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
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.
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
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.
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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
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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!
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.
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.
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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!
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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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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!