In 1993 Master’s student Ben Rainbow founded an Ultimate Frisbee Team based at Manchester Metropolitan University. The team became known as Fingers 6 Steps Ahead of Our Minds, or Fingers 6 for short, the name originating from the title of a song by the never-popular free-noise group Truman's Water. Rejected names included 'Bullet Baxter', 'Flaky Pastry', 'Turnip Farm' and 'Finn Family Moomintroll'.
Fingers 6 rapidly became a successful team, finishing 7th in the UK's Indoor Nationals competition in its second year of competition, thanks to the enthusiasm and commitment of the players, and the coaching of two greats of UK Ultimate, Doug Milne and Harry Golby.
By 1995, most of the students who had formed the majority of the first Fingers 6 cohort had graduated. At the team's Annual General Meeting that year the decision was taken that Fingers 6 should remain as the ongoing University team, and a new team of graduates and friends was formed. At a subsequent meeting the team was christened Chevron Action Flash, after a song by the never-popular indie pop outfit Comet Gain. Rejected names included 'Meat Meat Meat and Meat' and 'Vidéo Bébé'.
Chevron has continued ever since. Based in Manchester the team ethos has been to focus on playing with the kind of people the players want to hang out with, and to strive to reach the highest level of ultimate possible. 90s rivalries with Catch 22, UTI and Shotgun Wedding gave way to more recent struggles against Clapham, LeedsLeedsLeeds, Fire of London and Fusion. Chevron has finished each of the last nine domestic seasons as one of the top five teams in the UK. Chevron has always had a policy of bringing exciting new players through the club. Many of the leading lights in the top echelons of current UK ultimate scene have been Chevron players at some point in their career.
Chevron Action Flash is 11 years old and counting, and currently stands as the longest running UK Ultimate club still playing at the highest level.
Notable Tournament Finishes
World Ultimate Club Championships
>> 1998 St Andrews, Scotland - Chevron finished 20th.
>> 2002 Hawaii, USA - Chevron finished 16th, the second highest European team in the tournament.
European Ultimate Club Championships
>> 2001 Prague, Czech Republic - Chevron finished 7th, second highest UK team.
>> 2005 Rostock, Germany - Chevron finished 13th.
>> 2007 Basle, Switzerland - Chevron finished 8th (EUCF).
>> 2008 Paris, France - Chevron finished 4th (EUCF).