Northern Ireland American Football Association Unkitted Junior League 1986

Table

	P	W	L	T	PF	PA	Pct
Bangor Buccaneers (C)	7	7	0	0			1.000
Belfast Blitzers	2	1	1	0			.500
Jordanstown Jaguars	1	1	0	0			1.000
Belfast Spartans	2	0	2	0	22	70	.000
Aldergrove Hawks	2	0	2	0	22	53	.000
Ballymena Wolfhounds
Prospect Pumas

Results

Date	Home Team		Away Team
20.07.1986	Belfast Blitzers	53	Aldergrove Hawks	22
24.08.1986	Belfast Spartans	22	Bangor Buccaneers	40
01.09.1986	Aldergrove Hawks	L	Bangor Buccaneers	W
1986	Jordanstown Jaguars	W	Belfast Blitzers	L
	Belfast Spartans	0	Bangor Buccaneers	30

Reference: [1-4]

Home Venues:

Team	Home Venue
Belfast Spartans	Musgrave Park, Belfast
Bangor Buccaneers
Belfast Blitzers

Reference: [1-4]

Report

Bangor Buccaneers won the 1986 Northern Ireland American Football Association Junior League which appears to have been a contact unkitted adult league operating as a second tier or division with the NIAFA. Five teams are known to have taken part in this competition: Bangor Buccaneers, Belfast Blitzers, Jordanstown Jaguars, Aldergrove Hawks and Belfast Spartans, with Ballymena Wolfhounds and Prospect Pumas also possible teams to have taken part.

Junior Two-Touch American Football (1986-1991)

From 1986 to 1991, before Flags were brought in, there were a number of Junior Two-Touch Leagues organised by regional development bodies, such as the East Coast Junior Football Association (Greater Dublin Area) from 1986 to 1987, and the Northern Ireland Junior American League which ran from 1988 to 1990, when it became fully kitted. In 1991, a Junior Two-Touch American Football Blitz took place in Tymon Park, Tallaght. These Leagues were Two-Touch, although it was only the ball carrier who had to be touched twice in order to tackle him, all other positions were full contact (i.e. Blocking etc.) [References: 8]

References

Websites

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

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

[3] Belfast Spartans (2019) Team History | Grinding to a start [Internet] Available from: http://www.belfastspartans.co.uk/team-history.html [Accessed 20 March 2018]

Social Media

[4] 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]

Magazines

[5] Stacher, Steve (1987) “An Official History of American Football Ireland” Receiver. 1987.

Newspapers

[6] Anon. (1986) “Buccaneers move up” Belfast Telegraph. Monday, August 25, 1986. pg. 16.

[7] Anon. (1986) “Cowboys look for revenge” Belfast Telegraph. Friday, August 29, 1986. Pg. 22.

Note: Past copies of the Belfast Telegraph are available to view online at the Irish Newspaper Archive at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ which is a subscription service.

Social Media

[8] Andrew Wilson’s reply to Eirball’s post, March 27, 2020 [Internet] Available at : https://www.facebook.com/eirballenda/posts/2433567573622264?comment_id=2696161900696162&notif_id=1612882525056885&notif_t=feed_comment&ref=notif [Accessed 11 February 2021]

Images

[9] Andrew Wilson (2021) Reply to Eirball Facebook Post, March 27, 2020 “this is a very early publicity photo (pre kit) taken in 1986, I think.” [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10219341931087529&set=p.10219341931087529&type=3&av=2226857640959926&eav=AfZG4VnfE0tNSFTwa-nyACGq3CrmStfgyhPu8_I0C1E4keYcOz_YZe5FHtJXGznrua2a22r7OV1hILGkeHYHClQT [Accessed 11 February 2021]

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: 5 February 2021

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2019-2021

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