15 SMOG 1
SMOG 2 10 - 13 Birmingham Ultimate
SMOG 2 15 - 8 PELT
SMOG 2 15 - 10 Guildford
SMOG 2 15 - 11 Reading
Katie Ackerley and David Steedman celebrate the winning goal to beat Reading, taking 3rd place at Nationals and guaranteeing a trip to EUCF 2019
2020: The Lost Season
The entirety of the 2020 season was cancelled for the coronavirus pandemic. SMOG managed one training session, in Manchester, under the captaincy of Georgina 'Geegee' Morrison (SMOG's first solo female captain). Social distancing to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 meant one or two regional practices went ahead, but there was no competition.
Tiffany Anderson succeeded Carlo Hill as SMOG's second ever club president.
2021: National Title #2
SMOG Women won the inaugural UKU Women's League.
SMOG 1 won their second UK National Championship title over Deep Space, qualifying for EUCF 2021 and WUCC 2022.
SMOG 2 qualified for xEUCF 2021 and WUCC 2022 with an impressive 4th place finish.
After a club wide vote, SMOG 1 and SMOG 2 declined their xEUCF spots after COVID restrictions made it difficult for UK teams to attend.
All other UK teams aside from Clapham also declined their spots.
2022:
Club captains & SMOG 1 captains Helen Thompson and Tom 'Yellow' Lees.
After electing captains Dylan Spiers and Edd Graham, SMOG 2 renamed themselves to SMOG Rising.
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