For 2003, Craig Nall was recruited from the Green Bay Packers to play at quarterback; Scott McCready was one of few players to return for a second Claymores season. An NFL Europe scoring record came with Scotland's opening 62-31 defeat of the World Bowl champion Thunder. There were four rushing touchdowns for Ken Simonton and a TD catch on return from "retirement" for Scott Couper. Over the next five games, Scotland added just one victory however, and were all but out of World Bowl contention by mid-May Shutting out the Rhein Fire 33-0 rekindled hopes, and strong victories over Barcelona and Amsterdam twice brought around a 6-4 conclusion, matching the season's best; however, they were denied a spot in World Bowl XI on the tie-breaker of net results with the Frankfurt Galaxy and Rhein Fire, which was increasingly unfortunate as the World Bowl was to be staged at Hampden Park.