Irish American Football League 2008

Gridiron Football Irish American Football League

Final Standings

TeamPWLTPFPAPts
IAFL North
*Belfast Trojans86202267912
Carrickfegus Knights83501561936
Belfast Bulls8260842624
IAFL Central
*Dublin Rebels87103012214
*Dublin City University Saints84401331418
Dublin Rhinos8170492952
IAFL South
*UL Vikings87102868814
*Cork Admirals86203329212
Tallaght Outlaws808004340
Irish American Football League 2008 [Ref: 5]

Playoff Results

DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamScore
Wildcard Playoffs
20.07.2008Cork Admirals34DCU Saints2
Semi-Finals
27.07.2008UL Vikings42Belfast Trojans8
27.07.2008Dublin Rebels19Cork Admirals12
Shamrock Bowl XXII
10.08.2008Dublin Rebels12UL Vikings14
Irish American Football League Playoff Results 2008 [Ref: 2-4]

Regular Season Results

DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamScore
Week 1
30.03.2008DCU Saints7Carrickfergus Knights18
30.03.2008Belfast Trojans0Dublin Rebels16
30.03.2008Cork Admirals66Belfast Bulls0
Week 2
06.04.2008Carrickfergus Knights25Dublin Rhinos0
06.04.2008UL Vikings22Belfast Trojans0
06.04.2008Cork Admirals98Tallaght Outlaws0
Week 3
13.04.2008Dublin Rhinos0Dublin Rebels64
13.04.2008Belfast Bulls6UL Vikings22
13.04.2008Tallaght Outlaws0DCU Saints44
Week 4
20.04.2008Belfast Trojans24Belfast Bulls8
20.04.2008Dublin Rebels0Cork Admirals6
Week 5
27.04.2008DCU Saints32Dublin Rhinos3
27.04.2008Carrickfergus Knights0Belfast Trojans42
27.04.2008UL Vikings36Tallaght Outaws0
Week 6
04.05.2008Dublin Rebels25DCU Saints0
04.05.2008Belfast Bulls30Carrickfergus Knights14
04.05.2008UL Vikings20Cork Admirals3
Week 7
11.05.2008Dublin Rhinos34Tallaght Outlaws0
11.05.2008Belfast Bulls14Belfast Trojans30
Week 8
18.05.2008Dublin Rebels52Dublin Rhinos0
18.05.2008Belfast Trojans44Carrickfergus Knights19
18.05.2008Tallaght Outlaws0Cork Admirals60
Week 9
25.05.2008Cork Admirals25UL Vikings34
25.05.2008Carrickfergus Knights14Belfast Bulls26
25.05.2008DCU Saints0Dublin Rebels39
Week 10
01.06.2008Tallaght Outlaws0UL Vikings92
Week 11
08.06.2008Dublin Rhinos6DCU Saints32
Week 12
15.06.2008Dublin Rhinos0Belfast Trojans56
15.06.2008Dublin Rebels72Belfast Bulls0
15.06.2008Carrickfergus Knights32Cork Admirals44
Week 13
22.06.2008UL Vikings14Dublin Rebels32
22.06.2008Belfast Trojans30Tallaght Outlaws0
Week 14
29.06.2008Cork Admirals34Dublin Rhinos6
29.06.2008Belfast Bulls0DCU Saints6
Week 15
06.07.2008DCU Saints12UL Vikings47
Irish American Football League Regular Season Results 2008 [Ref: 2-3]

2 Pts Win / 1 Pts Tie / 0 Loss / x – Qualify for Semi-Finals / y – Qualify for Wildcard Playoff

Shamrock Bowl XXII – Dublin Rebels 12 UL Vikings 14

Dublin Rebels 12 University of Limerick Vikings – Adrian Garvey scored a Touchdown run for the UL Vikings, winning the MVP Award in the process as the Limerick side won Shamrock Bowl XXII 14-12 in a close game against the Dublin Rebels. Darragh O’Callaghan with an Interception Return and Seamus Feehan with a two-point conversion were the other Vikings scorers. The Rebels points came from a Paul Smyth Touchdown, which was converted for one point, a Paul Grogan Field Goal, and a Penalty Safety.

At CIT Stadium, Cork Q1Q2Q3Q4Total
University of Limerick Vikings14
Dublin Rebels12
Shamrock Bowl XXII – 10 August 2008 [Ref: 6]
TeamScorersScore
ULVAdrian Garvey, TD Run
ULVDarragh O’Callaghan Int Return TD (Seamus Feehan 2XPT)
REBPaul Smyth TD (1XPT Good)
REBPaul Grogan FG
REBPenalty Safety
Shamrock Bowl XXII Box-Score – 10 August 2008 [Ref: 6]
MVP (Most Valuable Player)Adrian GarveyUniversity of Limerick Vikings
Shamrock Bowl XXII MVP – 10 August 2008 [Ref: 6]

Report

The 22nd Shamrock Bowl was won by the University of Limerick Vikings, who beat the Dublin Rebels 14-12 in a close game in CIT Stadium in Cork. Both sides had gone through the season 7-1, winning their respective divisions, and then beat tough opposition in the Semi-Finals – the Vikings beat the IAFL North Champions Belfast Trojans by surprisingly large score, 42-8, and the Rebels had a much harder time against the Wild-Card Playoff winners, Cork Admirals, winning 19-12. Dublin City University Saints were the other Wild-Card Playoff qualifiers.

Team Changes and League Structure and Organisation

The 2008 Irish American Football League was the 22nd year of the League, and the 8th under the Irish American Football Association organisation since it restarted in 2001. The League featured nine teams divided into 3 divisions of three, IAFL North, Central and South, with the three division winners qualifying for the Semi-Finals, and the two best runners-up qualifying for the Wild-Card Playoff to determine the fourth Semi-Finalist.

A new League, the DV8 Development League, an 8-v-8 League, was set up as a second level, in order to help new teams grow and develop their players before joining the IAFL. Dublin Dragons dropped down to this League for 2008, but they were replaced by new team, the Dublin Rhinos, based in Castleknock College, just West of the City Centre, meaning the League stayed at nine teams for 2008. With the 6-team DV8 Development League it meant a total of 14 teams playing in the Irish American Football League, an all-time record, beating the previous record of 11 in the second-ever season in 1987.

Home Venues

TeamHome Venue
Belfast BullsMallusk, Belfast
Belfast TrojansMalone Road RFC, Belfast
Carrickfergus KnightsWoodburn Road, Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim
Cork AdmiralsDouglas Community School, Cork
Dublin City University SaintsALSAA, Dublin Airport
Dublin RebelsSportslink, Dublin
Dublin RhinosCastleknock College, Dublin
Tallaght OutlawsTallaght RFC Pitch @ National Basketball Arena, Tallaght, Co. Dublin
University of Limerick VikingsUL Sports Grounds, Limerick
Irish American Football League Home Venues 2008 [Ref: 3]


References

Websites

[2] Irish American Football Association (2008) 2008 LEAGUE TABLE, FIXTURES & RESULTS [Internet] Available from: http://www.americanfootball.ie/iafl/2008results.htm [Accessed 24 September 2016]
[3] Irish American Football Association (2009) Index Early 2009 [Internet] Available from: http://www.americanfootball.ie/iafl/indexearly2009 [Accessed 15 October 2017]
[4] Irish American Football Association (2018) Shamrock Bowl History [Internet] Available from: hhttp://www.americanfootball.ie/american-football/shamrock-bowl-history/ [Accessed 23 March 2018]

Internet Archive

[5] Dublin Rebels (2008) News: 2008 League Standings [Internet] Available from: http://web.archive.org/web/20081019054255/http://www.dublinrebels.com/news.php [Accessed 5 July 2017]

Newspapers

[6] Naughton, Lindie (2008) “Garvey the hero for Vikings” Evening Herald. Thursday, August 14, 2008. Pg. 66 [Past copies of the Evening Herald are available online at the Irish Newspaper Archive at https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ which is a subscription service.]

Images

[1] Irish American Football Association (2003) IAFL Logo [Internet] Available from: http://americanfootball.ie/iafl/images/logo.gif [Accessed 11 December 2017]

[2] Irish American Football Association (2008) Shamrock Bowl XXII Logo [Internet] Available from: http://www.americanfootball.ie/iafl/sbxxiilogo.jpg [Accessed 26 June 2019]

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Cillian Smith, Michael Smith and Ralph Schmeer of the Irish American Football Association and Irish American Football Officials Association, and Sean Douglas, Dublin Rebels.

About this document

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive
Last Updated: 17 March 2019
(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2019
You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved.

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