It was an advertisement in Ireland's national press that heralded the arrival of the Irish American Football Association in the Autumn of 1984. Sixty-five players attended a first training session in Phoenix Park, and in January 1985 the first American Football team in Ireland was formed - the Dublin Celts. The Celts would become, over the next few years, Ireland's dominant team.
In October of 1985, the Celts played their first competitive match, as they to play the Bristol Bombers. They won the game with a 32-0 shutout.In February 1986, they returned to England to beat the Wirral Wolves 14-0, and the March they defeated the Newcastle Senators 16-14 (in England again).
The NFL was shown on Channel 4's programme and RTE2 had also screened American Football every Thursday evening for two seasons. This, along with the progress of the Celts, encouraged other teams to start up in both Northern Ireland and in the Republic. The first match between two Irish teams took place at Blackrock College in Dublin, when the Dublin Celts maintained their unbeaten record by beating the Belfast Blitzers. The game attracted over 4,000 spectators. In the summer of 1986, a four-game tournament took place between the Dublin Celts, Belfast Bombers, and two newly kitted teams called the Craigavon Cowboys and the Coleraine Chieftains. The competition received sponsorship, and the Jack Daniels Summer Bowl, as it was known, was won by the Dublin Celts. The Craigavon Cowboys defeated the Dublin Celts 6-0 in the inaugural Shamrock Bowl in October 1986 with a TD from John Malally. A number of junior teams were founded in 1986 also, and in December 1986 plans were laid for Portmanock, Castlenock, Dalky and Dublin Pirates to play Two Touch Football.
1987 was to become the first official league season in Irish history. 11 teams reformed their own organisation to form the Irish American Football League. The Celts then went through the first IAFL unbeaten, and clinched the first Irish title with victory against Craigavon Cowboys in the final. Victory for the Celts gained themselves entry to the prestigious EuroBowl competition in 1988, that was to be held in England. To qualify they had to travel to Vienna to take on the Austrian champions, the Graz Giants. Unfortunately, the Celts lost 36-12.
After retaining their title in 1988 (with a 34-6 victory against the Belfast Blitzers in Shamrock Bowl III), the Celts were back for another crack at European opposition in 1989. This time they would have to face the British champions, the Birmingham Bulls. The Bulls won 29-3.
In 1989, some of the Irish clubs joined the fledging CGL organisation playing in Irish conferences, but the winners would qualify for the UK playoffs. Dublin Celts took the Irish conference in the Duke Premier Division, and then narrowly lost 18-13 to the Manchester Heroes in the quarterfinals. The Antrim (A26) Bulldogs had greater success in the Baron First Division. Having won their conference, they thrashed the Furness Phantoms 34-6 in the quarterfinals, and then only lost 5-0 away to the Severn Valley Warlords. The Celts took the IAFL title for the 3rd straight year in 1989 and won Shamrock IV to boot.
In 1990 the Dublin Celts made their mark in Europe. They hosted the Barcelona Boxers in the EuroBowl competition, and thrashed them 30-0. They then hosted the Manchester Spartans and put in a great performance before eventually going down 28-12.
The Antrim Bulldogs won the IAFL in 1990, but it was the Craigavon Cowboys who won Shamrock Bowl V, beating the Bulldogs. The Dublin Celts had decided to play in the fledgling NCMMA and finished with a poor 0-4 record. The Celts took on the Cowboys in an end of season game to determine the best team in Ireland (as the Celts were not eligible for the Shamrock Bowl that year), and it was the Celts that came out on top.
In 1991, the Craigavon Cowboys hosted the Brussels Raiders in EuroBowl V, and lost 16-6. The Dublin Celts returned to play in the AFAI along with Craigavon Cowboys, Dublin Tornadoes, Carrickfergus Cougars, Belfast Spartans and Antrim Bulldogs and dominated again, going undefeated and winning their fourth Shamrock Bowl with a 44-0 win against Craigavon Cowboys.
In 1992, the Dublin Celts played the last game ever played by an Irish team in the EuroBowl tournament as they travelled to England to face the Birmingham Bulls. Two late TD's from the Bulls gave them an undeserved 20-0 victory. The Craigavon Cowboys won their third Shamrock Bowl in 1992, with a win against the Antrim Bulldogs in the final.
Ireland were expelled from the European Football League in 1993, and have yet to reapply for membership. A new force emerged in Irish American Football in 1993 - the Dublin Tornadoes. They thrashed the Dublin Celts in Shamrock Bowl VII (the Celts then disbanded) and proceeded to win the next four IAFL titles and the Shamrock Bowls VII, VIII and IX. In 1997 a new league emerged - the Irish Senior League run by Jim Hutton. Over the next three years some teams dropped out of the league due to the management of it. Carrickfergus Knights won the Bowl in 1997 and 1998, and the Dublin Tigers (who were runners-up in 1998) won the last Shamrock Bowl played in August 1999. In 1999, there were only 3 active sides due to off-field problems.
There was no league season in 2000.The only game played in Ireland this year was an Irish National Team selection v Mount St. Josephs High School (Maryland). This game was the turning point for the re-organisation of Irish football. It was played shortly after Jim Hutton was served with 2 more summonses & was exposed on a local radio show (Steve Willis Show - Phoenix FM). Shortly before the game, the entire Image Management & Promotion/AFAI management permanently walked away from American football, therefore no proper arrangements were made for the game. When the American team arrived in Dublin, there was no opposition to play them. A team was raised at short notice (less than 24 hours). It was coached by a couple of senior players. More than half the players on the Irish National Team that day were players who had not played since 1997/98 due to having been excluded from playing by Image Management & Promotion. Not surprisingly, Mount St Joseph won the game.
In 2001, a number of teams were approached about fielding a team in a new 6-man league. The league was rebuilt from scratch with new teams and a lot of newly recruited players. The IAFL was registered in the USA (State of Illinois) as a non-profit making corporation. The purpose of this registration was to facilitate the raising of enough funding through corporate donations (which will be tax write-offs due to the IAFLs status) to rebuild the league. There was a league season for the first time since 1999 with four sides entering the Irish Fall League. A meeting was held in August in Dublin with the aim of getting a league back up and running in Ireland. Four teams were present at the meeting which were the Carrickfergus Knights, Dublin Dragons, Dublin Rebels and UL Vikings. The league got underway, with those four teams in September. At the end of the Fall League, the Dublin Rebels took the 2001 Shamrock Bowl with a 28-7 win against the Carrickfergus Knights. The Rebels took the lead on the opening kick-off with a 90 yard return by RB Brian Dennehy, and never looked back. They led 22-7 at half-time, and extended the lead to 28-7 late in the third quarter.
In 2002 a new structure was put in place and the new regular season ran from late February 2002 to May 2002 with the Shamrock Bowl taking place in June. Four sides entered the league, the Dublin Rebels, Dublin Dragons, Carrickfergus Knights and the University of Limerick Vikings. At the end of an exciting season, the Carrickfergus Knights crushed the University of Limerick Vikings 66-0 at the University Bowl in Shamrock Bowl XVI. 46-0 up at the half-time interval, the Knights kept on piling on the points in the second half.
A further 4 teams - Belfast Bulls, Cork Admiral, Coleraine Chieftains and Dundalk Razorbacks joined the IAFL in 2002 with the intention of playing in 2003.
After the IAFL regular season ended, the 2001 Shamrock Bowl Champions, the Dublin Rebels took part in the Charleroi Trophy in Belgium. They performed superbly beating the Charleroi Cougars in the final This was the first time an Irish club side had won an International tournament abroad. Marcus Naylor of the Rebels won Offensive MVP for the tournament. In the final, the Rebels defeated the Cougars 22-0 thanks to two TD passes from QB John Durrad to Feargal O’Donnchu. Marcus Naylor had opened the scoring for the Rebels with a 21 yard interception return in the 1st quarter. In the semi-finals, the Rebels had defeated the Forbach Taupes of France 26-8.
After the Irish American Football Association helped to form the Irish American Football League during 2002, the sport found a new lease of life in Ireland in 2003. Four sides competed in the IAFL in 2002, and a further 3 teams joined in time for the 2003 season (bringing the total to 7). Cork Admirals joined Division One and Craigavon Cowboys & Belfast Bulls Division Two. Other exciting developments that were announced were that the Carrickfergus Knights were to join the Dublin Rebels at the 2003 Charleroi Trophy and the IAFA were recognised by the Federation of Irish Sports and received provisional membership from the European Federation of American Football (EFAF).
Division One consisted of 4 sides – the returning Carrickfergus Knights, Dublin Dragons, Dublin Rebels and the new boys from Cork. Division Two was made up of the three development sides - Belfast Bulls, Craigavon Cowboys and the UL Vikings.
The season started in March, with newboys Craigavon Cowboys shutting out the Dublin Dragons 16-0 on a pair of 3rd quarter TD passes from Darren Blanton to Paddy Patterson. Craigavon were making their reappearance in Irish football after many years in the wilderness
Two weeks later, 2002 Shamrock Bowl champions, the Carrickfergus Knights, stated their claim for this season's prize with a thrilling 20-14 home win over their biggest rivals, the Dublin Rebels. Marcus Naylor put the Rebels 6-0 ahead, but Steven McDowell passed for 2 TD's to Ian McIlroy, and Shaw scored the sealing TD on a 12 yard run in the 4th quarter for three straight scores for the Knights and a 20-6 lead. Brian Dennehy's 28 yard run was too little too late.
The Dublin Dragons scored their first win of the season with a 28-14 win over the newcomers from the southern tip of Ireland, the Cork Admirals. Ulli Zinnecker scored a hat-trick of running TD's, but Cork were never really out of it and were happy with their performance in their first game.
The Dragons were brought back down to earth two weeks later, by the Rebels who won a one-sided Dublin derby 34-0. Brian Dennehy's 5 yard run and an interception return for a TD by Feargal O'Donnchu gave the Rebels a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, and Dennehy raced in for two more scores in the second half to complete the rout.
In the coming weeks, the Carrickfergus Knights and Dublin Rebels consolidated their positions at the top of the League table. The Knights destroyed the Dublin Dragons 51-0 at Woodburn and then 30-0 away from home against the same opponents. They then won 30-0 away to the Cork Admirals. The Rebels responded with a 40-12 away win against Cork, and a 41-0 thrashing of their local rivals, the Dragons.
Whilst the big two were picking up big wins, the Admirals were getting their act together. They played the University of Limerick Vikings in a friendly, and won their first match 38-24, with Trevor O'Connell and Keith O'Callaghan both rushing for a brace of scores. They then won their first IAFL fixture with a 42-8 thrashing of the Dublin Dragons at home. John Kenny passed for 2 TD's and then rushed for one himself. Their improved form earnt them a playoff berth.
In the other big regular season match up, the Rebels gained revenge for their earlier loss to the Knights with a narrow 12-7 victory at Greystones RFC. The Knights led 7-6, but Sean Shanahan's 16 yard run gave the Rebels the win. It was not enough to take the league championship, and they would have to playoff with the Cork Admirals for the right to meet the Carrickfergus Knights in the Shamrock Bowl.
The Admirals were expected to make a better fist of the playoff berth than they did, as they crumbled to 56-8 at Greystones to the rampant Dublin Rebels. The Rebels, therefore, took on their old rivals, the Knights, in Shamrock Bowl XVII at Suttonians RFC in Dublin. The game started in explosive manner with both teams scoring early in the 1st quarter. The Rebels scored on the first possession of the game on a 4 yard run by quarterback Andy Dennehy. Tight end Simon Mackey added the 2 point conversion to make the score 8-0. The Knights responded immediately when WR Paul McKillop caught a long pass from Stephen McDowell and took it 81 yards to the end zone. The Rebels increased their lead to 16-6 at half-time, when Simon Mackey scored on a 13 yard pass from Andy Dennehy, with Brian Dennehy adding the 2 point conversion.
The Knights began one of their possessions in the second half on their own 1 yard line, but conceded a safety after running back William Cowan was tackled in his own end zone by the Rebels defense. Both teams then exchanged interceptions - Chris Davidson for the Knights & Feargal O'Donnchu for the Rebels. The Knights then began to move the ball through the air with Ian McIlroy picking up a couple of first downs, then Robert Elliot made the score 18-12 with a 13 yard pass from McDowell. The Rebels then responded on their next drive which ended with a 4 yard touchdown run by the games MVP Brian Dennehy to make the final score 24-12. Of the development sides, the Craigavon Cowboys caused a sensation when they defeated the Rebels 34-12 - Knocker with 2 TD passes, and the Belfast Bulls showed they were not to be messed with when they defeated the Dublin Dragons 32-6. The Bulls and Cowboys played a pair of matches against each other, and on both occasions the Bulls won narrowly. In game one at Woodburn, they prevailed 14-12, after holding a 14-0 half-time lead. Later in the summer, they won again, this time 18-12, with McKeown's 41 yard pass winning the game in the fourth quarter. In a friendly at the end of the season, Craigavon ran the Knights close before succumbing 26-22. The Bulls and Cowboys will be a credit to Division One.
Other Irish news was the appointment of Phil De Monte as the Irish National Team Head Coach. De Monte has coached for many years in the UK, most notably with the Oxford Cavaliers and the Oxford Saints.
At the end of the season, the North played the South in the IAFL Allstar match at Woodburn, Carrickfergus. Defenses dominated the game, and it wasn't until the third quarter when Craigavon Cowboys RB Bobby Murray broke the deadlock on a 2 yard run. Stephen McDowell of the Carrickfergus Knights kicked the PAT and there was no further scoring in the match.
For the second straight year, Ireland was invited to send club sides to the Charleroi Trophy in Belgium - the Shamrock Bowl holders, the Carrickfergus Knights, joined reigning Charleroi Trophy champions, the Dublin Rebels, in the two-day tournament. The tournament also included the Charleroi Cougars and Celtes de Mitry (a French Allstar team). The festival, based at the Complexe Sportif de Roux, also included the Belgium Allstar game between North & South Belgium and an International youth flag football tournament.
The Carrickfergus Knights played the hosts in the first semi-final. The Knights scored on a spectacular 42 yard punt return by Paul McKillop in the first half, but they failed to capitalize on their other scoring opportunities and were stopped 3 times on 4th and goal. The Cougars scored on a 33yd pass to receiver Fabio that deflected off a Knights defender, and the subsequent two point conversion put them into the final.
The Dublin Rebels beat the Celtes de Mitry in a close game in the other semi-final. The Rebels scored first on a 1 yard plunge by fullback Andy Flynn in the second quarter, and Marcus Naylor scored the 2 point conversion which would prove to be the decisive score in the game. The Celtes began to move the ball more effectively in the second half and scored their only touchdown late in the 4th quarter. Crucially though, the Celtes then failed to score a 2 point conversion which would have tied the game and the Rebels moved into the final.
In the final, the Rebels won the Charleroi Trophy for the second year in a row with a 12-0 win against the Charleroi Cougars in blazing heat. The Rebels scored their first touchdown early in the second quarter with a 16 yard run by tailback Sean Shanahan. Late in the half, Charleroi recovered a blocked punt near the Rebels goal-line, but the Rebels defense held strong on a goal-line stand. Charleroi got into scoring position in the third quarter, but were stopped by a Marcus Naylor interception. A couple of first down runs by Sean Shanahan and a pass to Feargal O'Donnchu got the Rebels to the Charleroi 15 yard line in the 4th quarter, and then WR Conor Ryan caught a pass from QB Andy Dennehy to make the final score 12-0 to the Dublin Rebels. Rebels running back Sean Shanahan won the MVP award.
The Knights then defeated the Celtes de Mitry in a one sided 3rd/4th place play-off 22-8. They scored early in the 1st quarter on a 75 yard pass from Stephen McDowell to Paul McKillop, and then increased their lead in the second quarter through a 17 yard field goal and a 13 yard reception by Gary Donnelly. Mitry scored on a 16 yard run in the 4th quarter, however, the Knights responded on their next possession with a 14 yard reverse run by Gary Donnelly to ice the victory.
Click here to view all the Shamrock Bowl results
Click here to view all Irish tables
A History of the Irish National Team
The Irish National American Football Team was established in January 1995 after a weekend’s training camp in Dublin under the stewardship of Dr Kurt Smeby. The team had only recently lost one of its foremost Coaches, Dave Curran, at only 55 years of age, but vowed to continue on and play football the way Coach Curran wanted.
The first game was against Great Britain during Saint Patrick's Weekend in Leicester, England. Great Britain scored twice early on and the defense held them off to just one more score in the second half. The offense never really got going as the Irish running game was easily shut down by the British Linebackers.
The second game the Irish Team played was against Team America in Raven Hill, Belfast, they were strong team consisting of senior college players with 3 All - Americans, 2 of which played with the Seattle Seahawks. This performance saw a much improved Irish Offence breaking the duck with 2 running touchdowns from Eddie Goggins (QB) and Alan Byrne (TB). A special acknowledgement should be given to Philip McGowan who played a powerful first game at full back for the Irish. It can be safely said that the Americans dominated the first half but the Irish gave as good as they got in the second.
The Irish Team roster consists of members from both Ireland and England (of Irish descent). Most of the players from Ireland toured Canada in July 1995 where they defeated the Darcy McGee Gee Gees Alumni 27-24. It was a very exciting game with a blocked field goal in the closing seconds of the match preventing the tie. This was a strong team consisting of players who played college and university football in Canada.
With a days notice the Ireland team whipped together 25 of its members to play the Hanau Hawks in Frankfurt. The Hanau Hawks are Germany's premier club team who has won the premier division for 4 years running. In fact they went undefeated this year. Not bad when you consider there are 800 teams in Germany. They expected an easy win but in fact they didn't have it all there own way the Fighting Irish giving them more than they bargained for on a muddy Sunday September the 3rd. At the end of the first half it was 6 - 6. By the 4th quarter it was 12 - 6 to the Hawks due to 2 field goals. The Irish missed a long bomb with a minute to go to tie the game and allowed a further easy score to finish the game 19 - 6.
On November 26th 1995 the Irish National Team made American Football history being the first Irish Team to beat a British Team. The opposition, the North West GB All-stars, were no match for the Irish losing 45 - 0. The weather was terrible with consistent rain effecting the turnout at the gate. The scorers in this game were Philip McCowen (FB,3 TDs), Eddie Goggins (QB, 1TD), David Grandmaison (WR/FS, 2 TD's), Mitchell (WR/CB, 1 TD) and Alan Byrne (FB, 1 TD).
On the 15th May 1996, Ireland took on a newly formed Scotland team in Birmingham. It was a hard fought game with only two touchdown separating the sides on the day, going to the Scots. In March 1997 they took on the Welsh team in Nottingham. The Welsh caught them on the rebound for the disappointing Scotland game and two touchdowns from Brian Dennehy and two from Alan Byrne, alongside some great defensive play from the Irish defence, gave Ireland a deserved 44-21 victory.
The Irish national team reformed in 2004 under the national programme of Phil DeMonte, and they played two friendly matches. The first in Dublin against the NCAA Division 3 side, John Carroll University (losing 52-2), and the second game against the GB Bulldogs in Derby (losing 69-6).
Click here for the Ireland national teams results
Flag football was thought of by a group of Dublin Tornadoes and their friends of a way to keep playing American Football during the winter months in 1992. It is a non-contact version of American Football where each players wears a belt with 3 strips of 18-inch long plastic strips hanging from it with Velcro. To "tackle" a player you simply have to remove one "flag" or strip.
In 1992, 5 teams started the very first Flag Football League in the Phoenix Park. The Tornadoes had two teams in the League, with the "A" team beating the Marlay Martyrs in the final. The following year, Flag Football gained 5 new teams but again experience told out with the Tornadoes beating Marlay in the final again. In 1994 we had 12 teams in the League and at this stage most areas of Dublin were represented, including major colleges. Most of the Tornadoes had begun to form their own teams in order to propagate experience throughout the League. The 1994 winners were the Marlay Martyrs.
1995 saw a professional approach to the League, it administration and running were done by committee and all affairs and decisions were taken centrally. Sponsorship also became evident. The winners in 1995 were again the Marlay Martyrs. The 1996 campaign saw a huge surge in popularity with over 60 people trying out for the Tornadoes Junior squad. Many other teams also had increased squads which will help the game immensely in the years to come. In 1996 the Drimnagh Cycos won the League The Dublin Pirates won the senior flag league between 1998 and 2000, and in 2000 Ireland defeated England 27-7 in an international fixture.
With the advent of the reformed IAFL, the senior flag league has not been played. The Drimnagh Cycos have continued to play on though in a series of challenge matches against English opposition. The Cycos currently lead the series 5-3, with the last game going to the Eagles 26-6 in July 2004 in Ireland. Ireland also played England in a second international in 2004, with England winning 13-6 in Marlay Park in May 2004.
SENIOR FLAG FOOTBALL IN IRELAND
Year
Winner
Runners-Up
Score
2003
not held
not held
2002
not held
not held
2001
not held
not held
2000
Dublin Pirates
Drimnagh Cycos
18-12
1999
Dublin Pirates
Greystone Rebels
18-?
1998
Dublin Pirates
Drimnagh Cycos
18-12
1997
The Crows
Drimnagh Cycos
25-22
1996
Drimnagh Cycos
Marlay Hellfire
?
1995
Marlay Martyrs
Dublin Pirates
?
1994
Marlay Martyrs
Dublin Tornadoes
?
1993
Dublin Tornadoes 'A'
Marlay Martyrs
?
1992
Dublin Tornadoes 'A'
Marlay Martyrs
?
Anglo-Irish Senior Flag Challenge Matches
Date
Winner
Score
Location
20/8/05
Leicester Eagles
Drimnagh Cycos
34-6
Phoenix Park, Dublin
31/7/04
Leicester Eagles
Drimnagh Cycos
26-6
Marlay Park, Dublin
8/5/04
England
Ireland
13-6
Marlay Park, Dublin
12/7/03
Leicester Eagles
Drimnagh Cycos
12-6
Dublin
25/1/03
BSFL Allstars
Drimnagh Cycos
18-12
Phoenix Park, Dublin
6/7/02
Drimnagh Cycos
Leicester Eagles
12-12
Dublin
7/7/01
Drimnagh Cycos
Leicester Eagles
49-6
Dublin
12/5/01
Drimnagh Cycos
Leicester Eagles
12-8
Leicester
6/5/00
Ireland
England
27-7
Dublin
12/6/99
Drimnagh Cycos
Leicester Eagles
20-12
Dublin
9/5/98
Leicester Eagles
Drimnagh Cycos
24-12
Leicester
19/7/97
Drimnagh Cycos
Leicester Eagles
12-6
Dublin