First LFFAB game: Fighting Turtles v. Brussels Tigers

Here's the first LFFAB game for the blog. The Louvain-La-Neuve Fighting Turtles against the Brussels Tigers in the last game of the LFFAB regular season.

Watch the two teams battle it out:

Old Junior Football tape

Three Junior league football videos, all from the 9 man league.

Brussels Bulls against the Louvain-La-Neuve Fighting Turtles in the 2011 Junior Bowl:


Then we have older tape from the 2009 season. First the 28-0 loss of the Leuven Lions against the Bulls and then the 50-0 victory of the Lions over the Antwerp Diamonds.

Bulls in the 2010 Atlantic Cup

More like highlights, but still long enough to learn from. Atlantic Cup 2010 where the Brussels Bulls played against the Lelystad Commanders and Dudelange Dragons.

First, the victory against the Dudelange dragons:


Then, the loss against the Lelystad Commanders:

Preparing for the 2013 season: Fighting Turtles v Bornem Titans scrimmage

Another nice find today, apparently the Louvain-La-Neuve Fighting Turtles played a scrimmage game against the Bornem Titans before the 2013 season started.
Enjoy!

Crowning the champion: Belgian Bowl game film

Did not know before that all these great videos were available on youtube, but definitely worth the look.

First up, Belgian Bowl XXIII in 2010 with the Izegem Tribes facing the Brussels Tigers:




Then, in 2011, the Izegem Tribes go to the Belgian Bowl again, although this time it's an all-FFL party with the Brussels Black Angels as their opponent:




In the 2012 Belgian Bowl XXV the Izegem Tribes are no longer one of the contenders. Two different teams square off: Antwerp Diamonds and Brussels Tigers. Unfortunately only a recap of the game seems to be available online:




In Belgian Bowl XXVI the Brussels Tigers return to defend their title as national champs facing off against the Brussels Bulls:

SPA commercial with the Gators and Titans

The Gators and Titans worked together in a commercial for SPA sparkling water, here's the result:

Don't call it the national team! Treasure Cup 2013

The newest team in the FFL, the Ostend Pirates organized a small tournament at the end of the 2013 season to test their skills. The two other teams in the tournament were the Coudekerque Black Wolves and the Barbarians. The Barbarians team was made up of players selected after the season and they made for a good looking representation of what the best in the FFL has to offer.

Here's the tape of the day's games:

The Puurs Titans during the 2013 Senior Season

The Titans made the playoffs in 2013, too bad there's only one game tape to show off their exploits.

The victory against the Gators:

The Izegem Tribes during the 2013 Senior Season

The Tribes took a step backwards compared to the previous season, but this was clearly attributable to the founding of the Ostend Pirates. Even though they didn't produce a lot of wins, the new, younger core does seem to be capable of getting a better result in 2014.

The Bulls were too strong:

But against the Gators the young core managed to keep it much closer:

The Brussels Bulls during the 2013 Senior Season

The Bulls made it to the Belgian Bowl in 2013 and were a very strong team as evidenced by the two tapes available.

Against the Black Angels the game stayed close until the end:

The following week the Bulls had an easier assignment and defeated the Tribes:

The Leuven Lions during the 2013 Senior Season

The Leuven Lions showed some clear improvement over their performance in the 2012 season, but it was not enough to make it to the playoffs.

The victory against the Diamonds:

And then the following week a tie against the Gators:

The Brussels Black Angels during the 2013 Senior Season

The Black Angels had a good season in 2013, making the playoffs as they usually do and then winning their wild card game. Unfortunately for them they ran into the eventual national champ Brussels Tigers during the semifinal game.

The first game available is a victory against the Gators in week 3:


Then we go to the clash of heavyweights the next week when the Angels battle the Bulls. Lots of defense, limited yards, but no victory in the end for the Black Angels:


The last tape shows the Black Angels winning convincingly against the Diamonds:

The Antwerp Diamonds during the 2013 Senior Season

After a really good season in 2012, the Diamonds regressed and failed to make the playoffs. Only 2 games appear to have been taped.

First off we have the game between the Diamonds and the Lions. 2 versions of this game are available so choose whichever one you prefer:



Two weeks later the Diamonds battled the Black Angels but failed to score a victory:

The Ghent Gators during the 2013 Senior Season

Just like in the 2012 season post, we've got lots of video from the Gators. Unfortunately for them the Gators didn't have their best season.

Starting off with week 3 in their game against the Black Angels, the Gators run into the stingy defense of the Angels and fail to get the W:


Then we go to week 5 where we have a tie game against the Lions:


The week after the Gators played the Titans, losing 28-13:


Luckily, the Gators do get a nice win against the Tribes the following week:

Puurs Titans Promotionals, interviews and what-not

At the end of 2011 the Bornem Titans became the Puurs Titans, after relocating to the field where they still play today. Here's the promotional video from their website:



Some more videos that can also be found on the Puurs Titans website:

Reportage Vrij Werk from Jan Bartholomeeusen on Vimeo.

The Brussels Bulls during the 2012 Senior Season

The Brussels Bulls played a great season in 2012, unfortunately there's only one video available to prove it.

Week 8 versus the Gators:

The Izegem Tribes during the 2012 Senior Season

Unfortunately these videos do not tell the full story of the Tribes' 2012 season. Three game films, but all of these games ended up with lop-sided scores.

Weeks 4, 8 and 9 against the Shotguns, Titans and Lions:

The Brussels Black Angels during the 2012 Senior Season

The Brussels Black Angels are synonymous with stifling defense in the FFL. The same was true during the 2012 season. Hard hits and limited yardage are what Black Angels game film is all about.

Unfortunately there's only very limited tape available. Here we have the Black Angels' week 6 game against the Gators and partial footage from the Diamonds game:

The Limburg Shotguns during the 2012 Senior Season

The Limburg Shotguns were not there for the 2013 season, but they did play in 2012. The Shotguns will be back in 2014. Will they look anything like their 2012 tape?

There's tape from the week 4 and 5 games against the Tribes and the Gators. Although the games were not very competitive, the Shotguns kept battling at all times and got points on the board in both games:

The Ghent Gators during the 2012 Senior Season

A lot of film for this one. Footage for the Gator games against the Titans, Shotguns, Angels, Lions and Bulls allows for probably the best information available on any time in the FFL during the 2012 season.

Starting in week 3 against the Puurs Titans. The Gators get their season of to an extremely promising start by winning 41-0:


Week 5 resulted in another high-scoring victory, this time at the cost of the Limburg Shotguns:


Happy times are over though in week 6 against the Black Angels:


Week 7 brings us to a very close game against the Leuven Lions. Final score 8-7 Gators win:


Last game available for the Gators, a tough loss at the hands of the Brussels Bulls:

The Antwerp Diamonds during the 2012 Senior Season

The Antwerp Diamonds are well known in Belgium for being one of the toughest teams in the league, no matter what their record might be that season. The same was definitely true in 2012.

First up, the week 2 game against the Titans. A nail-biter until the final minutes of the game:

Then we go to week 5 where they face off with the Lions. Again a close score, but the Diamonds come away with the win nonetheless:



For the last game available there's unfortunately only a limited amount of footage. Here the Diamonds square off with the Angels in week 7:

The Leuven Lions during the 2012 Senior Season

3 Game tapes here mostly from the middle of the season. First up the Lions' week 5 game against the never-give-up Diamonds from Antwerp.



Then we have the Gators and their passing game in week 7:

And finally, week 9 against the Tribes probably one of the most balanced teams in the league back in 2012:

The Puurs Titans during the 2012 Senior Season

A nice collection of games: weeks 2, 3 and 8 against 3 very different teams

Some 6 man football from the 2011 Junior Season

Some older tape, but might be useful for the coaches and players who will be playing 6 man football next season. Get a feel for what 6 man football at the junior level in Belgium looks like!

Junior Leuven Lions 2009 Season Promotional & Highlights

Many more videos will be posted today, but I'll start off with these two videos from the Leuven Lions as they were preparing for the 2009 Junior football season.

Why?

I started this blog because of my passion for the game of football in general, and more specifically because of my involvement with american football in Belgium over the past few years. Even though I wasn't directly involved with Belgian football during the 2013 season, I was able to get a feel for what it was like by watching game film made available to me by different teams in the FFL. After every weekend of games I waited impatiently for one of the teams to post some video so I could relive the excitement of that day. These videos, combined with Dale Housden's great reporting, allowed me to stay on top of how the league is evolving (slowly, but surely, getting better I think).

The Belgian Football League still has a long way to go, and I'm hoping this blog will help out the league. How? First of all, I believe a centralized location for all game tape will make it easier for coaches and players around the league to study themselves and their opponents. Secondly, even though Belgium is a small country, a lot of fans of the game, friends and families of players and coaches can't/won't travel to away games so this blog hopefully helps them to follow the league. Finally, this blog should become a place for people to look back at games they played in or coached.

 Spending a year abroad, not coaching in Belgium and not being able to watch my brother play, made me appreciate the time I spent in the FFL even more. I hope this will be a nice way to give back to the game that changed me in more ways than one.
If you have any video that you want to share about the league (old/new game film, highlights, promotional videos, team recruitment) please leave a comment or contact me in any other way and I'll make sure to put it up. I will label every post with the goal to make it very easy to find video based on the year, the team, or the type of video.
Please make any suggestions that you think might be useful.