Craigavon Cowboys | Irish American Football Team 1986-Present

Craigavon Cowboys Logo
IAFL Senior Team 1986-Present

Home Ground: People’s Park, Portadown, Craigavon

Colours: Blue / Orange / White

Honours: Shamrock Bowl Champions 1986, 1992. / Shamrock Bowl Runners-Up 1987, 1992. / IAFL-1 Conference Division Champions 2017 / DV8 Development League Champions 2009

History: Formed in 1986, the Craigavon Cowboys immediatley established themselves, winning Shamrock Bowl I 6-2 over the Dublin Celts. They lost to the same opposition in Shamrock Bowl II. They again lost to the Celts in Shamrock Bowl V, before beating them in Shamrock Bowl VII in 1992.

They disbanded in 1994 with players going on to form the Lurgan Area Raides and Portadown Panthers before being resurrected in 1998. They played in DV8 8-Man competitions from 2003 to 2009 winning the DV8 Development League in 2009, before making the step up to the full 11-man IAFL in 2010. They played in the Shamrock Bowl Conference until 2017, when they dropped down to the IAFL 1 Conference where they were runners-up in the Bowl two years running.

They also represented Ireland against the Brussels Raiders in the Eurobowl in 1988.

 

Home Venue Map

Links to Year-by-Year Match Reports, Box Scores, Scorers & Squad

 

 

Year-by-Year Record

Year Regular Season Post-Season International
Lge P W L T Pct P W L T Chp P W L T
1986 1 1 0 0 SB
1987 IAFL 10 8 2 0 .800 2 1 1 0
1988 IAFL 6 3 3 0 .500 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0
1989 CGL 8 3 5 0 .375 0 0 0 0
1990 IAFL 1 0 1 0
1991 AFAI
1992 AFAI 5 4 1 0 .800 2 2 0 0 SB
1993 AFAI
94-97 DNC
1998 SL 8 7 1 0 .875 1 0 1 0
99-02 DNC
2003 D2 5 2 3 0 .400
2004 DVB
2005 DVB
2006 DVB
2007 DVB 3 0 2 1 .167
2008 DV8 6 5 1 0 .833
2009 DV8 8 6 2 0 .750 DV8
2010 IAFA 8 4 4 0 .500 0 0 0 0
2011 IAFA 8 4 4 0 .500 0 0 0 0
2012 IAFA 8 2 6 0 .250 0 0 0 0
2013 SBC 8 1 6 1 .188 0 0 0 0
2014 SBC 8 2 6 0 .250 0 0 0 0
2015 SBC 8 3 5 0 .375 1 0 1 0
2016 SBC 8 1 7 0 .125 0 0 0 0
2017 1C 8 7 1 0 .875 2 1 1 0 Div
2018 1C 8 5 3 0 .625 3 2 1 0

 

Results

 

Week Date H/A Opposition W/L Score

[4]

 

References

__________________________________________________________

 

Websites

 

[1] Britball Now (2016) Results Section [1986] [Internet] Available from: http://www.britballnow.co.uk/history-index/results-section.html [Accessed 23 March 2017]

[2] Britball Now (2016) Bangor Buccaneers [Internet] Available from: http://www.britballnow.co.uk/History/Britball%20Teams/BangorBuccaneers.htm [Accessed 23 March 2018]

[3] Britball Now (2016) Results Section [1987] [Internet] Available from: http://www.britballnow.co.uk/history-index/results-section.html [Accessed 23 March 2017]

[7] Britball Now (2016) Historial League Tables [1989] [CGL] [Internet] Available from: http://www.britballnow.co.uk/history-index/historical-league-tables-in/ [Accessed 27 February 2017]

[8] Irish American Football Association (2018) Shamrock Bowl History [Internet] Available from: hhttp://www.americanfootball.ie/american-football/shamrock-bowl-history/ [Accessed 23 March 2018]

[25] Carrickfergus Knights (1998) Full 1998 AFAI Results and Table [Internet] Available from: www.sugarcube.co.uk/knight/Full_1998_AFAI_Results_and.htm [Accessed 23 May 200]

[26] Irish American Football Association (2003) 2003 Results [Internet] Available from: www.americanfootball.ie/iafl/2003results.htm [Accessed 24 September 2016]

[27] Belfast Telegraph (2007) September 19, 2007: “American Football: Craigavon Cowboys planning to earn their spurs in whole new ball game” [Internet] Available from: https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/american-football-craigavon-cowboys-planning-to-earn-their-spurs-in-whole-new-ball-game-28063773.html [Accessed 10 November 2018]

[28] Irish American Football Association (2008) 2008 Results [Internet] Available from: http://www.americanfootball.ie/iafl/2008results.htm [Accessed 24 September 2016]

[29] Irish American Football Association – Wayback Machine Internet Archive (2008) Home [Internet] Available from: https://web.archive.org/web/20081023215441/http://www.americanfootball.ie/ [Accessed 25 March 2017]

[30] Irish American Football Association (2009) 2009 IAFL Fixtures [Internet] Available from: http://www.americanfootball.ie/2009iaflfixtures.htm [Accessed 17 October 2009]

[31] Irish American Football Association – Wayback Machine Internet Archive (2009) Home [Internet] Available from: http://web.archive.org/web/20090505075956/http://www.americanfootball.ie [Accessed 24 March 2018]

[32] Irish American Football Association (2010) 2010 IAFL Schedule Published [Internet] Available from: www.americanfootball.ie/2010-iafl-schedule-published/ [Accessed 24 March 2014]

[33] Irish American Football Association (2011) 2011 IAFL Schedule Published [Internet] Available from: www.americanfootball.ie/2011-iafl-schedule-published/ [Accessed 24 March 2014]

[34] Irish American Football Association (2014) 2012 IAFL Standings [Internet] Available from: www.americanfootball.ie/iafl-standings/ [Accessed 13 January 2014]

[35] Irish American Football Association (2013) IAFL Standings [Internet] Available from: www.americanfootball.ie/iafl-standings/ [Accessed 23 August 2013]

[36] Irish American Football Association (2014) IAFL Standings [Internet] Available from: www.americanfootball.ie/iafl-standings/ [Accessed 23 August 2014]

[37] Irish American Football Association (2015) IAFL Standings [Internet] Available from: www.americanfootball.ie/iafl-standings/ [Accessed 14 July 2015]

[38] Irish American Football Association (2016) SBC 2016 Schedule [Internet] Available from: www.americanfootball.ie/schedule/sbc-2016-schedule/ [Accessed 26 October 2016]

[39] Irish American Football Association (2017) IAFL-1 Conference Standings http://www.americanfootball.ie/american-football/iafl1-conference/ [Accessed 24 July 2017]

[40] Irish American Football Association Facebook Page (2017) Facebook Post July 23 2017 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/iafaireland/posts/1596885733678654 [Accessed 24 July 2017]

[41] IAFA Ireland Facebook Page (2017) Facebook Post August 27 2017 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/iafaireland/posts/1632046600162567 [Accessed 28 August 2017]

[42] IAFA Ireland Facebook Page (2017) Facebook Post August 20 2017 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/iafaireland/posts/1625971890770038 [Accessed 28 August 2017]

[43] Irish American Football Association (2018) IAFL 1 Conference Standings [Internet] Available from: http://www.americanfootball.ie/american-football/iafl1-conference/ [Accessed 28 May 2018]

[44] Irish American Football Association (2018) IAFL1 Schedule & Results 2018 [Internet] Available from: http://www.americanfootball.ie/schedule/iafl-1-schedule-results-2018/ [Accessed 28 May 2018]

 

Sources

 

[9] Anon. (1992) “IRISH CHAMPION CELTS STUNG BY BULLDOG SPIRIT”, First Down. July 11, 1992, pg. 17.

[10] Naughton, L. (1992) “Minority Reports: U.S. Football”, Evening Herald. Thursday, July 2, 1992, pg. 65

[11] Anon. (1992) “Sad Celts are Torn to shreds”, First Down. July 18, 1992, pg. 16.

[12] Naughton, L. (1992) “Minority Reports: Celts blown away”, Evening Herald. Thursday, July 9, 1992, pg. 66

[13] Naughton, L. (1992) “Minority Reports: U.S. Football”, Evening Herald. Thursday, July 16, 1992, pg. 69

[14] Anon. (1992) “Dublin Celts still winless”, First Down. July 25, 1992, pg. 19.

[15] FD Reporter. (1992) “At last! It’s the Dub-win Celts!”, First Down. August 15, 1992, pg. 17.

[16] Anon. (1992) “IRISH RESULTS”, First Down. August 29, 1992, pg. 17.

[17] Naughton, L. (1992) “Minority Reports: Vikings ready to invade Tallaght”, Evening Herald. Thursday, August 13, 1992, pg. 66

[18] Naughton, L. (1992) “Minority Reports: Tornadoes ko Vikings”, Evening Herald. Thursday, August 20, 1992, pg. 61

[19] Naughton, L. (1992) “Minority Reports: U.S. Football”, Evening Herald. Thursday, August 27, 1992, pg. 61

[20] Naughton, L. (1992) “Minority Reports: U.S. Football”, Evening Herald. Thursday, September 3, 1992, pg. 94

[21] Anon. (1992) “Vikings Victory”, Drogheda Independent. Friday, September 4, 1992, pg. 11

[22] Naughton, L. (1992) “Minority Reports: U.S. Football”, Evening Herald. Thursday, September 10, 1992, pg. 70

[23] Naughton, L. (1992) “Minority Reports: Gridiron grief for Dubs!”, Evening Herald. Thursday, September 17, 1992, pg. 76

[24] Naughton, L. (1992) “Minority Reports: U.S. Football”, Evening Herald. Thursday, October 8, 1992, pg. Sport 7

 

Acknowledgements

 

Thanks to Cillian Smith, Michael Smith, Ralph Schmeer and Michael Brophy of the Irish American Football Association and Irish American Football Officials Association.

 

About this document

 

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 31 December 2018

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and INAWSA 2018

You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Resereved.

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