DODDS FOOTBALL HISTORY

BY ERIK MAJORWITZ
TOP TEN TEAMS 1965 - 1968 AND 70-71

Although prep football has been played since 1947, consensus champions were hard to come by until the mid-sixties. In the early days, a Stars and Stripes writer was tasked with determining a champion. Bob Wicker began his top ten list in 1965. 
Wicker stopped ranking teams after the 1968 season. Wicker relinquished control of the prep beat to Ben Abrams in 1969, but Abrams did not name a champion for that season. Abrams devised a ratings system of his own for two seasons. Unlike his predecessor, Abrams did not limit it to the top ten and broke it down by Big Schools and Small Schools.
This rating system ran for two seasons. Abrams discontinued it in 1972 after Naples split into two teams. 1974 would be the final season people would have to guess just who was the best team in Europe. From then on, championships would be decided on the field.

1975 Playoffs

After the 1974 season, it was determined that the following year there would be playoff games. In 1975, playoff football became a reality for players in most of Europe. 6 out of the 10 divisions (Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom only played for division crowns) were able to extend their season by one game. It was determined that the champions from the two largest divisions, red and blue, would face one another for large school supremacy. The top two squads from the Silver Division (North and South) and the smallest schools in the Gold Division (East and West) would also face one another for the right to be called champions.