Results Autumn 1942
| Date | Winners | Runners-Up | ||
| Game 1 | Ravenhill Stadium, Belfast | |||
| 14.11.1942 | Hale Blue Devils | 9 | Yarvard Crimson Tide | 7 |
| Game 2 | Inver Park, Larne | |||
| 21.11.1942 | Yarvard Crimson Tide | 14 | Tech Fighting Irish | 0 |
Report
From 1942-1943 the US Army played a series of American Football matches in Northern Ireland, Wales & England in aid of the Red Cross. Teams were named Tech (Engineering), Hale (Infantry) and Yarvard (Artillery).
Irish and British newspaper readers would have been familiar with reports in the papers of US College Football, and the team names reflect this (Yarvard and Hale are not mis-spellings, but the names reflect the Ivy League Colleges of Harvard and Yale, similarly Tech is a nod to the big American Tech Colleges.
Starting in Northern Ireland in 1942, matches were played at the home of Ulster Rugby, Ravenhill (Hale winning 9-7) and Larne (Yarvard getting a 14-0 win over Tech). 8, 000 turned up to see the Ravenhill game, and a full capacity 2,000 for the Larne match.
References
Websites
[1] Irish American Football Association (2016) Journey to Thirty [Internet] Available from: http://www.americanfootball.ie/journeyto-thirty/ [Accessed 08 August 2016]
[2] Irish American Football Association (2016) History of US Teams playing in Ireland [Internet] Available from: http://www.americanfootball.ie/history-of-us-teams-playing-in-ireland/ [Accessed 22 November 2016]
[3] Irish American Football Association (2016) History [Internet] Available from: http://www.americanfootball.ie/iafl/history.htm [Accessed 26 October 2016]
[4] Lucky Show (2016) American Football in Ireland [Internet] Available from: http://www.luckyshow.org/football/Shamrock%20Bowl.htm [Accessed 5 June 2017]
[5] Dublin Town – Article by Gerry Farrell (2016) College Football Classic Ireland’s Relationship with American Football [Internet] Available from: http://www.dublintown.ie/irelands-relationship-with-american-football/ [Accessed 7 May 2018]
Sources.
[6] Anon. (1942) . “Photo caption: American Football att Ravenhill”. Belfast News-Letter. 16 November 1942. pg. 6.
[10] Magee, Damian. “English Beer and American Football: Exporting American Football as a Cultural Commodity to the British Isles.” Irish Journal of American Studies, vol. 7, 1998, pp. 121–148. JSTOR, JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30002410.
[11] Foglio, Massimo & Ford, Mark L. (2017) Touchdown in Europe – How American Football Came to the Old Continent. pg. 47-82. Published by the author.
Social Media
[12] Belfast Blitzers | Faacebook (2019) Post 22 August 2019: “ So this is the last of the photos in the archive, it’s of the Yarvard team at Sandy Bay, Larne Harbour on the 21st November 1942. “ [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/belfastblitzers/photos/pcb.2260513057393170/2260507127393763/?type=3&theater [Accessed 23 August 2019]
[13] Belfast Blitzers | Facebook (2019) Post 22 August 2019: “So this is the last of the photos in the archive, it’s of the Yarvard team at Sandy Bay, Larne Harbour on the 21st November 1942. “ [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/belfastblitzers/photos/rpp.454643317980162/2260507354060407/?type=3&theater[Accessed 23 August 2019]
Images
[14] Belfast Blitzers | Facebook (2019) Photo 22 August 2019 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/belfastblitzers/photos/pcb.2260513057393170/2260507127393763/?type=3&theater [Accessed 23 August 2019]
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Todd Zboyan, Sondra Maher, Rick Kelley & Tim Leadingham.
About this document
Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the
Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive
Last Updated: 2 November 2019-2020
(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2019-2020
You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved.