BX BOMBERS

Hot on the heels of the 2011 International Cup, Belfast is preparing to host a slew of European nations at the annual EuroCup.

Eighteen men's and two women's teams will contest this year's competition in what is shaping up to be the biggest and best attended EuroCup.

All four of the European Nations that competed in the AFL International Cup are also attending the EuroCup with International Cup winners and host nation, Ireland clear favourites. Ireland's women's team will also compete against Switzerland.


With the final teams confirmed, the random drawn fixture has been finalised.

Phase 1 will consist of six pools of three, with each team playing each other once.

The six pool winners will advance to the EuroCup Finals while the six pool runners-up will compete for the Tier 2 Plate. The third-placed teams will compete for pride in the bowl.

The top two ranked teams in each tier, i.e 1,2,7,8, 13 & 14 will advance directly to their respective Semi Finals, while the remaining teams play Quarter finals for the right to meet them.

All of this means that the lesser ranked teams will play a minimum of four games, while most teams will play four or five on the day, so hopefully all teams get value from the experience.

The Pools drawn for Phase one are as follows.

Pool A: Netherlands, France, Denmark
Pool B: Italy, Germany, Sweden
Pool C: Ireland, Europe, Austria
Pool D: England, Wales, Iceland
Pool E: Spain, Scotland, Finland
Pool F: Croatia, Catalunya, Russia

A full schedule of fixtures can be found on the AFL Europe tournament website.