European Football League International Challenge Cup 1986-1988

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The International Challenge Cup was a European Football League regional competition that ran from 1986 to 1988 below the level of the Eurobowl. Ireland’s representatives were the Carrickfergus Cougars in 1986 and the Belfast Giants (known as Tennent’s Giants in 1988 for sponsorship reasons) in 1987 and 1988. The opposition on all three occasions was British American Football League Scottish Conference outfit the Ayr Burners. After two losses in 1986 (Carrickfergus lost 8-28) and 1987 (Belfast Giants lost 0-27) the Tennent’s Giants finally won the Trophy for Ireland when they defeated the Ayr Burners 21-0 in 1988.

References

Websites

[1] Britball Now (2009) British and Irish Friendly results against foreign opposition [Internet] Available from: http://www.britballnow.co.uk/History/UKClubsForeignOppo.html [Accessed 16 November 2017]

[2] 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]

[3] Irish American Football Association (2002) OTHER EVENTS: [Internet] Available from: http://americanfootball.ie/iafl/otherevents02.htm [Accessed 20 March 2018]

[4] Belfast Spartans (2020) Player Profiles [Internet] Available from: http://www.belfastspartans.co.uk/player-profiles.html [Last Accessed 22 April 2020]

Newspapers

[5] 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.

[6] Anon. (1987) “Belfast Gets Burned” First Down. April 18, 1987. p 15.

[7] Anon. (1988) “Giants get their revenge’” Belfast Telegraph. Tuesday, April 12, 1988. pg. 20 [Internet] Available online at the Irish Newspaper Archive at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ which is a subscription service.

Websites

[9] 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]

[10] Britball Now (2009) Results Section [1990] [Internet] Available from: http://www.britballnow.co.uk/history-index/results-section.html [Accessed 1 November 2016]

Acknowledgements

Thanks to David Turner (Belfast Blitzers)

About this document

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive

First Published: 21 January 2025. Last Updated: 22 January 2025

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2025

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