League Table

	P	NI W-L-T	IAFA W-L-T	PF	PA	Pts
NIAFA / IAFA
*Belfast Blitzers	5	4-0-0	5-1-0	181	94	.833
+*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
Aldergrove Hawks	1	0-1-0	0-1-0	22	53	.000
Carrickfergus Cougars	1	0-1-0	0-1-0	6	55	.000
Belfast Spartans

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

Playoff Results

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

Week 1 – 1 June 1986

Dublin Celts 46 Belfast Blitzers – Dublin Celts won 46-7 in the first leg of the Capital Cup in Dublin, with most of the work done by the Celts’ 6′ plus 16 Stone American Marine, Byron Durrance. He was aided by QB Jim Downey and had good back-up in Gary Webster. [Reference: 8]

At Dublin	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total
Belfast Blitzers					7
Dublin Celts					46

Week 2 – 22 June 1986

Belfast Blitzers 24 Dublin Celts 20 – Belfast Blitzers became the first Irish team to ever defeat the Dublin Celts when Martin Press ran in from closerange in the dying minutes to snatch victory at Cooke Rugby Club. The Match was the second leg of the Capital Cup, which was won on aggregate by the Celts after their 46-7 win earlier in the season, however, the Blitzers were overjoyed with their achievement. The Celts took the lead with an early touchdown, but the Blitzers hit back with touchdown from wide receiver Ivan Smith, which was converted to give them a 7-6 lead. Derek McCord turned the match in Belfast’s favour with an 85-yard Punt return, with extra point again good, to put the Blitzers 14-6 up. The Celts hit back with two touchdowns to go 20-16 up but the Belfast defense held on for seven minutes before Press scored the decisive Touchdown. [Reference: 15]

At Cooke Rugby Club, Belfast	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total
Dublin Celts					20
Belfast Blitzers					24

Team	Scorers	Score
CEL	TD	0-6
BLZ	Ivan Smith Pass (1XP Good)	7-6
BLZ	Derek McCord 85 Punt return (1XP Good)	14-6
BLZ	Safety (Celts QB Sacked in Endzone)	16-6
CEL	TD	16-12
CEL	TD	16-18
CEL	Two More Points (1XPs?)	16-20
BLZ	Martin Press Run (2XP Run)	24-20

Week 4 – 9 August 1986

Belfast Blitzers 55 Carrikfergus Cougars 6 – Gary Allen scored the Cougars only Touchdown against the Belfast Blitzers, held as part of the Carrick Festival, as The Bliters ran out 55-6 winners. Derek Hardy, Patsy Lundy, Derek McCord, Damien McHugh and William Perry Neill were the scorers for the Blitzers as they made great preparation for their Irish Championship Playoff against the Celts. [Reference: 17]

At Carrickfergus	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total
Belfast Blitzers					55
Carrickfergus Cougars					6

Team	Scorers	Score
COU	Gary Allen TD
BLZ	Derek Hardy TD
BLZ	Patsy Lundy TD
BLZ	Derek McCord TD
BLZ	Damien McHugh TD
BLZ	Perry Neill TD

Final Week – 27 September 1986

Coleraine Chieftans 0 Craigavon Cowboys 33 – In the final game before the first ever Shamrock Bowl, the Craigavon Cowboys defeated Coleraine Chieftains 33-0 at Londonderry YMCA, with three touchdowns from running back Stanley Kingsmill, and one each from wide receiver John Mulally and Nigel Trimble. [Reference: 16]

At Londonderry YMCA	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total
Craigavon Cowboys					33
Coleraine Chieftains	0	0	0	0	0

Team	Scorers	Score
CRA	Stanley Kinsgmill Run
CRA	Stanley Kingsmill Run
CRA	Stanley Kingsmill Run
CRA	John Mullaly Pass
CRA	Nigel Trmble Run

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) “Neill set for Capital Cup Clash”Belfast Telegraph. Wednesday, June 18, 1986. pg. 23 [Internet] Available online at the Irish Newspaper Archive at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ which is a subscription service.

[9] 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.

[10] 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.

[11] 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.

[12] 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.

[13] 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.

[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.

Images

[17] 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.

Media

[18] 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 & Billy Graham (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.