Irish International American Football

From the first ever touring American Football teams in Ireland in the 1940s to the big NCAA College Games from the 1980s onwards to the matches played by Irish American Football teams – both club and country – against North American teams and European teams there is plenty to savour in the history of International American Football in Ireland and Irish teams overseas.

American College Football Classic in Ireland (1988-Present)

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.

American Teams in Ireland (1942-Present)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA – CIRCA 1998: a postage stamp printed in USA showing an image of four players of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team, circa 1998.

Games by Era

NCAA Football | Regular Season Games in Ireland 2012-2016

NFL & NCAA Pre-Season Games in Ireland 1988-1997

Box-Scores and Match Reports

NCAA College Football Classic

Shamrock Classic Dublin – Navy Midshipmen 27 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 54 2 November 1996

Christopher Columbus Classic Bowdoin Polar Bears 7 Tufts Jumbos 6 29 November 1992

Picture Credit: NFL American Bowl 1997 Official Programme – Authors’ Personal Collection