League: Irish American Football League Regular Season

Dublin Celts

Season report 1986

Dublin Celts won their first two friendly preseason games 14-0 versus Wirral Wolves and 16-14 versus Newcastle Senators, two highly-ranked teams in the British American Football League.

They then proceeded to defeat Belfast Blitzers 46-7 in the first leg of the Capitol Bowl before losing the second leg 20-24 in Belfast. This was Dublin Celts first ever defeat, although they did take home the Capitol Bowl on aggregate (66-31).

On the 6th of July, in celebration of American Independence Day (4th of July), the Celts won the Jack Daniels Summer Bowl in Dublin, a four team Tournament played with a rolling clock and four 20 minute quarters. The Celts defeated Coleraine Chieftains in the Semi-Finals and Belfast Blitzers in the Final.

The Celts played the Belfast Blitzers in the All-Ireland Championship Final on August 16th 1986, losing 0-7, and the Blitzers won the League also but a post-season Bowl game was arranged for the first week in October which the Blitzers declined to take part in as they considered themselves already Champions.

The Dublin Celts lost this game, the first ever Shamrock Bowl, 2-6 to the Craigavon Cowboys.

Note: For the Standings (as is currently known by Eirball) for the 1986 season please see below the References Section.

 

Dublin Celts International Season 1986

Note: Please Click on the relevant matches to be brought to a page detailing the Scores, scorers, and players lists as well as a Match Report.

Dublin Celts International Matches 1986

Dublin Celts IAFL season 1986

Note: Please Click on the relevant matches to be brought to a page detailing the Scores, scorers, and players lists as well as a Match Report.

Dublin Celts IAFL Preseason 1986

Dublub Celts Capitol Bowl 1986

Note: Capitol Bowl Leg 1 doubled as Preseason match and Leg 2 as Regular Season Match

Dublin Celts Jack Daniels Summer Bowl 1986

Note: Non-Regular season 4th of July American Independence Day Tournament

Dublin Celts IAFL All Ireland Championship 1986

Note: Separate All Ireland Championship (also known as Knockout Cup)

Dublin Celts IAFL Regular Season 1986

Dublin Celts IAFL Playoffs 1986

 

 

REFERENCES

[1] Miriam Lord (1986) “Crunch: but could they handle Moss Keane?” Irish Independent. Monday, March 17, 1986. pg. 7

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

[3] James Mulcahy (1986) “Savage Celts” Irish Independent. Thursday, March 27, 1986. pg. 9.

[4] BritballNow (2017) Newcastle Senators [Internet] Available from: http://www.britballnow.co.uk/History/Britball%20Teams/NEWCASTLESENATORS.htm [Internet] [Accessed 25 June 2021]

[5] Irish American Football League (2002) Other Events [Internet] Available from: http://americanfootball.ie/iafl/otherevents02.htm [Accessed 20 March 2018]

[6] Anon. (1986) “Cowboys into Shamrock Bowl” Belfast Telegraph. Monday, September 29, 1986. Pg. 18.

Past Copies of the Belfast Telegraph are available to view online at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/

[7] Anon. (1986) “American Football comes to Dublin” Irish Press. Wednesday, November 12, 1986. Pg. 11. [Past Copies of the Irish Press are available to view online at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ ]

[8] Anon. (1986) “Today’s sport” Irish Press. Wednesday, Friday, November 28, 1986. pg. 22 [Past Copies of the Irish Press are available to view online at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ ]

[9] Anon. (1986) “Marlboro on the march” Irish Press. Wednesday, Friday, November 28, 1986. pg. 17 [Past Copies of the Irish Press are available to view online at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ ]

[10] Sean Moloney (1986) “Shamrocks from USA are playing to win” Evening Herald. Saturday, November 29, 1986. pg. 6.

WEBSITES

[11] Britball Now (2016) History of the Game in Ireland [Internet] Available from: http://www.britballnow.co.uk/history-index/ireland/history-of-the-game-in.html [Accessed 02 October 2016]

[12] Britball Now (2008) UK Clubs Against Foreign Opposition [Internet] Available from: http://www.britballnow.co.uk/History/UKClubsForeignOppo.html [Accessed 16 November 2008]

[13] Semi-Pro Football (2017) Eastern Football League Champions [Internet] Available from: http://www.semiprofootball.org/minor/champs/eastfl.htm [Accessed 16 November 2017]

SOURCES

[14] Kevin Sharkey (2020) “The Dublin Celts” Word Document shared by John Gunning on Facebook Messenger with permission.

References

[1] Anon (1986) “Crunch: but could they handle Moss Keane?” Irish Independent. Monday, March 17, 1986. pg. 7

Past copies of the Irish Independent are available to view online at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/

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]

SOCIAL MEDIA

[1] Belfast Blitzers Facebook Page (2019) Post, August 12, 2019 at 1:31 PM [Internet] Available from:  https://www.facebook.com/belfastblitzers/posts/2244208692356940?notif_id=1565921781157641&notif_t=comment_mention [Accessed 17 August 2019]

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to Kevin Sharkey (Dublin Celts, Dublin Lightning and North Kildare Reapers)

ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 17 July 2021

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2020-2021

You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved. The Logos and Photos used in this article remain the property of the organisations and individuals which own the copyright and are used here for educational and information purposes only.

Coleraine Chieftains vs Craigavon Cowboys

Craigavon Cowboys finished their preparations for the first ever Shamrock Bowl by defeating Coleraine Chieftains 33-0 in Londonderry YMCA, Drumahoe, thanks to three touchdowns by Running Back Stanley Kingsmill and a touchdown each by Wide Receiver John Mullally and running back Nigel Trimble.

References

[1] Anon. (1986) “Cowboys into ‘Shamrock Bowl'” Belfast Telegraph. Monday, September 29, 1986. pg. 18

[2] Anon. (1986) “Cowboys to meet the Celts” Belfast Telegraph. Saturday, September 27, 1986. pg. 24

[3] Anon (1986) “A cracking good show for grid-iron fans” Belfast Telegraph. Tuesday, September 23, 1986. pg. 24

[Past Copies of the Belfast Telegraph are available to view online at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ ]

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Craigavon Cowboys vs Belfast Blitzers

The Belfast Blitzers defeated the Craigavon Cowboys for the second time in 1986, winning 40-0 at Goodyear in Craigavon, two weeks after winning the Irish Championship against the Dublin Celts.

References

[1] Anon. (1986) “Cowboys look for revenge” Belfast Telegraph. Friday, August 29, 1986. Pg. 22.  [Past copies of the Belfast Telegraph are available to view online at https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ ]

[2] Craigavon Cowboys American Football Team Website (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]

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Carrickfergus Cougars vs Belfast Blitzers

The Belfast Blitzers made good preparations for the Irish Championship the following Sunday by defeating Carrickfergus Cougars 55-6 as part of the Carrick Festival. Gary Allen scored the Home Teams only touchdown while Derek McCord, Derek Hardy, Patsy Lundy, Damien McHugh and William Perry Neill all scored for the Blitzers.

References

[1] Anon. (1986) “Picture Caption” Belfast Telegraph. Monday, August 11, 1986. pg. 30

[2] Anon. (1986) “American flavour” Belfast Telegraph. Friday, August 8, 1986. pg. 26

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Belfast Blitzers vs Dublin Celts

Belfast Blitzers became the first ever team to beat the Dublin Celts, triumphing 24-20 in the 2nd Leg of the Capital Cup which doubled as an IAFL match on 22 June 1986 at Cooke Rugby Club in Belfast.

Martin Press secured victory for the Blitzers in the dying seconds when crashed over over for a Touchdown from close range and then the Belfast team ran in the extra point to make the Final score 24-20.

Dublin Celts took a 6-0 lead with an early touchdown, however the Blitzers edged in front 7-6 when Wide Receiver Ivan Smith scored a TD to which they added the extra point.

Belfast went further ahead when Derek McCord returned a punt 85 yards to the endzone, which was again converted leaving the Blitzers 14-6 up. Following this the Blitzers sacked the Celts Quarterback in the endzone for two more points. Two more touchdowns from the Celts put them 20-16 up in this see-saw battle, but the Belfast defence held firm for 7 more minutes before scoring the vital touchdown.

References

[1] Anon. (1986) “Blitzers turn the tables” Belfast Telegraph. Tuesday, June 24, 1986. pg. 28

[2] Anon. (1986) “Neill set for Capital Cup blitz” Belfast Telegraph. Wednesday, June 18, 1986. Pg. 23

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Coleraine Chieftains vs Belfast Blitzers

Report

Belfast Blitzers and Coleraine Chieftains met each other once in 1986 at Portrush on the Co. Down coast, where the Blitzers won.

The match was played as part of the Yankee Doodle Day which involved a special calvacade of American vintage motorcars which left Belfast on Saturday morning for the seaside resort, arriving on Sunday, via Antrim, Ballymena, Rasharkin, Cullybackey, Coleraine and Portstewart on its way to Portrush.

A Texas Rodeo Bull Ride, Arm wrestling and the Belfast Community Circus were also part of the events which were in aid of Ballymena Mentally Handicapped Hostel Fund and the Waverley Hospital.

References

Newspapers

[1] Anon. (1986) “Stylish motors take to the roads” Belfast Telegraph. Saturday, May 31, 1986. pg. 22. [Past Copies of the Belfast Telegraph are available to view online at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ ]

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]

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