The Ghent Gators are an American football team situated in Ghent. The team was established in 1999 by Craig Bailey, an American living in Belgium, through his local pizza delivery business. Along with 8 other Flemish teams, they are part of the Flemish American Football League (FAFL) conference in the Belgian Football League (BFL). They managed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in their existence on May 18, 2014 and won their first Belgian championship on 29 June 2014 by beating the Brussels Tigers in Belgian Bowl XXVII.
Current Season In 2018, the Gators took part in the Belgian second division. They were relegated after the 2016 despite finishing third in the first division due to a forfait in the final game of the season. After cruising through the second division with a record of 8-0 against Izegem Tribes, Leuven Lions and Waasland Wolves, they qualified for the FAFL Bowl. The game was played on 10 June 2018 against the 2nd best team in the division, the Izegem Tribes. After regulation, the score was 28-28 so it went into overtime. On the very first play of overtime, the Tribes managed to score a touchdown and the Gators were unable to respond. This means Izegem won the Flemish title and advanced to the promotion game where they lost to the Ostend Pirates.
Senior Roster Quarterbacks
Wide receivers
Running backs
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Coaching staff Head coachRoald Piqueur Defensive CoordinatorRoald Piqueur Offensive CoordinatorPauwel Depreitere Assistant Offensive CoordinatorJelle Van Melder Running Backs coachBenoit Lagae Defensive Line coachSander De Gussem
Performance
2000-2004 - clinched seed to the playoffs
2000 Playoffs
2006-2009
2010 season
Gators Regular season 2010 Date Kickoff Opponent Result Location Score Team record 21/02 15:00 Brussels Bulls W 19-00 1-0-0 Gent 07/03 12:30 Brussels Black Angels L 20-12 1-1-0 Oostende 21/03 16:00 Limburg Shotguns W 20-14 2-1-0 Gent 28/03 12:30 Bornem Titans L 20-06 2-2-0 Brussel 04/04 12:30 Antwerp Diamonds W 48-12 3-2-0 Brussel 11/04 12:30 West-Vlaanderen Tribes L 29-09 3-3-0 Brussel 18/04 12:30 Limburg Shotguns W 13-06 4-3-0 Brussel 02/05 15:00 Leuven Lions T 06-06 4-3-1 Leuven
2011 season
Gators Regular season 2011 Date Kickoff Opponent Result Location Score Team record 20/02 15:00 Leuven Lions L 23-00 0-1-0 Gent 06/03 15:00 Bornem Titans L 14-07 0-2-0 Puurs 13/03 15:00 Antwerp Diamonds W 15-12 1-2-0 Gent 20/03 12:00 Limburg Shotguns L 26-06 1-3-0 Berendrecht 03/04 15:00 Brussels Black Angels L 49-00 1-4-0 Brussel 10/04 15:00 Brussels Bulls L 54-06 1-5-0 Brussel 17/04 12:00 Leuven Lions W 10-07 2-5-0 Izegem 08/05 15:00 West-Vlaanderen Tribes L 54-00 2-6-0 Oostende
2012 season
Gators Regular season 2012 Date Kickoff Opponent Result Location Score Team record 11/03 12:00 Puurs Titans W 41-00 1-0-0 Brussel 18/03 15:00 Antwerp Diamonds L 10-07 1-1-0 Gent 01/04 15:00 Brussels Black Angels L 25-00 1-2-0 Brussel 15/04 15:00 Leuven Lions W 08-07 2-2-0 Gent 22/04 15:00 Brussels Bulls L 31-07 2-3-0 Brussel 05/05 14:00 West-Vlaanderen Tribes L 41-13 2-4-0 Oostende
2013 season
Gators Regular season 2013 Date Kickoff Opponent Result Location Score Team record 09/02 12:00 Brussel Black Angels L 34-07 0-1-0 Izegem 10/03 15:00 Leuven Lions T 00-00 0-1-1 Leuven 17/03 15:00 Puurs Titans L 28-13 0-2-1 Gent 14/04 11:00 Izegem Tribes W 14-07 1-2-1 Puurs 28/04 12:00 Antwerp Diamonds L 24-12 1-3-1 Brussel 05/05 15:00 Brussels Bulls L 33-00 1-4-1 Brussel
2014 season
After their sixth win of the season - versus the Puurs Titans - the Ghent Gators qualified for the playoffs for the first time since being established in 1999. They finished the season as the first seed in the Flemish American Football League and by doing so, won the Flemish championship and earned a first round bye for the playoffs. In the playoffs they beat the Ostend Pirates - they only team that had beaten them so far this season - in a Semi Final thriller and qualified for Belgian Bowl XXVII. In their first ever Belgian Bowl, the Gators defeated the Brussels Tigers (Walloon Champions) 38-0 and became Belgian Champions.
Gators Regular season 2014 Date Kickoff Opponent Result Location Score Team record 09/02 12:00 Brussels Black Angels W 28-14 1-0-0 Beringen 23/02 12:00 Brussels Bulls W 14-00 2-0-0 Oostende 09/03 15:00 Izegem Tribes W 30-08 3-0-0 Gent 23/03 12:00 Limburg Shotguns W 56-06 4-0-0 Brussel 20/04 15:00 Leuven Lions W 34-00 5-0-0 Leuven 04/05 15:00 Ostend Pirates L 22-25 5-1-0 Oostende 18/05 12:00 Puurs Titans W 56-06 6-1-0 Izegem 01/06 15:00 Antwerp Diamonds W 48-06 7-1-0 Gent 2014 Playoffs 15/06 16:00 Ostend Pirates W 16-14 8-1-0 Gent Belgian Bowl XXVII 29/06 14:30 Brussels Tigers W 38-00 9-1-0 Izegem
2015 season
Gators Regular season 2015 Date Kickoff Opponent Result Location Score Team record 15/02 12:00 Leuven Lions W 42-06 1-0-0 Antwerp 22/02 12:00 Puurs Titans W 40-00 2-0-0 Izegem 08/03 12:00 Izegem Tribes W 50-00 3-0-0 Leuven 22/03 15:00 Antwerp Diamonds W 22-00 4-0-0 Ghent 05/04 12:00 Limburg Shotguns W 52-00 5-0-0 Leuven 17/05 14:00 Ostend Pirates W 20-12 6-0-0 Ghent 24/05 12:00 Brussels Black Angels L 00-39 6-1-0 Puurs
2017 season
Gators Regular season 2017 Date Kickoff Opponent Result Location Score Team record 05/03 14:00 Waterloo Warriors W 42-06 1-0-0 Ghent 19/03 14:00 Ostend Pirates W 38-00 2-0-0 Ghent 02/04 14:00 Brussels Tigers L 14-77 2-1-0 Evere 16/04 14:00 Antwerp Argonauts W 48-09 3-1-0 Ghent 30/04 14:00 Grez-Doiceau Fighting Turtles W 56-14 4-1-0 Ghent 14/05 14:00 Liege Monarchs W 20-6 5-1-0 Liege 28/05 14:00 Brussels Black Angels L 00-50 6-2-0 Brussels
Pos. Team Streak W L T PF PA Diff1 Black Angels 7 Won 7 7 0 0 272 08 +2642 Tigers 7 Won 2 6 1 0 311 41 +2773Pirates 7 Won 1 4 3 0 120 134 -144 Warriors 7 Lost 1 2 4 1 67 180 -1135 Monarchs 7Won 1 1 5 1 43 192 -1496Turtles 7 Lost 4 1 6 0 78 331 -2537 Argonauts 7 Lost 2 1 6 0 68 195 -127DSQ Gators 7 Lost 1 5 2 0 218 137 +81Source:
2018 season
Gators Regular season 2018 Date Kickoff Opponent Result Location Score Team record 25/02 12:00 Izegem Tribes W 26-15 1-0-0 Sint-Pauwels 18/03 15:00 Leuven Lions W 32-00 2-0-0 Ghent 01/04 12:00 Izegem Tribes W 34-21 3-0-0 Leuven 15/04 12:00 Waasland Wolves W 32-06 4-0-0 Izegem 29/04 15:00 Leuven Lions W 30-07 5-0-0 Ghent 05/05 12:00 Waasland Wolves W 54-06 6-0-0 Izegem 13/05 12:00 Izegem Tribes W 18-16 7-0-0 Leuven 27/05 12:00 Leuven Lions W 50-0 8-0-0 Sint-Pauwels FAFL Bowl 10/06 14:00 Izegem Tribes L 28-34 8-1-0 Ghent
References
External links Website Ghent Gators