Belfast Blitzers Irish American Football Team Box-Scores and Rosters 1986

Belfast Blitzers Season Report 1986

Belfast Blitzers played the first ever fully-kitted game of American Football between two Irish teams in Northern Ireland on May 19th 1986 when they won 46-0 versus Craigavon Cowboys at Shane Park in Lurgan.

On the 1st of June they played Dublin Celts in Dublin in the 1st Leg of the Capitol Bowl, losing 7-46, and despite losing the tie overall 31-66 on aggregate they did become the first ever team to defeat the Dublin Celts, when on June 22nd they won 24-20 in the 2nd Leg in Belfast.

They again played the Dublin Celts on July 6th in Dublin as part of the Summer Bowl American Independence Day Tournament, losing to their rivals in the Final after defeating the Coleraine Chieftains in the Semi-Finals.

In the penultimate week of the season in Carrickfergus as part of the Carrick Festival, they defeated the hometown Cougars 55-6. This set them up nicely for their match against the Dublin Celts for the All-Ireland Championship the following week which they won 7-0, evening the score 2-2 on head-to-head with the Dublin team.

This was the last match they played in 1986 as they declined to take part in the Shamrock Bowl, which was arranged following the season, as the considered themselves already Champions having won both the All-Ireland Championship and League titles.

Belfast blitzers Irish American Football League Results 1986

Note: Please Click on the relevant matches to be brought to a page detailing the Scores, scorers, and players lists as well as a Match Report.

Irish American Football League - All Games Standings 1986

PosTeamWLTPctPFPANet PtsStreak
17200.77817972107W3
23300.500684424L2
32300.4003988-49W2
40300.000033-33L3
5Carrickfergus Cougars0100.000655-49L1

Irish American Football League Regular Season Standings 1986

PosTeamWLTPctPFPANet PtsStreak
14001.0001192693W4
21100.5003340-7W1
30100.0002024-4L1
40200.000033-33L2
5Carrickfergus Cougars0100.000655-49L1

Northern Ireland American Football Association Standings 1986

PosTeamWLTPctPFPANet PtsStreak
13001.00095689W3
21100.5003340-7W1
30200.000033-33L2
4Carrickfergus Cougars0100.000655-49L1

Belfast Blitzers Preseason Results 1986

Belfast Blitzers IAFL Regular Season Results 1986

Belfast Blitzers Festival Results 1986

Match Day Summer Bowl Semi-Finals
(Summer Bowl Semi-Finals)
1:30 pm

Belfast Blitzers vs Coleraine Chieftains

Match Day Summer Bowl Final
(Summer Bowl Final)
3:00 pm

Dublin Celts vs Belfast Blitzers

Belfast Blitzers All-Ireland Championship Results 1986

Match Day All Ireland Final
(All Ireland Final)
7 - 0

Belfast Blitzers vs Dublin Celts

Belfast Blitzers Roster 1986

Belfast Blitzers Player List 1986

#PlayerTeamPositionTDFGSafetyPAT2XP
Peter RaffertyBelfast BlitzersKicker00000
George NeillBelfast BlitzersWide receiver00021
Ivan SmithBelfast BlitzersWide receiver20030
13Alan McCandlessBelfast BlitzersQuarterback00000
18Sean O’NeillBelfast BlitzersKicker, Linebacker00000
21Nigel SomersBelfast BlitzersSafety00000
22Alan MurrayBelfast BlitzersCornerback00000
24Mike HeathBelfast BlitzersDefensive tackle00000
25Derek McCordBelfast BlitzersRunning back20000
27Jason MallonBelfast BlitzersSafety00000
31Steve ThompsonBelfast BlitzersRunning back00000
34Derek HardyBelfast BlitzersRunning back10100
35Damien McHughBelfast BlitzersRunning back60000
39Mark HarrisBelfast BlitzersCornerback00000
40John DavisBelfast BlitzersCornerback00000
41Davy FreelandBelfast BlitzersDefensive end00000
45Davy TurnerBelfast BlitzersCornerback00000
50Daryol LawsBelfast BlitzersCenter, Offensive guard00000
51Cormac ScottBelfast BlitzersLinebacker00000
52Desi WilsonBelfast BlitzersCenter, Offensive guard00000
55Matt HarteBelfast BlitzersLinebacker00000
57Alan YoungBelfast BlitzersLinebacker00000
61Martin PressBelfast BlitzersCenter10000
63Damien NolanBelfast BlitzersDefensive tackle00000
64Kiern DemspeyBelfast BlitzersCenter00000
69Gary MooreBelfast BlitzersDefensive tackle00000
70Chris MillarBelfast BlitzersOffensive guard00000
72FijBelfast BlitzersOffensive tackle00000
73Davy MayneBelfast BlitzersOffensive tackle00000
74Vivian VizeBelfast BlitzersOffensive guard00000
80Neil GrahamBelfast BlitzersTight end00000
82Gary LintonBelfast BlitzersQuarterback, Tight end00000
85Philip McIlpatrickBelfast BlitzersWide receiver00000
88Tony CallaghanBelfast BlitzersRunning back, Wide receiver00000
89Patsy LundyBelfast BlitzersWide receiver10000
90Tom RobinsonBelfast BlitzersCenter, Offensive guard00000
95Jim DelargyBelfast BlitzersDefensive end00000
99Eric GrantBelfast BlitzersDefensive tackle00000

Note: To view Players Lists, Management and Season Standings please navigate to below the References Section.

Belfast Blitzers Management 1986

REFERENCES

[1] Belfast Blitzers Facebook Page (2019) Post, August 12, 2019 at 1:31 PM [Internet] Available from:  https://www.facebook.com/belfastblitzers/posts/2244208692356940?notif_id=1565921781157641&notif_t=comment_mention [Accessed 17 August 2019]

REFERENCES

[1] Miriam Lord (1986) “Crunch: but could they handle Moss Keane?” Irish Independent. Monday, March 17, 1986. pg. 7

[2] BritballNow (2017) British and Irish sides Friendly results against foreign opposition [Internet] Available from: http://www.britballnow.co.uk/History/UKClubsForeignOppo.html [Accessed 16 November 2017]

[3] James Mulcahy (1986) “Savage Celts” Irish Independent. Thursday, March 27, 1986. pg. 9.

[4] BritballNow (2017) Newcastle Senators [Internet] Available from: http://www.britballnow.co.uk/History/Britball%20Teams/NEWCASTLESENATORS.htm [Internet] [Accessed 25 June 2021]

[5] Irish American Football League (2002) Other Events [Internet] Available from: http://americanfootball.ie/iafl/otherevents02.htm [Accessed 20 March 2018]

[6] Anon. (1986) “Cowboys into Shamrock Bowl” Belfast Telegraph. Monday, September 29, 1986. Pg. 18.

Past Copies of the Belfast Telegraph are available to view online at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/

[7] Anon. (1986) “American Football comes to Dublin” Irish Press. Wednesday, November 12, 1986. Pg. 11. [Past Copies of the Irish Press are available to view online at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ ]

[8] Anon. (1986) “Today’s sport” Irish Press. Wednesday, Friday, November 28, 1986. pg. 22 [Past Copies of the Irish Press are available to view online at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ ]

[9] Anon. (1986) “Marlboro on the march” Irish Press. Wednesday, Friday, November 28, 1986. pg. 17 [Past Copies of the Irish Press are available to view online at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ ]

[10] Sean Moloney (1986) “Shamrocks from USA are playing to win” Evening Herald. Saturday, November 29, 1986. pg. 6.

WEBSITES

[11] Britball Now (2016) History of the Game in Ireland [Internet] Available from: http://www.britballnow.co.uk/history-index/ireland/history-of-the-game-in.html [Accessed 02 October 2016]

[12] Britball Now (2008) UK Clubs Against Foreign Opposition [Internet] Available from: http://www.britballnow.co.uk/History/UKClubsForeignOppo.html [Accessed 16 November 2008]

[13] Semi-Pro Football (2017) Eastern Football League Champions [Internet] Available from: http://www.semiprofootball.org/minor/champs/eastfl.htm [Accessed 16 November 2017]

SOURCES

[14] Kevin Sharkey (2020) “The Dublin Celts” Word Document shared by John Gunning on Facebook Messenger with permission.

REFERENCES

[1] Anon (1986) “Crunch: but could they handle Moss Keane?” Irish Independent. Monday, March 17, 1986. pg. 7

Past copies of the Irish Independent are available to view online at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/

REFERENCES

WEBSITES

[1] Britball Now (2016) Results Section [1986] [Internet] Available from: http://www.britballnow.co.uk/history-index/results-section.html [Accessed 23 March 2017]

[2] Britball Now (2016) Bangor Buccaneers [Internet] Available from: http://www.britballnow.co.uk/History/Britball%20Teams/BangorBuccaneers.htm [Accessed 23 March 2018]

[3] Irish American Football Association (2018) Shamrock Bowl History [Internet] Available from: hhttp://www.americanfootball.ie/american-football/shamrock-bowl-history/ [Accessed 23 March 2018]

[4] Britballnow.co.uk (2019) 1986 Results [Internet] Available from: http://www.britballnow.co.uk/history-index/results-section.html [Accessed 17 August 2019]

INTERNET ARCHIVES

[5] Craigavon Cowboys | Wayback Machine (2017) Charles ‘Chuck’ Ebron Interview [Internet] Available from: http://web.archive.org/web/20170514064407/http://www,craigavoncowboys.co.uk:80/news [Accessed 10 October 2018]

SOCIAL MEDIA

[6] Belfast Blitzers | Facebook (2019) Comments on Post by David Turner, August 12-17, 2019 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/belfastblitzers/posts/2244208692356940 [Accessed 17 August 2019]

[7] Belfast Blitzers | Facebook (2019) Comments on Post by David Turner, September 72019 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/belfastblitzers/posts/2286790341432108?comment_id=2287705898007219&reply_comment_id=2292185984225877&notif_id=1568031304420635&notif_t=feed_comment [Accessed 9 September 2019]

NEWSPAPERS

[8] Anon. (1986) “A cracking good show for grid-iron fans” Belfast Telegraph. Tuesday, September 23, 1986. pg. 24 [Internet] Available online at the Irish Newspaper Archive at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ which is a subscription service.

[9] Anon. (1986) “American flavour” Belfast Telegraph. Friday, August 8, 1986. pg. 26 [Internet] Available online at the Irish Newspaper Archive at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ which is a subscription service.

[10] Anon. (1986) “Cowboys into ‘Shamrock Bowl’” Belfast Telegraph. Monday, September 29, 1986. pg. 18 [Internet] Available online at the Irish Newspaper Archive at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ which is a subscription service.

[11] Anon. (1986) “Cowboys triumph’” Belfast Telegraph. Monday, October 6, 1986. pg. 19 [Internet] Available online at the Irish Newspaper Archive at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ which is a subscription service.

[12] Anon. (1986) “Picture caption’” Belfast Telegraph. Monday, August 11, 1986. pg. 30 [Internet] Available online at the Irish Newspaper Archive at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ which is a subscription service.

IMAGES

[13] Anon. (1986) “Picture by Rick Hewitt’” Belfast Telegraph. Monday, August 11, 1986. pg. 30 [Internet] Available online at the Irish Newspaper Archive at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ which is a subscription service.

[14] Anon. (1986) “Cowboys to meet Celts’”Belfast Telegraph. Saturday September 27, 1986. pg. 24 [Internet] Available online at the Irish Newspaper Archive at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ which is a subscription service.

[15] Anon. (1986) “Blitzers turn the tables”Belfast Telegraph. Tuesday June 24, 1986. pg. 28 [Internet] Available online at the Irish Newspaper Archive at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ which is a subscription service.

[16] Anon. (1986) “Cowboys into Shamrock Bowl’”Belfast Telegraph. Saturday September 29, 1986. pg. 18 [Internet] Available online at the Irish Newspaper Archive at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ which is a subscription service.

[17] Anon. (1986) “Sport in Brief: American Football” Sunday Press. August 17th, 1986. pg. 25.

[18] Anon. (1986) “Dublin Celts are Blitzed” Sunday Press. August 17th, 1986. pg. 25.

MEDIA

[19] BBC Sport NI Facebook (2020) Video, May 20, 2020 [Comment by player at 1:00-1:10] [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/BBCSPORTNI/videos/693338128160962 [Accessed 30 August 2020]

SOCIAL MEDIA

[1] Belfast Blitzers Facebook Page (2019) Post, August 12, 2019 at 1:31 PM [Internet] Available from:  https://www.facebook.com/belfastblitzers/posts/2244208692356940?notif_id=1565921781157641&notif_t=comment_mention [Accessed 17 August 2019]

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to David Turner (Belfast Blitzers)

ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

REirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 1 September 2021

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2019-2021

You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved. The Logos and Photos used in this article remain the property of the organisations and individuals which own the copyright and are used here for educational and information purposes only.

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