A new season of Irish American Football in Upon us. On March 8th at 1pm, UCD and UL will kick off the Inaugural season of American Football Ireland. The league has recently undergone a pretty comprehensive rebrand, but new logos and names aside it’s pretty much business as usual. Last year’s finale was contested by perennial top dogs the Belfast Trojans and first time finalists the South Dublin Panthers. Despite a lopsided start to the game, the Panthers made a valiant comeback attempt. But they never really stood a chance and Belfast skipped to another victory.
Unsurprisingly, the Trojans are already heavy favourites to claim this year’s title. In fact, there are only three teams (in our opinion, don’t @ us) who really have a shot. The Dublin Rebels along with the Trojans have held a monopoly on Shamrock Bowl titles over the past couple of years, while the reformed Cork Admirals have become a force in the south. Cork’s tilt against the Rebels in 2018 was a very close affair, with 2 points being the difference in the final score. The Admiral’s ship was sunk at the semi final stage last year by the ambitious Panthers. The Panthers will be looking to ride the momentum from last season and make a return to the American Football Ireland Championship game.
Outside of the “top 3” there are a couple of teams looking to make some noise this season.
UCD have gotten to a semi final several times now, but have yet to make it as far as a Championship game. The students had a strong campaign in 2019 including decisive wins over the eventual title contending Panthers, as well as the Dublin Rebels.But can they take the next step? The Rebels themselves didn’t have a great year at all. Defeats to the newly demoted Knights and southside rivals UCD saw them miss out on the playoffs for the first time in years. The championship record holders will be looking to put last season behind them and return to winning ways.
Can a new Challenger emerge this season and upset the status quo in Irish American Football’s top flight? The likes of the Craigavon Cowboys and the Dublin Rhinos are only a few plays away from being in the conversation. Both clubs enjoyed a fierce rivalry during their time in Division 1 which has shown no signs of slowing down. Our prediction is that one of these teams will make it to the wildcard round this season, and who knows – maybe even further. Personally, we wouldn’t mind seeing things being shaken up a little bit. For example, It’s been about ten years since the Vikings last lifted the trophy. That was back in the “good” old days of the Smith Brothers. The landscape of American Football here has changed significantly in the intervening years, thankfully becoming more progressive and forward thinking – and actually focusing on the development of the sport here. But that’s a whole different article altogether!
Honestly, we’re just glad that football is back!
