History of the Earls
Scroll down to see the evolution of the Earls of Leuven
2015
15/11/2015
The first-ever AGM was held in the local watering hole in Leuven - Thomas Stapleton's Irish pub.
Affiliation
Sponsorship
Pictured on the left is the first-ever sponsorship contribution received by the Earls, again, written up and signed in Stapleton's pub.
The contributor - an unnamed local businessman who was of sound mind and body at the time of signing.
(He may or may not have lost an arm wrestle in the moments leading up)
2016
First match
The Earls were invited to participate in an exhibition match against Craobh Rua CLG at the St. Patrick's day festival of Brussels.
Team: Rory Gibney, Stephen Mcintyre, Ed James, Senan O'Mahony, Evan Hastings, Daire Cott, Freddie Raven, Alan Fitzgerald, Damien Atkins, Bartek & Matias, Conor Jansen, Jack Matthynssens, Aidan Campbell, Max Mathay, Billy Kinane
Bainisteoir: Karl Duffy
The Benelux
The Benelux is the regional division in which the Earls are geographically located. It hosts the oldest clubs in Europe, and some of the strongest in all codes.
Although there were very few highlights from the field of play.
The Earls thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the regional teams!
In the photo on the left players from Leuven, the Hague, and Eindhoven had just finished a nail-biting penalty shoot-out in the final game of the day.
We cannot remember the result.
The Pan-Euros
The first-ever major tournament for Leuven was a great one.
Reaching the junior final was a sublime achievement for our amalgamation team, The Leuven/Slovaks, or, BratisLeuven.
The Slovak shamrocks and Leuven were matched together to make up this team that would go so far on the day, losing to the wildly impressive French side of Clermont.
Cheers to the Slovak shamrocks for teaming up with us. A great bunch of lads!
Ardennes retreat
After a great year of learning the ropes in European Gaelic Games, the Earls retreat to the Belgian Ardennes for a "training weekend", planning the year ahead and engaging in some rigorous team bonding activities!
Thanks to Fr. Juan Carlos for taking care of the accommodation!
2017
St. Patrick's day derby
This day marks the 1 year anniversary of Leuven's first ever game. The Earls travel to Brussels to participate in an exhibition match at the annual St. Patricks day festival.
The Benelux
The Earls came close to silverware for the first time but were defeated by old friends Eindhoven in the final.
The losing streak continues...
Benelux round 3
VICTORY!!
The Earls of Leuven claim a trophy at last. Beating rivals Eindhoven in the B championship final.
Team
Daire Cott
Connor Carey
Barry Sheridan
Freddie Raven
Rory Gibney
Max Mathay
James Mc Philips
Brian Curtin
Darren Kelly
Alan Fitzgerald
James Nea
Jack Matthyssens
Bainisteoir - Karl Duffy
Maior uisce - Juan Carlos Tinjaca
Local parish Priest Juan Carlos Tinjaca lights a candle in the church to give the Earls a morale boost before the next Pan-European championships.
IT WORKED!
Intermediate champions of Europe!
The Pan-Euros
Leuven defeated Den Hague comfortably in the best game ever played by the Earls. A night to remember! Watch the recap video below.
2017
Special
Mentions
Bainisteoir: Karl Duffy
Karl departed Leuven after helping build the club in the early days.
He coached with as much passion as he pinted!
Go raibh maith agat as acht do seirbhís a chara!
Bonus mentions
Barry Sheridan unleashes hell on an Eindhoven player in the Benelux final.
What a warrior!
Daire Cott and sons celebrate the victory.
Thanks to Daire for coming out of retirement and banging in a few goals.
A true rebel who loves nothing more than smashing a size 5 in the back of the net.
2018
The flight of the Earls 2.0
The Earls take a trip out to Galicia to participate in a friendly tournament with friends in Spain! An overwhelming experience.
Galicia is truly a Gaelic Football stronghold.
University Affiliation
The Earls of Leuven become an affiliated University sports club.
Gaelic Games appears in the University sports catalogue from this point on.
A great milestone for the club.
Hurling introduction
On the back of achieving a relationship with the University, the Earls were successful with a grant application to develop hurling in Leuven.
Thanks to the Department of foreign affairs for helping us out!
After a few interesting training sessions, it was off to Dresden for the first battle. The Earls played alongside Hamburg on the day, no trophies but a great experience!
In the second round of hurling Leuven paired with Zurich and won the plate!
Victory!!!
The Benelux
Eindhoven
The Hauge
No trophies in the Benelux in 2018, unfortunately.
Back to the sportkot in Leuven for more training.
Eeverything to play for in the up-coming Pan-Euros
The Pan-European Football Finals
After a wave of last minute drama in the fixtures, the Earls were bumped up to the Senior division. A tricky promotion indeed as most of the senior teams were neighbors from the Benelux, teams the Earls knew well and had very little luck against in the past!
VICTORY!!
An extraordinary night for the Earls.
Winning the Senior B championship in Maastricht was an achievement that will never be forgotten.
The glorious victory was made sweeter by the fact that the Earls bested their neighbors and rivals from Brussels on the day!
Senior B champions !
The night was nearly perfect as the Leuven B team reached the final of the junior division.
Unfortunately conceding in the final minutes to finish as runners-up.
They played excellently and should be proud of their performance as many of the team were beginners
Volunteer work
Noche Solidaria
President of the supporters club Fr. Juan Carlos Tinjaca organizes grand fundraisers with hundreds of people, for great charities in the Latino & South American communities around the world.
The Earls offer to help out every year, and more often than not, end up working the cocktail bar!
2018
Special
Mentions
Fr Juan Carlos Tinjaca has been a critical part of the club, and a great friend to all!
Without his contributions & support, the Earls would not be the community of friends it is today!
Gracias amigo!
Bonus mention
Kaan Molla, the tenacious Turk, also known as the 18 pint man
Kaans first time togging out was in the Tournament in Galicia.
The Earls were bested by the Galicians entirely, but the one game they did win, was won due to Kaans last minute goal.
2019
The Irish College - Club Presentation & AGM
Due to substantial growth, our AGM's were no longer suitable for a booth in the local Irish pub. Thankfully, the Irish College of Leuven (Former home of the original Earls) offered us a conference room so that we could recruit & inform our new club members about what to expect over the next year!
Flight of the Earls
The Earls headed out to Galicia again in 2019, this time adding a trip to Porto!
Lille trip
The Earls make a day trip out to their friends in France for a challenge match and a few beers!
Thanks to Lille GAA for the after match hydration
In-house practice game
Growth in numbers means that the Earls can organise in-house practice matches to warm up for competitive tournaments.
A great way to prepare for the tough opponents in the Benelux.
Free ice cream for the team after the match!
Establishment of Ladies team
First ever ladies team in Leuven.
Although no silverware was won, the ladies got to the senior A final in their first-ever tournament!
The World Games
Ciaran Conlon
James Nea
Alan Fitzgerald
The Earls that played for Europe in the 2019 World games in Waterford
The Pan European- football finals
Earls history in the Pan-European championship
Year 1 - Junior B final runners up Year 2 - Intermediate champions Year 3 - Senior B champions
But unfortunately, the win streak would come to an end in Vienna. The weekend was still thoroughly enjoyed by all! We even had the good fortune of being managed by Sean Dempsey, former Laois senior football manager.
Vienna
Recap video
2019
Special
Mentions
Fergal Lonergan landed in Leuven in late 2018, he transformed the club into a community.
A jack of all trades
coach, secretary & singer,
A better club man you will not find!
Ciara mcKenna was the club PRO during her time in Leuven.
A fantastic asset, both on the pitch, and the afters!
There would be no ladies team if it wasn't for Ciara's contribution
Míle buíchos Ciara
Bonus mentions
Ciaran Conlon
10 points per pint.
There's no forward more dangerous in the Benelux than condog with a quenched thirst.
James Nea
James has more player of the tournament awards than the Earls have trophies.
An unstoppable duo!
2020
Flight of the Earls 4.0
The Earls headed to Spain once again, but not to Galicia, this time it's Valencia!
Another fantastic trip with great games, new friends, and farmers' tans!
See the highlight video on the left to get an idea of what we got up to!
Hosting an Invitational
The Earls were one of the only clubs lucky enough to host a tournament in the year of 2020!
A great day out with friends from Eindhoven, Lille & Maastricht!
Covid -19
All club activities & training suspended until safe
2021- BACK IN ACTION!
Man down
Unfortunately, most of the core club members moved on during the covid-lockdown period.
Condog101, mentioned in the video was a founding member, and a very wild man indeed.
EPIC Museum induction
The Earls of Leuven were invited to display a jersey in the EPIC museum of emigration.
Of the 106 active clubs in Europe, Leuven are the only club on display to the world, in one of Irelands top tourist spots.
The number 18 represents the year the worlds won the senior B European championship. The jersey is signed by all players on the team.
Perhaps the most important AGM in the history of the Earls.
The 2021 AGM is where all the plans were made for the many events we would attend and host the following year.
The excellent thing about this AGM was the incredible diversity.
13 different nationalities and 10 different Irish counties were represented in the room that evening.
The 2021 AGM
2022
Return to training
Record high numbers in Leuven as we resume at more than full strength
The Collegiate Games
The first student only tournamnet in Europe confirmed for Leuven on the 2nd of April.
Warsaw
Budapest
Maastricht
Nottingham
Groningen
Leuven
All the above teams will battle it out at this historic event
Hosting the Benelux
Benelux 2 - Eindhoven
The ladies take the shield but the lads fell short in the final.
Another milestone as captain Roisin takes home the first ever ladies trophy
Pan European hurling
The third major event of the year, the pan-European hurling championships.
Another historic occasion.
2023
The second Collegiate Games
Double champs!
Leuven win the double in the seocnd round of the Benelux in Dendermonde, Belgium.
Another milestone in the club to have dual chamoionship winning teams
End of semester GAAla
A hugely successfull event, and the first of many more.
Huge thanks to the three Queens for the organisation.
Lir, Nicole, and Emma
The World Games
Perhaps the biggest week in Earls history.
11 Earls were selected to represent the Benelux at the 2023 World Games.
This was the first time in history the Benelux was represented at the World Games.
Among the Earls, there was:
1 Italian
1 German
1 Colombian,
2 Spanish
1 Swede
2 Belgians
and 1 Cork man
The first ever "development" tournament
The first ever development tournament in the benelux takes place in Leuven.
Nijmegen, Cologne, and Maastricht attended.
The Pan-Euros
A fantastic day at the 2023 Pan-European Football Finals.
Hosted by Den Haag. 14th October 2023.
Leuven had two full teams.
One mens and one ladies.
Development Tournament in Cologne
The Earls attend two tournaments in one week, another milestone!
Travelling to Cologne by car.
The men finished 3rd, the ladies second.
The largest training session ever recorded in Europe!
Another record for the Earls.
103 players counted at the first training session of the first semester.
6 coaches.
Gaelic Football was the most opular sport in KUL over the introduction week at the sportcenter.