EFL Eurobowl 1988-1992

European Team

Date	Round	Irish Team		European Team
		Eurobowl II
1988	Qual	Dublin Celts	12	Graz Giants (Aut)	36
		Eurobowl III
1989	Rd 1	Dublin Celts	3	Birmingham Bulls (Eng)	29
		Eurobowl IV
1990	Prelim	Dublin Celts	30	Barcelona Boxers (Esp)	0
1990	Rd 1	Dublin Celts	12	Manchester Spartans (Eng)	28
		Eurobowl V
1991	Rd 1	Craigavon Cowboys	6	Brussels Raiders (Bel)	16
		Eurobowl VI
1992	Rd 1	Dublin Celts	0	Birmingham Bulls (Eng)	20

[1][2][3]

Report

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The Eurobowl was the European Championship for the National Club Champions of Europe. It was first staged in 1986, and the Irish Champions first took part in 1988.

The Dublin Celts were Ireland’s first representatives in the Eurobowl, losing 36-12 to Austria’s Graz Giants in the Qualifying Round.   The following year the Celts represented Ireland again, losing 29-3 to the United Kingdom’s Birmingham Bulls. [3]

1990 proved historic, with the Dublin Celts winning 30-0 over the Barcelona Boxers, in an Irish teams first victory in European competition. The game was abandoned at half-time after the Barcelona players walked off the pitch complaining that a Celts player was using illegal studs, however, the result stood as the match officials had checked the kit before kickoff and judged it to be all within regulation. [3]

The Celts lost in the next round 28-12 to the Manchester Spartans in what was claimed to be the best performance by an Irish team against English opposition. [3]

In 1991 the Craigavon Cowboys played at home against the Brussels Raiders, losing 16-6 in front of a large crowd. [3]

The Dublin Celts again faced English opposition in 1992, losing 20-0 to the Birmingham Bulls. This was the last time Irish teams entered the Eurobowl as the Irish Association left the EFL due to Britain being expelled – it would have been too costly for the small Irish association to travel anywhere else to play matches. [3]

Bibliography

[1] Naughton, L. (1990) “Dublin Celts ready to roll” Evening Herald. Thursday, April 5, 1990. Pg. 52.

[2] Naughton, L. (1991) “COWBOYS TEST” Evening Herald. Thursday, February 14, 1991. Pg. 61.

Websites

[3] Britball Now (2009) Results in Euro Competition [Internet] Available from: http://www.britballnow.co.uk/history-index/results-in-euro-competition.html [Accessed 1 November 2016]

Images

[4] Britball Now | Facebook (2016) Photo February 26, 2016: ” Birmingham Bulls defense swarm over Dublin Celts QB John Donnelly in this 1989 Eurobowl qualifier “[Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/131555973564179/photos/a.616537095066062/946026535450448/?type=3&theater [Accessed 11 November 2019]

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: 15 February 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.