AEFFL Playoffs
| Date | Winners | Runners-Up | ||
| Quarter-Finals | ||||
| 14.03.1919 | 89th (Rolling W) Division | 13 | Saint-Nazaire | 0 |
| 15.03.1919 | SOS Tours | 25 | GHQ Chaumont | 0 |
| 15.03.1919 | 36th (Panther) Division | 13 | HQ Le Mans | 0 |
| Semi-Finals | ||||
| 21.03.1919 | 36th (Panther) Division | 7 | 7th (Hourglass) Division | 0 |
| 22.03.1919 | 89th (Rolling W) Division | 17 | SOS Tours | 3 |
| AEFFL Championship | Velodrome Parc des Princes, Paris | |||
| 29.03.1919 | 89th (Rolling W) Division | 14 | 36th (Panther) Division | 6 |
AEFFL Qualifiers
| Date | Winners | Runners-Up | ||
| First Army Final Replay | ||||
| 1919 | 36th (Panther) Division | 3 | First Armey Corps | 0 |
| Second Army Final | ||||
| 1919 | 7th (Houglass) Division | YG* | 28th (Keystone) Division | L |
| Third Army Final | ||||
| 1919 | 89th (Rolling W) division | 14 | 4th (Ivy) Division | 0 |
| S.O.S. Base Sections | ||||
| 1919 | St. Nazaire | bye – 1918 Champions | ||
| S.O.S. Intermediate Sections | ||||
| 1919 | SOS Tours | 19 | SOS Base Section 2 | 0 |
| General Headquarters | ||||
| 1919 | GHQ Chaumont / GHQ Le Mans | Both Qualified with little opposition |
Report
The American Expeditionary Force, before heading home from World War I, played a series of morale-boosting games at the end of 1918 and first half of 1919.
In Spring 1919, the remaining Army men in France were not due to return home until July, so the General of the Armed Expeditionary Force, General John J. Persching, gave General Order 241, which stipulated the formation of sports Championships in American Football, Baseball, Basketball, Soccer, Track & Field and Boxing. No one could not participate and the slogan was “Everybody in the game!”.
A budget of $1 Million (doubled to $2 Million by Washington) was made for uniforms – the Equivalent of $27 Million in 2014.
The Championships were organised in Qualifying Rounds for the Various Armies and Divisions, with Playoffs from Quarter-Finals onwards played at large Stadiums in Paris. A Total of 1, 335, 732 Football Players and Spectators took part in the Football Section, making it the Most popular, just ahead of boxing.
The Championship was won by the 89th (Rolling W) Division 14-6 over the 36th (Panther) Division.
These were among the earliest documented Football games in Europe, of the American Code.
References
Bibliography
[11] Foglio, Massimo & Ford, Mark L. (2017) Touchdown in Europe – How American Football Came to the Old Continent. pg. 21-34. Published by the author.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Todd Zboyan, Sondra Maher, Rick Kelley & Tim Leadingham.
About this document
Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the
Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive
Last Updated: 18 July 2020
(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2019-2020
You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved.