USAFE Finals 1952-1993

Year	Winners		Runners-Up
1952	Furstenfeldbruck Eagles	26	Burtonwood Bullets	7
1953	Landstuhl Raiders	30	London Rockets	21
1954	London Rockets
1955	London Rockets
1956	London Rockets
1957	Toul Tigers		Burtonwood Bullets
1958	Ramstein Rams		Alconbury Spartans
1959	Weisbaden Flyers
1960	SHAPE Indians
1961	SHAPE Indians		Alconbury Spartans
1962	Weisbaden Flyers		Chicksands Fighting Chicks
1963 *	Bitburg Barons * / Weathersfield Raiders *
1964	Rhein-Main Rockets		Chicksands Fighting Chicks
1965	Weisbaden Flyers	54	Weathersfield Raiders	6
1966	Weisbaden Flyers	49	Weathersfield Raiders	0
1967	Rhein-Main Rockets	19	Bentwaters Phantoms	14
1968	Bentwaters Phantoms
1969	Rhein-Main Rockets		Bentwaters Phantoms
1970	Upper Heyford Sky Kings
1971	Weisbaden Flyers		Upper Heyford Sky Kings
1972	Rhein-Main Rockets		Upper Heyford Sky Kings
1973	Upper Heyford Sky Kings
1974	Upper Heyford Sky Kings
1975	Weisbaden Flyers		Bentwaters Phantoms
1976	Bitburg Barons		Bentwaters Phantoms
1977	Bitburg Barons		Chicksands Fighting Chicks
1978	Bitburg Barons
1979	Lakenheath Eagles		Bitburg Barons
1980	Bitburg Barons		Lakenheath Eagles
1981	Upper Heyford Sky Kings		Bitburg Barons
1982	Upper Heyford Sky Kings
1983	Ramstein Rams		Upper Heyford Sky Kings
1984	Ramstein Rams		Bentwaters Phantoms
1985	Ramstein Rams		Upper Heyford Sky Kings
1986	Chicksands Fighting Chicks
1987	Rhein-Main Rockets		Lakenheath Eagles
1988	Rhein-Main Rockets	34	Lakenheath Eagles	0
1989	Rhein-Main Rockets	37	Lakenheath Eagles	18
1990	Lakenheath Eagles	39	Rhein-Main Rockets	30
1991	Rhein-Main Rockets	27	Lakenheath Eagles	6
1992	Rhein-Main Rockets	57	Lakenheath Eagles	12
1993	Rhein-Main Rockets		Lakenheath Eagles

Note: * The 1963 Title was shared between Bitburg Barons and Weathersfield Raiders as the Final was cancelled after the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy.

Composite Standings

Team	Conference	Championships
Rhein-Main Rockets	Continental	10
Weisbaden Flyers	Continental	6
Upper Heyford Sky Kings	United Kingdom	5
Bitburg Barons	Continental	5 *
Ramstein Rams	Continental	4
London Rockets	United Kingdom	3
Lakenheath Eagles	United Kingdom	2
SHAPE Indians (Paris)	France	2
Bentwaters Phantoms	United Kingdom	1
Chicksands Fighting Chicks	United Kingdom	1
Furstenfeldbruck Eagles	Continental	1
Landstuhl Raiders	Continental	1
Toul Tigers	France	1
Weathersfield Raiders	United Kingdom	1 *

Note: *1963 Final shared between Weatersfield Raiders and Bitburg Barons after it was cancelled due to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Report

The USAFE (United States Air Force in Europe) Football league title was won on 10 occasions by Rhein-Main Rockets (Continental Sports Conference), Weisbaden Flyers (CSC) six times, Upper Heyford Sky Kings (United Kingdom Sports Conference) five times , Bitburg Barons (CSC) five times, Ramstein Rams (CSC) four times, London Rockets (UKSC) three times, Lakenheath Eagles (UKSC) twice and SHAPE Indians (Paris, France Sports Conference) twice.

Bentwaters Phantoms (UKSC), Chicksands Fighting Chicks (UKSC), Furstenfeldbruck Eagles (CSC), Landstuhl Raiders (CSC), Toul Tigers (FSC), Weathersfield Raiders (UKSC) each won the title once.

There were four Sports Conferences: United Kingdom, Continental, France and Mediterranean, although in the end the France and Mediterranean Sports Conferences were merged with the Continental Conference.

About

The United States Air Force in Europe Football League (USAFE – pronounced “You-Safe”) was the League for Air Force Personnel stationed at Cold War Military Bases in Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy & Greece.

There were three Conferences: UK Sports Conference, Continental Sports Conference (German & France) and Mediterranean Sports Conference (Italy & Greece). While the MSC was a competitive Conference, the Finals were usually played between the Winners of the UKSC and the CSC.

Following the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s, the USAFE Football League was discontinued and the only US Military Football now played in the UK is High School Football at Lakenheath, London Central (High Wycombe), Alconbury & Menwith Hill. [1]

The United States ARmy EURope played a separate League (USAREUR). [6]

The Ramstein Rams, Alconbury Spartans, Burtonwood Bullets & Weathersfield Raiders all played matches in Ireland, including one at Croke Park in aid of the Irish Red Cross. [12-15]

Teams

UK Sports Conference (UKSC)	Continental Sports Conference (CSC)
Alconbury Spartans	Berlin Bears
Bentwaters Phantoms	Bitburg Barons
Chicksands Fighting Chicks	Camp New Amsterdam
Fairford Falcons	Landsberg Tigers
Greenham Comon Pirates	Rhein-Main Rockets
Lakenheath Eagles	Sembach Tigers
Mildenhall Marauders	Ramstein Rams
Upper Heyford Sky Kings	Spangdalem Sheikhs/Sabers
Weathersfield Raiders	Weisbaden Flyers
High Wycombe Bucks	Hahn Hawks
Burtonwood Bullets	Zweibrucken
France Sports Conference / District (FSC)	Mediterranean Sports Conference (MSC)
SHAPE Indians (Paris)	Aviano Eagles (Ita)
Laon Rangers	Hellenikon Olympians (Gre)
Chateauroux Sabres	Moron
Chaumont Mudhens	San Vito
Fontainbleu Foresters	Torrejon
Bordeaux Cardinals
Orly Comets
Evreux Normans
Etain Pioneers
Toul Tigers
Dreux Plainsmen
Chambley Desert Rats
Phalsbourg Falcons

References

Websites

[1] Britball Now (2019) US Miltary Football in the UK [Internet] Available from: http://www.britballnow.co.uk/history-index/us-military-football-in-the.html [Accessed 8 November 2019]

[2] USAFE Football (2019) Teams | CSC [Internet] Available from: http://www.usafefootball.com/Teams/CSC/csc.html [Accessed 8 November 2019]

[3] USAFE Football (2019) Teams | UKSC [Internet] Available from: http://www.usafefootball.com/Teams/UKSC/uksc.html [Accessed 8 November 2019]

[4] USAFE Football (2019) Teams | MSC [Internet] Available from: http://www.usafefootball.com/Teams/MSC/msc.html [Accessed 8 November 2019]

[5] Enciclopedia del Football Italiano (2019) United States Army Europe Football Tournament [Internet] Available from: http://www.warriorsbologna.it/public/Enciclopedia/PDF/1974_USArEurFT.pdf [Accessed 8 November 2019]

Bibliography

[6] Crawford, Russ (2016) “Le Football: A History of American Football in France”. pg. 87-110. Published by University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln & Lincoln.

[7] Foglio, Massimo & Ford, Mark L. (2017) Touchdown in Europe – How American Football Came to the Old Continent. pg. 103-105. Published by the author.

[8] Lensmen Photographic Archive (2012) . “The 1950s Ireland in Pictures”. pg. 36. The O’Brien Press Ltd. Dublin, Ireland.

Images

[9] Britball Now (2019) USAFE Final 1952 (Wembley) [Internet] Available http://www.britballnow.co.uk/_Media/1952-usaf-final-wembley_med.jpeg [Accessed 8 November 2019]

[10] USAFE Football (2019) Ramstein Rams [Internet] Available from: http://www.usafefootball.com/db_Ramstein-Rams-121.jpg [Accessed 8 November 2019]

[11] USAFE Football (2019) CSC Sports Patch [Internet] Available from: http://www.usafefootball.com/CSC-Sports-Patch.jpg [Accessed 8 November 2019]

[12] USAFE Football (2020) USAFE-Football-Coin_Hat-5 [Internet] Available from: http://www.usafefootball.com/USAFE-Football-Coin_Hat-5.jpg [Accessed 18 July 2020]

Newspapers

[13] Anon. (1954) . “Photo caption”. Northern Whig. 18 November 1954. pg. 6.

[14] Anon. (1966) . “Rams bring 45 ‘Rough Scrappers”. Belfast Telegraph. 1 September 1966. pg. 18.

Journal Articles

[15] 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, www.jstor.org/stable/30002410.

Websites

[16] USAFE Football (2020) RM_USAFE ScannedImage-2 [Internet] Available from: http://www.usafefootball.com/Teams/CSC/Rhein-M/Rhein-Main/rhein-main_39.html [Accessed 18 July 2020]

[17] USAFE Football (2020) RM ScannedImage [Internet] Available from: http://www.usafefootball.com/Teams/CSC/Rhein-M/Rhein-Main/rhein-main_36.html [Accessed 18 July 2020]

[18] USAFE Football (2020) RM_USAFE ScannedImage-3 [Internet] Available from: http://www.usafefootball.com/Teams/CSC/Rhein-M/Rhein-Main/rhein-main_40.html [Accessed 18 July 2020]

[19] USAFE Football (2020) Rhein-Main 1967 vs Bentwaters USAFE Championship Game [Internet] Available from: http://www.usafefootball.com/Teams/CSC/Rhein-M/Rhein-Main/rhein-main_78.html [Accessed 18 July 2020]

Newspapers

[20] Fox, Bucky (1989) “USAFE – Just Another Year” World American Football. 9 November 1989.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Todd Zboyan & Tim Leadingham.

About this document

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 8 November 2019

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2019

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