Carrickfergus Knights

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Carrickfergus Knights
Home groundShaw's Bridge Sports Association, Belfast
ColorsYellow and Black

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, Phil Gunning as offensive co-ordinator, Aaron McNaughton as defensive co-ordinator and Andrew Black as special teams co-ordinator.

History[]

1994[]

In the Knights' inaugural season, they reached the All-Ireland Championship, but were narrowly beaten by the Dublin Tornadoes, 21–15.

1995[]

The team reached the All-Ireland Championship again and were beaten, once again, by the Dublin Tornadoes, this time more convincingly, by a final score of 44–12.

1996[]

The '96 team were destined to struggle from the start of the season with so many people leaving the team at the one time. However, despite this large setback, they reached the semi-finals and were defeated by the eventual champions, the Dublin Lightning 3 – 0 in double overtime.

1997[]

1997 saw founder, Eddie Kelly retire from running the team. His position was taken by Errol Maxwell. In the preseason games for 1997, it was clear that the team, with its new assignment of players were going to make a promising impact on the league that year. The Knights only lost one regular season game that year and they went on to win Shamrock Bowl XII by beating the Dublin Bulls 21–0.

1998[]

1998 saw the team unbeaten (two ties with the Dublin Tigers though!) and win the Shamrock Bowl for the second consecutive time by defeating the Tigers 22–14 at Carrickfergus Rugby Club on Sunday 30 August. The team made history in May by playing an American NCAA rated team (Maranatha Bible Baptist College) for the first time.

1999[]

The '99 team were defeated by the Dublin Tigers 22–6 in Shamrock Bowl XIV.

2001[]

With veteran linebacker Mark Harris installed as coach, the '01 Knights won the reformed league (now re-structured as the IAFL) with a record of 5–1. They contested Shamrock Bowl XV against the Dublin Rebels led by Brian Dennehy, but were beaten by the greater experience of the Rebel side. The Dublin Rebels won by a margin of 28–7.

2002[]

The Knights won the Shamrock Bowl for the third time in their history in 2002. After finishing runner's up in the league to the UL Vikings, they faced them again in Shamrock Bowl XVI, played at UL Sports Centre in Limerick. The Knights beat the severely weakened Vikings team by a record margin of 66–0.

2003[]

The '03 team qualified for Shamrock Bowl XVII as League Champions, where they matched up against the Dublin Rebels. The match was played at Old Suttonians Rugby Club in Dublin and the home team took the Championship with a 24–12 scoreline. 2003 also saw the Knights travel to Belgium for the , having qualified as the previous year's Shamrock Bowl winners. There, they finished in 3rd place, with the Dublin Rebels winning their second successive tournament.


Season By Season IAFL records[]

Season records
Season W L T Finish Playoff results
IAFL
1994 ? ? ? ?? Runner-up – Shamrock Bowl IX
1995 ? ? ? ?? Runner-up – Shamrock Bowl X
1996 ? ? ? ?? ??
1997 ? ? ? IAFL League Champions Champions – Shamrock Bowl XII
1998 6 0 2 IAFL League Champions Champions – Shamrock Bowl XIII
1999 ? ? ? ?? Runner-up – Shamrock Bowl XIV
2000 0 0 0 No League Play N/A
2001 5 1 0 IAFL League Champions Runner-up – Shamrock Bowl XV
2002 4 2 0 2nd IAFL Champions – Shamrock Bowl XVI
2003 5 1 0 IAFL League Champions Runner-up – Shamrock Bowl XVII
2004 6 1 1 2nd IAFL Runner-up – Shamrock Bowl XVIII
2005 5 2 1 3rd IAFL Beaten Semi-finalists
2006 6 2 0 2nd IAFL Beaten Semi-finalists
2007 3 4 1 3rd IAFL North –
2008 3 5 0 2nd IAFL North –
2009 6 2 0 3rd IAFL Beaten Semi-finalists
2010 6 2 0 3rd IAFL Beaten Semi-finalists
2011 6 2 0 2nd IAFL Beaten Semi-finalists
2012 2 6 0 3rd IAFL North Beaten Semi-finalists
2013 3 4 1 IAFL North SBC Beaten Quarter-Finalists
2014 3 5 0 IAFL North SBC Beaten Quarter-Finalists
2015 2 6 0 IAFL North SBC –
2016 5 3 0 IAFL North SBC Beaten Quarter-Finalists
2017 5 3 0 IAFL North SBC Champions Runner-up – Shamrock Bowl XXXI
Totals 81 51 6

Knights Individual Awards[]

Knights MVP[]

Year Winner Age Position
2009 Chris Carson 22 RB
2010 Adam Devenney 27 QB
2011 Adam Devenney / Paul McKillop 28 / 31 QB
2012 Spencer McDowell 29 LB/QB
2013 Adam Devenney 30 QB
2014 John McCambridge 25 LB
2015 Josh Davis ?? QB

Knights Offensive Player of the Year[]

Year Winner Age Position
2006 Robert Elliott 24 RB
2010 Chris Carson 23 RB
2011 Gary McElkerney 28 WR
2012 Darren "Pyscho" Montgomery 31 RB
2013 Darren "Pyscho" Montgomery 32 RB
2014 Chris Ireland ?? WR
2015 Gareth "Suntan" Millar ?? RB

Knights Defensive Player of the Year[]

Year Winner Age Position
2009 Spencer McDowell 26 LB
2010 Spencer McDowell 27 LB
2011 Ciaran "CJ" Watson 24 CB
2012 Spencer McDowell 29 LB
2013 Aaron McNaughton 26 DE
2014 John McCambridge 25 LB
2015 Conor Beckett 25 DT
2018 Aaron Klewchuk 31 LB

Special Teams Player of the Year[]

Year Winner Age Position
2014 Marty Caskey ?? K
2015 Steafan Brown ?? KR/PR

Knights Rookie of the Year[]

Year Winner Age Position
2009 Conor Beckett 19 DT
2010 Joel Neill 22 OL
2011 Callum Leckey 19 QB/TE/LB
2012 Stevie McCrystal / John Wayland 24 / 25 OL, WR
2013 Niall O'Hara 27 RB
2014 Phill Henson ?? OL
2015 Dave Shaw 27 OL

Knights Most Improved Player[]

Year Winner Age Position
2011 Joel Neill, Mark Wharry 23.23 OL, WR
2012 Alastair Nixon, Joel Neill 21, 23 WR, OL
2013 John Wayland, Phil Gunning 25, 23 WR, TE
2014 John McCambridge 25 LB
2015 Alastair Nixon 24 RB

External links[]

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