USAFE United States Air Force in Europe Football Championship 1951-1993
The first ever American Football games played in Ireland were in the 1940s, when teams of US Servicemen returning from WW2 played matches in Ravenhill (Home of Ulster Rugby) and Croke Park (Home of the GAA) in aid of the Irish Red Cross. Further matches were played in the 1950s & 1960s by US Air Force Personnel stationed at US Air Bases in Britain & Germany during the Cold War. There were also during the late 1980s and up until the mid-1990s high-profile pre-season matches between NCAA College teams and one NFL match between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears. 2012 also saw the return of the high-profile NCAA games to Ireland, featuring both NCAA Division I Regular Season Matches, and also the Global Ireland Football Tournament, a series of 6 Regular Season NCAA Division III and High School matches played at a variety of venues across Ireland.
Cold War – USAFE
USAFE Football Championship – Games in Ireland 1952-1973
American Football in Ireland | ETO, USAFE and High Schools 1942-1973
Box-Scores and Match Reports
Picture Credit: NFL American Bowl 1997 Official Programme – Authors’ Personal Collection
ETO European Theater of Operations Football Championship 1942-1944
World War II – ETO
Picture Credit: [14] Belfast Blitzers | Facebook (2019) Photo 22 August 2019 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/belfastblitzers/photos/pcb.2260513057393170/2260507127393763/?type=3&theater [Accessed 23 August 2019]
World War II – European Theater of Operations – Games in Ireland 1942-1944
ETO Football Championship (Seasons)
