American Expeditionary Force Football League (AEFFL) 1919

AEFFL Schedule 1919

AEFFL Playoffs

AEFFL Playoffs 1919

DateWinnersScoreRunners-UpScore
Quarter-Finals
14.03.191989th (Rolling W) Division13St. Nazaire0
15.03.1919SOS Tours25GHQ Chaumont0
15.03.191936th (Panther) Division13HQ Le Mans0
No Date7th (Hourglass) Division-bye-
Semi-Finals
21.03.191936th (Panther) Division77th (Hourglass) Division0
22.03.191989th (Rolling W) Division17SOS Tours3
AEFFL ChampionshipVelodrome Parc des Princes, Paris
29.03.191989th (Rolling W) Division1336th (Panther) Division6
TotalsWinners88Runners-Up9
American Expeditionary Force Football League (AEFFL) Qualifiers 1919 [Ref: 1]

AEFFL Qualifiers

AEFFL Section Finals 1919

DateWinnersScoreRunners-UpScore
First Army Final Replay
191936th (Panther) Division3First Army Corp0
Second Army Final
19197th (Hourglass) Division0*28th (Keystone) Division0
Third Army Final
191989th (Rolling W) Division144th (Ivy) Division0
S.O.S. Base Sections
1919St. Nazairebye – 1918 Champions
S.O.S. Intermediate Sections
1919SOS Tours19SOS Base Section 20
General Headquarters
1919GHQ Chaumont / GHQ Le MansBoth Qualified with little opposition
TotalsWinners36Runners-Up0
American Expeditionary Force Football League (AEFFL) Section Finals 1919 [Ref: 1]
*Won on Tie-Break: Yards Gained

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: 1 September 2024

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2019-2024

You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved.

Leave a Reply