The Finals, in Germany, August 1989

Great Britain 38-6 Germany

European Nations Championship Semi-Final at Hamburg, Germany - August 21st 1989

This was the contest GB had to win to negate all the criticism of their previous winless European Nations Championship performance in 1987. Much more emphasis was given to pre-game preparation and the same staff was appointed both off the field and on from the qualifying game. Players from all levels of the game had been able to tryout and the atmosphere among the team was one of excited expectation.

So the Terry Smith coached Lions team went into the game with only football on their minds and it more than paid off as the host team Germans (runners up in 1987) were swamped. Hood receiver Allan Brown caught two touchdowns while running backs Victor Ebubideke and Trevor Carthy ran in two each themselves. In front of a partisan 6,000 crowd and a national TV audience, the British players put on their best ever performance to lead 19-0 at half-time and 38-0 in the final period. Germany only scored near the end against GB's second string defense.

Great Britain 26-0 Finland

European Nations Championship Final at Arensburg, Germany - August 27th 1989

The pre-tournament favourites for this final had both been defeated and there was further disruption of the original plans when torrential rain caused this game to be staged several hours late and 20 miles from Hamburg, it's original venue.

But none of these problems affected a rampaging Great Britain who adopted a ground attack because of the poor weather conditions and inadequate lighting. Victor Ebubideke and Trevor Carthy again led the charge with the Raven scoring the first points on a 50-yard break over right tackle. A defense which was to make six interceptions then kept the pressure on the Finns. Linebacker Karl Goodwin returned the first interception deep into Finnish territory where Ebubideke completed the job for a 12-0 lead which GB held at the half.

The Finns came out fired up in the second half and almost got back into the game with a long drive only to turn the ball over on downs after a successful GB blitz on fourth and five.


DB Mike Duncan celebrating victory

Britain then surprised their opponents by going to the air and Jason Elliot found Allan Brown in the end zone from 30 yards. An extra point from Toby Hester gave Britain an unassailable 19-0 lead. Carthy finally got in on the scoring act in the fourth quarter to seal a truly memorable victory more impressive than the European Championship had ever seen before.

GB had outscored their opponents 64-6 in the two games (102-12 including the qualifier) and had looked in a class of their own.

Full squad of the finals

QB. Jason Elliot (London Olympians), Chaz Jasicki (Brighton B-52's)
RB. Paul Bailey (Manchester Spartans), Gladstone McKenzie, Clifton Mitchell (Nottingham Hoods), Earl Livermore (London Olympians), Victor Ebubedike (London Ravens), Trevor Carthy (Birmingham Bulls)
WR. Allan Brown (Nottingham Hoods), Paul Rochester (Chelmsford Cherokee), LeRoy Innes (Brighton B-52's), Bob Gaisie (Manchester Spartans)
TE. Tim Casey (Leeds Cougars), Andy Harwood (Thames Valley Chargers)
OT Jo Richardson, Les Tuitt (both London Olympians), Mike Jobson, Mike Smith, Trevor Wooley, Cameron Dundas (all Manchester Spartans), Nick Cressey (Brighton B-52's), Leif Pendel (Bournemouth Bobcats), Pat Campbell (Essex), Gary Mills (Birmingham Bulls)
DL. Phil Wood, Martin Owen, Warren Billingham (all Manchester Spartans), Ken Lewis (Birmingham Bulls), Steve Leatham (London Olympians), Les Jackson, Dave Samuel (both Thames Valley Chargers), Gareth Alyson (Bournemouth Bobcats)
LB. Bob Dean (London Olympians), John Parker (Nottingham Hoods), Karl Goodwin (Bournemouth Bobcats), Colin Nash (Birmingham Bulls)
DB. Clive Loftman (Birmingham Bulls), Mike Duncan, Leroy Burnett (both Brighton B-52's), Dennis Dale, Mike Taylor (both London Olympians), Mark Thaw (Bournemouth Bobcats), Nigel Dias, Sean Mason (both Manchester Spartans)
K. Neal Pearson (Manchester Spartans),
P. Toby Hester (London Ravens)