Date	Round	Irish Team		European Team
		Charelroi Trophy I
2002	SF	Dublin Rebels	26	Forbach Taupes (Fra)	8
2002	Final	Dublin Rebels	22	Charleroi Cougars (Bel)	0
		Charleroi Trophy II
2003	SF	Dublin Rebels	8	Celtes de Mitry (Fra)	6
2003	SF	Carrickfergus Knights	6	Charleroi Cougars (Bel)	8
2003	3rd/4th	Carrickfergus Knights	22	Celtes de Mitry (Fra)	8
2003	Final	Dublin Rebels	12	Charleroi Cougars (Bel)	0
		Charleroi Trophy III
2004	SF	Dublin Rebels	8	Chevaliers d’Orleans (Fra)	26
2004	3rd/4th	Dublin Rebels	20	Charleroi Cougars (Bel)	0

[1][2][3][4][5]

Report

________________________________________________________
<p>Ireland was re-admitted to the European Federation of American Football in the early 2000s, and Ireland’s National champions competed in the Charleroi Trophy, an unofficial West European Club Championship, from 2002-2004.

The Dublin Rebels represented Ireland all three years, winning in 2002 & 2003. The Carrickfergus Knights also represented Ireland in 2003, finishing third. Other teams taking part were host team Charleroi Cougars from Belgium as well as other Belgian and French representatives.

In 2002 the Rebels defeated France’s Forbach Taupes 26-8 in the Semi-Finals before winning 22-0 against the host team in the final. [1][4]

In 2003 The Rebels won their Semi-Final 8-6 against Celtes de Mitry of France, whilst the Carrickfergus Knights went down by the same score to the Charleroi Cougars. The Knights won the 3rd Place Playoff 22-8 against the Celtes, before the Rebels again defeated the Cougars in the Final, 12-0. [2][5]

The 2004 edition saw the Rebels back in action, however, this time they lost in the Semi-Final 26-8 to Chevaliers d’Orleans, before beating the host team for the third year in succession, in the 3rd Place Playoff, on a 20-0 scoreline. [3]

Images

[6] American Football International (2013) EFAF Logo [Internet] Available from: http://www.americanfootballinternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/EFAF_logo.gif [Accessed 30 August 2017]

[7] Irish American Football Association (2003) Dublin Rebels Celebrate their victory in the 2003 Charleroi Trophy [Internet] Available from: https://web.archive.org/web/20031002110034im_/http://www.irish-american-football.org/chartroppresentation.jpg [Accessed 11 November 2019]

Websites

[1] Irish American Football Association (2002) June 29th/30th 2002 – DUBLIN REBELS WIN CHARLEROI TROPHY CHARLEROI TOURNAMENT [Internet] Available from: http://web.archive.org/web/20021210031040/http://www.irish-american-football.org/news%20stories/29jun02.htm [Accessed 8 October 2017]

[2] Irish American Football Association (2003) DUBLIN REBELS WIN CHARLEROI TROPHY – DUBLIN REBELS FINISH FIRST & CARRICKFERGUS KNIGHTS 3RD [Internet] Available from: http://web.archive.org/web/20030806044017/http://www.irish-american-football.org/29jun03.htm [Accessed 8 October 2017]

[3] Irish American Football Association (2004) 26th-27th June 2004 REBELS PLAY IN CHARLROI TROPHY ORLEANS DEFEAT LILLE IN FINAL [Internet] Available from:

[4] Dublin Rebels (2002) REBELS WIN CHARLEROI TROPHY [Internet] Available from: http://web.archive.org/web/20070325185701/http://www.dublinrebels.com/page.php?7.1 [Accessed 5 July 2017]

[5] Dublin Rebels (2003) REBELS WIN 2nd CHARLEROI TROPHY [Internet] Available from: http://web.archive.org/web/20070319105030/http://www.dublinrebels.com/page.php?7 [Accessed 5 July 2017]

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Cillian Smith, Michael Smith, Ralph Schmeer and Michael Brophy of the Irish American Football Association and Irish American Football Officials Association.

About this document

Researched, compilred and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 11 November 2019

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2019

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