League Table

	P	NI W-L-T	IAFA W-L-T	PF	PA	Pct
NIAFA / IAFA
*Belfast Blitzers	5	3-0-0	4-1-0	126	71	.800
*+Dublin Celts	4	—–	3-1-0	66	31	.750
*+Craigavon Cowboys	4	1-1-0	1-3-0	0	40	.250
Coleraine Chieftains	2	0-2-0	0-2-0	0	33	.000
Carrickfergus Cougars	1	0-1-0	0-1-0	6	55	.000

*Qualify for All-Ireland Final. +Invited to Shamrock Bowl

Playoff Results

Date	Home Team		Away Team
	All-Ireland Final
08.1986	Belfast Blitzers	7	Dublin Celts	0
	Shamrock Bowl I		St. Mary’s RFC, Dublin
05.10.1986	Craigavon Cowboys	6	Dublin Celts	2

[3]

Regular Season Results

Date	Home Team		Away Team
	Week 1
01.06.1986	Dublin Celts	46	Belfast Blitzers	7
	Week 2
22.06.1986	Belfast Blitzers	24	Dublin Celts	20
	Week 4
09.08.1986	Carrickfergus Cougars	6	Belfast Blitzers	55
	Final Week		Londonderry YMCA
27.09.1986	Coleraine Chieftains	0	Craigavon Cowboys	33
	Unknown Week
1986	Dublin Celts	W	Craigavon Cowboys	L
1986	Craigavon Cowboys	0	Belfast Blitzers	40
1986	Craigavon Cowboys	L	Dublin Celts	W
1986	Coleraine Chieftains	L	Belfast Blitzers	W

All-Ireland Final Box-Score and Match Report

16 August 1986 – Belfast – Belfast Blitzers 7 Dublin Celts 0

In a game dominated by defences, Belfast Blitzers won the first Irish American Football Championship thanks to a touchdown run by George O’Neill which was converted giving them a 7-0 victory over the Dublin Celts.

At Belfast	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total
Dublin Celts	0	0	0	0	0
Belfast Blitzers					7

Team	Scorers	Score
	Quarter ??
Bli	George Neill TD (PAT good)	7-0

Shamrock Bowl I Box-Score and Match Report

05 October 1986 – St. Mary’s Rugby Club, Dublin 6 – Dublin Celts 2 Craigavon Cowboys 6

Craigavon Cowboys left it late to claim victory in the first ever Irish American Football League Shamrock Bowl, with Most Valuable Player, Nigel Trimble, running in the only touchdown of the match with only four minutes remaining. The Dublin Celts had gone ahead in the first half with a safety, worth two points, in the match played at St. Mary’s Rugby Club in Templeogue, Dublin 6.

At St. Mary’s Rugby Club, Dublin 6	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total
Craigavon Cowboys	0	0	0	6	6
Dublin Celts			0	0	2

Team	Scorer	Score
	1st Half
DUB	Safety	2-0
	3rd Quarter
	No scoring	2-0
	4th Quarter
CRA	Nigel Trimble TD Run	2-6

Report

The Blitzers won the IAFA Championship on points difference from the Dublin Celts as they both finished on the same record. They also won the NIAFA Championship, which included all matches played except the ones against the Dublin Celts.

At the end of the season there was a separate Shamrock Bowl arranged, which was by invite. The Dublin Celts & Belfast Blitzers were both invited but the Blitzers as both League & Cup Champions declined to take part as they considered themselves already champions. The Craigavon Cowboys took their place and beat the Celts 6-2, with a late Nigel Trimble Touchdown run.

About

There were two separate Leagues in 1986: The Northern Ireland American Football Association, where each of the Northern teams played each other twice. Belfast Blitzers won all of their matches. There was also an Irish American Football Association where each of the NIAFA games counted as well as a Home & Away series for each NIAFA team with the Dublin Celts. The NIAFA League was a League on paper only, though there were medals awarded to the winning Belfast Blitzers team.

Home Venues

Team	Venue
Belfast Blitzers	Cooke Rugby Club, Belfast
Carrickfergus Cougars	Carrickfergus RFC, Carrickfergus
Craigavon Cowboys	Shane Park, Lurgan, Craigavon

References

Websites

[1] Britball Now (2016) Results Section [1986] [Internet] Available from: http://www.britballnow.co.uk/history-index/results-section.html [Accessed 23 March 2017]

[2] Britball Now (2016) Bangor Buccaneers [Internet] Available from: http://www.britballnow.co.uk/History/Britball%20Teams/BangorBuccaneers.htm [Accessed 23 March 2018]

[3] Irish American Football Association (2018) Shamrock Bowl History [Internet] Available from: hhttp://www.americanfootball.ie/american-football/shamrock-bowl-history/ [Accessed 23 March 2018]

[4] Britballnow.co.uk (2019) 1986 Results [Internet] Available from: http://www.britballnow.co.uk/history-index/results-section.html [Accessed 17 August 2019]

Internet Archives

[5] Craigavon Cowboys | Wayback Machine (2017) Charles ‘Chuck’ Ebron Interview [Internet] Available from: http://web.archive.org/web/20170514064407/http://www,craigavoncowboys.co.uk:80/news [Accessed 10 October 2018]

Social Media

[6] Belfast Blitzers | Facebook (2019) Comments on Post by David Turner, August 12-17, 2019 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/belfastblitzers/posts/2244208692356940 [Accessed 17 August 2019]

[7] Belfast Blitzers | Facebook (2019) Comments on Post by David Turner, September 7, 2019 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/belfastblitzers/posts/2286790341432108?comment_id=2287705898007219&reply_comment_id=2292185984225877&notif_id=1568031304420635&notif_t=feed_comment [Accessed 9 September 2019]

Newspapers

[8] Anon. (1986) “A cracking good show for grid-iron fans” Belfast Telegraph. Tuesday, September 23, 1986. pg. 24 [Internet] Available online at the Irish Newspaper Archive at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ which is a subscription service.

[9] Anon. (1986) “American flavour” Belfast Telegraph. Friday, August 8, 1986. pg. 26 [Internet] Available online at the Irish Newspaper Archive at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ which is a subscription service.

[10] 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.

[11] Anon. (1986) “Cowboys triumph'” Belfast Telegraph. Monday, October 6, 1986. pg. 19 [Internet] Available online at the Irish Newspaper Archive at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ which is a subscription service.

[12] Anon. (1986) “Picture caption'” Belfast Telegraph. Monday, August 11, 1986. pg. 30 [Internet] Available online at the Irish Newspaper Archive at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ which is a subscription service.

Images

[13] Anon. (1986) “Picture by Rick Hewitt'” Belfast Telegraph. Monday, August 11, 1986. pg. 30 [Internet] Available online at the Irish Newspaper Archive at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ which is a subscription service.

[14] Anon. (1986) “Cowboys to meet Celts’”Belfast Telegraph. Saturday September 27, 1986. pg. 24 [Internet] Available online at the Irish Newspaper Archive at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ which is a subscription service.

[15] Anon. (1986) “Blitzers turn the tables”Belfast Telegraph. Tuesday June 24, 1986. pg. 28 [Internet] Available online at the Irish Newspaper Archive at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ which is a subscription service.

[16] Anon. (1986) “Cowboys into Shamrock Bowl’”Belfast Telegraph. Saturday September 29, 1986. pg. 18 [Internet] Available online at the Irish Newspaper Archive at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ which is a subscription service.

[17] Anon. (1986) “Sport in Brief: American Football” Sunday Press. August 17th, 1986. pg. 25.

[18] Anon. (1986) “Dublin Celts are Blitzed” Sunday Press. August 17th, 1986. pg. 25.

Media

[19] BBC Sport NI Facebook (2020) Video, May 20, 2020 [Comment by player at 1:00-1:10] [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/BBCSPORTNI/videos/693338128160962 [Accessed 30 August 2020]

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

Last Updated: 30 October 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.