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History of the Earls

Scroll down to see the evolution of the Earls of Leuven 

2015

15/11/2015 

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The first-ever AGM was held in the local watering hole in Leuven - Thomas Stapleton's Irish pub. 

Affiliation
First contract EOL
Sponsorship 2016 EOL
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. 

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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

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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.

First tournament EOL

Although there were very few highlights from the field of play.

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The Earls thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the regional teams! 

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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. 

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We cannot remember the result.

The Pan-Euros 
Bratisleuven

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 
Bastogne meeting

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!

WORLD games 2019
Belgiums first county player! 

Jarno Timmermans 

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First ever Belgian to represent Europe in the world games 

Rory G Earls

Rory Gibney 


Viral sensation.

See Rory's wonder goal in the Pan-Euros 

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. 

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The Benelux
Dressing room Earls

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
EOL Victory

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

Earls

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. 

JC prayers
IT WORKED! 
JC
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

Karl Duffy

Bainisteoir: Karl Duffy 

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Karl departed Leuven after helping build the club in the early days. 

He coached with as much passion as he pinted!

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Go raibh maith agat as acht do seirbhís a chara!

Boss
Benelux 2017

Bonus mentions

Barry Sheridan unleashes hell on an Eindhoven player in the Benelux final. 

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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.

Cott & Sons

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. 

mr cool
Galicia!##
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University Affiliation

KU Leuven

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 

Hurls

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!

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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!​

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In the second round of hurling Leuven paired with Zurich and won the plate!

Victory!!!

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hurling dresden

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 

Fergal EOL

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!