Eurobowl Preseason

Date	Home Team		Away Team
	PS Week 1
03.04.1994	Cologne Crocodiles (Ger)	15	London Olympians (GBR)	14

Eurobowl Qualification

Date	Home Team		Away Team
	Preliminary Round
10.04.1994	Cophenhagen Towers (Den)	28	Luxembourg Red Lions (Bel)	16
10.04.1994	Oscar Dinos (Aut)	27	Basilisk Mean Machine (Swi)	0
	Qualification Round
	Cophenhagen Towers (Den)		Oscar Dinos (Aut)

Eurobowl

Date	Home Team		Away Team
	Quarter-Finals
1994	Munich Cowboys (Ger)		Oscar (Aut) / Cophenhagen (Den)
01.05.1994	Hague Raiders (Ned)	8	London Olympians (Eng)	52
1994	Bergamo Lions (Ita)	W	Paris Castors (Fra)	L
1994	East City Giants (Fin)	31	Limhamn Griffins (Swe)	6
	Semi-Finals
15.05.1994	Munich Cowboys (Ger)	18	Bergamo Lions (Ita)	25
1994	East City Giants (Fin)	20	London Olympians (GBR)	22
	Eurobowl VIII		Gottlieb-Daimler, Stuttgart, GER
05.06.1994	London Olympians (Eng)	26	Bergamo Lions (Ita)	23

Report

London Olympians won the Eurobowl (European American Football’s Super Bowl) for the second year running, defeating surprise package Bergamo Lions of Italy 26-23 in the Final in Stuttgart, with MVP Stephen Hutchison standing out on offense.

The Olympians had earlier defeated Hague Raiders of the Netherlands and East City Giants, from Helsinki in Finland. The Bergamo lions had disposed of the Paris Castors in the Quarter-Finals and Munich Cowboys in the Semis.

The Munich Cowboys had the easiest of Quarter-Finals, playing against the Qualifying team, who had to go through a Preliminary series of matches featuring the Austrian, Swiss, Danish and Belgian Champions. East City Giants, from Finland, traditionally one of the stronger countries in European American Football, easily defeated Swedish Champions Limhamn Griffins in the Quarter-Finals.

The Final was a thrilling encounter which was not decided until the last second, with Bergamo’s ace import Steve Beck, ex-University of Colorado, threatening to do the same to London that he did when upsetting heavily-fancied favourites Munich. He ran the kickoff 44 yards to the Olympians 4o yard line, and from there it was only 6 plays to the endzone. The Olympians fought back, but their next drive seemed stalled on their own 8-yard line, but American QB Leonard Valentine attempted to find Australian WR Wes Garth for a 90-yard TD, but was picked off and returned for what looked like a 98-yard Interception Return for a touchdown. The Lions were called back on a clipping penalty however, saving the Olympians’ blushes.

The next Lions drive was stalled on the 8-yard line by a London stand, and the O’s Offense took over, inspired by their defense, Valentine turned a broken play around, scrambling 91-yards for a touchdown. Bergamo were back in front 11 plays later as Beck ran in from the one yard line, and then once again, Valentine attempted to find the Aussie receiver for a big play, which this time paid off in a 74-yard TD. Back to within 2 points, the momentum shifted to the London side, and Bergamo managed a Field Goal at the end of the half, after a goalline stand by the Olympians again stopped the Lions shot, this time after a QB sack. It was to be a vital stand.

In the second half, Hutchison scored on a 16-yard run, and then, again, with a 10-yard run, to put The Olmpians nine points in front. A Bergamo TD, brought them within 3, and then with seconds left they had a long pass into Field Goal Range on third down, setting up a chance to tie the game or go for victory. Coach Joe Clark appeared to go for FG but went on second thoughts for a Touchdown, but a pitch towards Beck was mishandled and the Olympians breathed a sigh of relief, holding out for their second Eurobowl triumph in two years.

References

Newspapers

[1] Anon. (1994) “Olympians Crocodile Tears” First Down. April 9, 1994. pg. 18

[2] Anon. (1994) “Towers and Dinos soar in Eurobowl” First Down. April 16, 1994. pg. 20.

[3] Vos, Laurence (1994) “Eurobowl First Round” First Down. May 7, 1994. pg. 22.

[4] Rowlands, Neil (1994) “Leonard gets the go-ahead from medics” First Down. May 14, 1994. pg. 18.

[5] Anon. (1994) “Bergamo bowl over Munich” First Down. May 21, 1994. pg. 18

[6] Anon. (1994) “O’s Great Escape!” First Down. May 28, 1994. pg. 22.

[7] Anon. (1994) “Forget the Euro Poll, We’ve won Euro Bowl” First Down. June 11, 1994. pg. 18.

Images

[8] 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]

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Ralph Schmeer (IAFOA)

About this document

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 19 June 2020

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2020

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