The Bacardi Bowl was a

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

played seven times in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Almandares Park and La Tropical Stadium. The games were also referred to as the Rhumba Bowl and were the foremost event of Cuba’s annual National Sports Festival. The first five occurrences matched an American college team (all from the

Deep South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion of the Southern United States. The term is used to describe the states which were most economically dependent on Plantation complexes in the Southern United States, plant ...

) against Cuban universities or athletic clubs. The 1937 game featured two American universities. The 1946 game—sometimes considered the first of the

Cigar Bowl The Cigar Bowl was a post-season college football bowl game held in Tampa, Florida that featured teams from smaller college programs. There were nine editions of the bowl, which was usually played on or around New Year's Day each season from 1946 ...

games—also matched an American college team (from the Deep South) against a Cuban university.

Game results

game was not completed

Notable Bacardi Bowl games

1907: LSU vs. University of Havana

The first Bacardi Bowl in 1907 matched

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

against the University of Havana.

1912: Florida vs. Cuban Athletic Club

The 1912 Bacardi Bowl was scheduled as a two-game series in Havana featuring the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville, Florida, Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni an ...

against squads from two different Cuban athletic clubs.Antonya English,
100 things about 100 years of Gator football
" ''St. Petersburg Times'' (August 27, 2006). Retrieved March 1, 2010. It was Florida's first experience with postseason football. The first game was held on Christmas Day, and the Gators defeated the Vedado Athletic Club 28–0. The second game, which pitted the Gators against the Cuban Athletic Club of Havana a few days later, was never finished. Florida head coach George E. Pyle realized during the first quarter that the game was being officiated using college football's pre-1906 rules, and while discussing this issue with the officials, he discovered that the head referee was the former coach of his opponent. Feeling that playing under those conditions was neither fair nor safe, Pyle pulled his team off the field and was promptly arrested for violating a Cuban law prohibiting a game's suspension after spectators' money had been collected. A trial was scheduled and Pyle was released on bail that evening, at which point he and the Gators quickly boarded a steamship for Tampa, an escape which caused the coach to be branded a "fugitive from justice" by Cuban authorities. Bacardi Bowl officials declared that Florida had forfeited the game and listed it as a 1–0 win for the Cuban Athletic Club, while the University of Florida declared the contest a 1–0 forfeit win for the Gators. In later years, both the complete and incomplete games were dropped from the university's official football record, and the Gators' trip to the Bacardi Bowl is not listed among the program's official bowl game appearances.

1937: Auburn vs. Villanova

Auburn’s bowl history began with the 1937 game before 15,000 to 18,000 spectators when the Tigers and Villanova tied, 7–7. This game marked the first time that two American universities played a game on foreign soil. An Auburn drive in the first quarter stalled on the 10-yard line where the Wildcats took over on downs. After a Villanova punt, Auburn

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

Billy Hitchcock broke loose around left end and rambled 40 yards for the Tigers' only score. The score at the half was Auburn 7, Villanova 0. Auburn stopped a Villanova drive on its own 12-yard line during the third quarter but couldn’t get field position. Villanova was able to tie the score when they blocked an Auburn quick kick and the ball bounced into the endzone where Wildcat lineman Matthews Kuber fell on it for the score. The

extra point Extra, Xtra, or The Extra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * The Extra (1962 film), ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * The Extra (2005 film), ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * Extra (newspaper), ...

tied the game. Auburn’s return to the US marked an end to more than of travel for the 7–2–2 Tigers that finished the season ranked 13th in the country under coach Jack Meagher. The game was played in a revolutionary atmosphere.

Fulgencio Batista Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (born Rubén Zaldívar; January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who played a dominant role in Cuban politics from his initial rise to power as part of the 1933 Revolt of t ...

, the dictator who would be overthrown by

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

22 years later, had just assumed power. The game was almost canceled because Batista’s picture was not in the game program. A quick trip to the printer saved the Bacardi Bowl. The December 22, 1963, issue of the '' Florence Times-Tri-Cities Daily'' has a detailed account of former Auburn player Frank Hamm's recollections of this game.

Other college football games against Cuban teams

Additional college football games were played in Cuba, or in the United States against Cuban teams, from 1906 to 1956.Perez, Christopher A. (2016). Cuba: 50 Years of Playing American Football. ''Italics denote a tie game''

Other American football games in Cuba

The last organized American football game in Cuba was in 1958, when a semipro league featuring teams of Cubans and Americans played. It would be another 45 years until Cuba would host a football game, this time featuring two American teams: in 2003, Bonita Vista High School and La Jolla High School from San Diego played at Pan-American Stadium. Due to the presence of metal boxes beyond the end lines, which was deemed a safety hazard, both coaches and the referee agreed to reduce the length of the field to 90 yards. In what was billed as the "Havana Classic", Bonita Vista defeated La Jolla, 31–22, in front of 400 people.

References

External links

December 1912 game program
{{Villanova Wildcats bowl game navbox Defunct college football bowls American football in Cuba 1907 establishments in Cuba Recurring sporting events established in 1907