Shamrock Bowl XXV

Last updated
Shamrock Bowl XXV
Event 2011 IAFL Season
Date31 July 2011
Venue Morton Stadium, Dublin
XXIV

Shamrock Bowl XXV was an American football game pitting the 6 time Shamrock Bowl champions, Dublin Rebels against university side, UL Vikings. The game was played on July 31, 2011, at the Morton Stadium in Santry, Dublin. The Rebels defeated the Vikings by a score of 14-13, earning their seventh Shamrock Bowl win. Rebels safety Marcus Naylor was named the Shamrock Bowl MVP. He was the second Rebels safety ever to win the award following, Brian Carter.

Contents

This was a replay of last year's Shamrock Bowl. The UL Vikings came into the game on the back of an undefeated streak. Dublin Rebels, the reigning champions, came into the game after winning the Central Division and losing 3 matches including one against the UL Vikings.

The event was reported by many newspapers and websites including Extratime, a popular website dealing with Irish sport. Footage of the event was later released on YouTube and on the IAFL website. Highlights of the match were also shown on NFL Sunday.

Background

Host selection

The game was originally scheduled to take place at Tallaght Stadium, however the stadium was unavailable due to Shamrock Rovers Champions League commitments.

On June 17, it was reported that National Sports Campus Development Authourity had agreed to facilitate the silver jubilee game at Morton Stadium. The Morton Stadium was an ideal choice as it had already received an upgrade earlier in the year. Also, it had a capacity of 5,000 which gave the IAFL a chance to beat the previous attendance record.

Pre-game notes

The Rebels and The Vikings entered the game evenly. Major factors included that The Vikings had been unbeaten all season and they already defeated The Dublin Rebels, earlier in the season. Another factor was that the game was taking place in Dublin, which gave the Dublin Rebels home advantage. Also, Dublin Rebels were entering into the game as defending champions.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tallaght Stadium</span> Association football stadium in Tallaght, Ireland

Tallaght Stadium is an association football stadium in the Republic of Ireland based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club Shamrock Rovers originally announced details of the stadium in July, 1996. The stadium is now owned and operated by South Dublin County Council with Shamrock Rovers as the anchor tenants.

American Football Ireland (AFI) is the National Governing Body for American football for Ireland and Northern Ireland. Founded in 1984 the AFI is entirely volunteer run and all American football played in Ireland is played at an amateur level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belfast Trojans</span>

The Belfast Trojans are an American Football team formed in January 2006, and have competed in the IAFL since 2007 playing NCAA rules in full contact. The Belfast Trojans are the current national champions, after winning Shamrock Bowl XXXIII.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tallaght Outlaws</span> Former American football team in Tallaght, Ireland (2006–2008)

The Tallaght Outlaws were an American football located in Tallaght, Ireland. The club was initially established in 2006 as a flag football team, before joining the Irish American Football League (IAFL) in 2007 where it competed for two seasons. The club folded following the conclusion of the 2008 season, as one of the only IAFL teams in history not to win a single game.

The Shamrock Bowl is the championship game of the American Football Ireland (AFI), the highest level of American football on the island of Ireland, culminating a season that begins in March of the current calendar season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DCU Saints (American football)</span>

The Dublin City University Saints was a former American football team of Dublin City University, Ireland. Established in 2005, the DCU Saints initially competed in the Irish American Football League (IAFL) for five seasons, reaching the playoffs in 2008 and 2009. The team collapsed following the conclusion of the league's 2010 season, before attempting to unsuccessfully reform for the 2013 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Limerick Vikings</span>

The University of Limerick Vikings are the American football team from the University of Limerick in Limerick, Ireland. The team currently competes in the American Football Ireland Division One. The Vikings have won three IAFL Shamrock Bowl titles – in 2007, 2008 and 2009 and the Atlantic Cup in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dublin Rebels</span>

The Dublin Rebels are the most successful team in the history of the Irish American Football League. They have earned nine national championship wins, four league titles, three European crowns, and have registered an undefeated season twice; once in 2006 and again in 2010.

The 2008 Irish American Football League (IAFL) season is the 22nd season since its establishment. The current champions are the UL Vikings. The first games were played on 30 March. The Shamrock Bowl was scheduled for 10 August in Cork Institute of Technology's brand new stadium. The Shamrock Bowl was the first major national event played there.

Shamrock Bowl XXI was played on July 29, 2007 at UL Sports Ground, Limerick to decide the Irish American Football League (IAFL) champion following the 2007 regular season. This Shamrock Bowl hosted two teams from the IAFL South division, the University of Limerick Vikings and the Cork Admirals. The Vikings won the first Shamrock Bowl title in their team history, previously losing their last two in 2002 and 2006. This was the Cork Admirals' first Shamrock Bowl appearance.

Shamrock Bowl XXII was played on August 10, 2008. The match featured the Irish American Football League South Division champions University of Limerick Vikings meet the IAFL Central Division champions Dublin Rebels in CIT Stadium, Cork, Ireland. The UL Vikings were able win their second consecutive Shamrock Bowl title by defeating the Dublin Rebels 14-12. The MVP of the game was Adrian Garvey who scored the Vikings only offensive touchdown of the game.

The IAFL College Bowl was a college football tournament that formed part of the Irish American Football League between 2007 and 2011. Four teams competed in the championship since its inauguration: the UL Vikings, the DCU Saints, Trinity College, and UCD. The final champions were Trinity College, having defeating UCD 7-0 in December 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cork Admirals</span>

The Cork Admirals are an American Football team that play in the Irish American Football League (IAFL). The team is based in Presentation Brothers College Sports Ground, Cork.

The 2007 IAFL season, with new divisional format, was due to begin on March 4 with the College Championship game between DCU Saints and UL Vikings, but the game was delayed due to rain, so the season proper began on March 25 when the Cork Admirals beat the Belfast Bulls, the UL Vikings beat the Tallaght Outlaws and Dublin Rebels beat the Dublin City University Saints. The season continued throughout April and May, with the IAFL College Championship Game eventually been rescheduled on June 3, with the UL Vikings beating the DCU Saints 50–2.

Trinity College Dublin American Football is the American Football team of Trinity College Dublin.

The Belfast Knights is an American Football team and Ireland's longest running American Football club, formerly Carrickfergus Knights. Founded in 1993 by Eddie Kelly, the Knights have been National Champions 3 times, in 1997, 1998 and 2002 and have competed in 9 of the 15 championship games. Their current coaching structure consists of Adam Devenney as head coach, Spencer Mcdowel as offensive co-ordinator, Simon Devenney as defensive co-ordinator and Adam Devenney as special teams co-ordinator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Craigavon Cowboys</span>

The Craigavon Cowboys are an American football team playing in Craigavon, currently playing in the Irish American Football League. Early success for the Cowboys seen them take home the Shamrock Bowl Crown in 1986, 1990 and 1992. The Club folded in the mid 90s but reformed again in 2005, winning the DV8 League in 2009 - the DV8 league was set up for young clubs giving them the base to slowly grow their team and to give the rookie players some valuable game time. After winning the DV8 championship the Cowboys jumped up to the top division in Ireland.

The 2011 IAFL season was the 25th regular season of the Irish American Football League.

The IAFL is the Irish American Football League. It is an amateur American football organization in Ireland. It was founded in 1984, and it has two conferences which consist of 23 teams competing in the Shamrock Bowl Conference, IAFL-1 and IAFL-2

'IAFL-2' is the third tier of American football in Ireland. The League was Founded in 2014 with the Tyrone Titans Winning the inaugural competition.

References