Emerald Isle Classic
| Emerald Isle Classic Shamrock Classic Croke Park Classic Aer Lingus College Football Classic | |
|---|---|
| Stadium | Aviva Stadium |
| Location | Dublin, Ireland |
| Previous stadiums | Lansdowne Road, Croke Park |
| Operated | 1988–89, 1996, 2012, 2014, 2016 |
The Emerald Isle Classic was the first NCAA-sanctioned American college football game played in Europe. The game was played at Lansdowne Road in Dublin, Ireland in the years 1988 and 1989. The first game featured a 2–7 Boston College team led by Mark Kamphaus against the 8–1 Army Black Knights. The originators of the game were Mr. Aidan J. Prendergast and Mr. Jim O'Brien. Mr. Prendergast, who is a former President of the Irish American Football Association conceived the idea of bringing a major NCAA game to Ireland in the mid 1980s and started pitching the idea on both sides of the Atlantic. Mr. Prendergast promoted both the 1988 and 1989 games.
The game is intended as an annual event to attract some of the 40 million Americans of Irish descent back to their fatherland. College teams with particularly Irish or Catholic background were chosen in an effort to attract Irish nationals to the games as well.
1996
In 1996, Notre Dame and the United States Naval Academy began a second American football event in Ireland called the Shamrock Classic. The event, played at Croke Park, drew a slightly smaller crowd than the first Emerald Isle Classic. Notre Dame won the game over Navy, setting the record for the longest winning streak over an annual collegiate opponent at 33 wins.
2012
A return trip by the teams in 2012, held at Aviva Stadium, was confirmed by the two schools and stadium management in September 2010. The Emerald Isle Classic was tied to the Irish tourism initiative The Gathering, which sought to encourage members of the Irish diaspora (especially in the U.S.) to visit their ancestral home in 2013. The first advance sellout for a sporting event in the two-year history of Aviva Stadium, 15,000 tickets sold in less than two hours, and about 35,000 Americans went to Dublin. The 2012 game aired live in parts of Europe as well as the U.S. The U.S. Navy docked an amphibious-assault warship in Dublin before the game.[1] While the event was successful from a tourism perspective, it was marred by the poor treatment of the sport locally by the game organisers.[2][3] Consequently, the originators, who had allowed the name "Emerald Isle Classic" to be used in 2012, transferred the intellectual property relating to the event, including the trademarks for the event name to the Irish American Football Association in 2015 for 'safe keeping'.[4]
2014
In June 2013, Penn State and UCF were reportedly in negotiations to play their 2014 season opener at Aviva, and the stadium was also seen as a potential venue for a proposed bowl game that would begin that season.[5] The Orlando Sentinel, located in UCF's home city, reported in July 2013 that the teams would play the game at Croke Park instead of Aviva.[6] That month the game, to be called the Croke Park Classic, was confirmed.[7] The Croke Park Classic saw the University of Central Florida (UCF) host Penn State in their 2014 Season Opener in GAA HQ on the 30th August 2014. This was the first time UCF and Penn State had played outside the United States and Penn State took the Dan Rooney Trophy in a competitively fought game. 53,304 fans attend the Croke Park Classic in Croke Park. The game is a thrilling encounter which sees Penn State overcome UCF by 26 points to 24. The game ends in drama with Sam Ficken's field goal in the dying seconds winning Penn State the Croke Park Classic. The Irish American Football Association was one of the official partners in the game and provided both promotional and technical assistance to Croke Park. [8]
2016
On June 4, 2015, Irish American Events Limited (IAEL), which is a joint venture between Corporate.ie and Anthony Travel, announced that American college football will return to Ireland in 2016 with a match-up between Boston College and Georgia Tech. The game will be played at Aviva Stadium on September 3, 2016. The game will be called Aer Lingus College Football Classic.[9]
The announcement was made at the reception in Dublin attended by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD, which was followed by a reception in Boston College in the U.S. attended by the Mayor of Boston, Marty Walsh.
Aer Lingus was also announced as Title Sponsor for the game that will see the Boston College Eagles kick off the 2016/17 NCAA Division I College Football Season in an Atlantic Coast Conference game against the formidable Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech. Tourism Ireland, Failte Ireland and Dublin City Council are also supporting the game.
Event organisers are confident the game will be a 48,000 ticket sellout. It is expected that 25,000 will travel from the US and Europe to the game.
Results
| Game | Date | Event | Venue | Winner | Score | Loser | Score | Attendance | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | November 19 | Emerald Isle Classic | Lansdowne Road | Boston College | 38 | Army | 24 | 42,525 | [10] |
| 1989 | December 2 | Emerald Isle Classic | Lansdowne Road | Pittsburgh | 46 | Rutgers | 29 | 19,800 | [11] |
| 1996 | November 2 | Shamrock Classic | Croke Park | Notre Dame | 54 | Navy | 27 | 38,651 | [12] |
| 2012 | September 1 | Emerald Isle Classic | Aviva Stadium | Notre Dame | 50 | Navy | 10 | 48,820 | [13] |
| 2014 | August 30 | Croke Park Classic | Croke Park | Penn State | 26 | UCF | 24 | 53,304 | [7] |
| 2016 | September 3 | Aer Lingus College Football Classic | Aviva Stadium | Boston College vs. Georgia Tech | |||||
References
- ↑ Pogatchnik, Shawn (August 31, 2012). "US fans take over Dublin for Navy-Notre Dame game". Louisville, Kentucky: WDRB. Associated Press. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
- ↑ "Emerald Isle Classic Press Release".
- ↑ "IAFA responds to Navy".
- ↑ "Irish Trade Mark Register".
- ↑ Wilson, Christopher (June 11, 2013). "Report: Bowl games could be coming to Dubai, Dublin, the Bahamas". Dr. Saturday (Yahoo! Sports). Retrieved June 16, 2013.
- ↑ Tenorio, Paul (July 9, 2013). "UCF, Penn State to officially announce Ireland game on Sunday". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
- 1 2 "Penn State to Face UCF in Ireland's Croke Park Classic to Open 2014 Season" (Press release). Penn State Athletics. July 14, 2013. Retrieved July 14, 2013.
- ↑ "Penn State native".
- ↑ http://collegefootballireland.com/
- ↑ Lohr, Steve (1988-11-20). "COLLEGE FOOTBALL; Dubliners Cheer as B.C. Wins". New York Times (The New York Times (1851 - 2004) database). Retrieved 2007-10-04.
- ↑ "Croke Park Classic". UCF. Retrieved 2014-08-30.
- ↑ "Games Played in Ireland". College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved 2007-10-04.
- ↑ "Aviva Stadium To Host The 2012 Navy-Notre Dame Game" (Press release). United States Naval Academy Varsity Athletics. 2010-09-21. Retrieved 2010-09-29.