The Wild Geese Classic was an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

-sanctioned American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

game played in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

, Ireland. The game was played on the pitch at

Gaelic Grounds The Gaelic Grounds, know for sponsorshop reasons as the TUS Gaelic Grounds, is the principal GAA stadium in the Irish city of Limerick, home to the Limerick hurling and football teams. It has a capacity of 44,023. History 9 October 1926 saw f ...

in 1991 and 1993. The Classic was intended to be a celebration of the 300th anniversary of the

Flight of the Wild Geese The Flight of the Wild Geese was the departure of an Irish Jacobite army under the command of Patrick Sarsfield from Ireland to France, as agreed in the Treaty of Limerick on 3 October 1691, following the end of the Williamite War in Ireland. ...

of 1691 and the

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

heroes who resisted an

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seize of the City of Limerick. The game matched

NCAA Division I-AA The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athleti ...

teams Fordham and Holy Cross with Holy Cross winning 24–19. The game was repeated two years later with the UMass taking on the

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. UMass won the matchup by a score of 36–14. The two Wild Geese Classic games were both hampered by poor attendance,

had a capacity at the time of about 50,000 people. The 1991 game saw an attendance of about 12,000 fans and only about 5,000 attended the second. Further, the game was unable to gain a national television contract and was only broadcast locally to areas where the competing Universities were located. These factors led to the Classic being discontinued after the 1993 contest. Most native fans who attended the Classic were very confused by the rules, having never watched American Football. They incorrectly assumed that the rules were similar to those of

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

and therefore could not figure out why after a pass was ruled incomplete, that the clock was stopped and the play was ended, or how substitutions could be freely made between plays. Subsequently, the loudest cheers during the game were for such meaningless activities like the hang-time on punts, which in rugby are called Garryowens.

Game results

References

Defunct college football bowls Fordham Rams football Holy Cross Crusaders football Rhode Island Rams football UMass Minutemen football American football in Ireland Sport in Limerick (city) Recurring sporting events established in 1991 Recurring events disestablished in 1993 1991 establishments in Ireland 1993 disestablishments in Ireland {{Massachusetts-sport-stub