Belfast Knights
Introduction '''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.
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 Charleroi Cup, 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  '''IAFL'''1994  ? ? ? ? ? Runner-up – Shamrock Bowl IX1995  ? ? ? ? ? Runner-up – Shamrock Bowl X1996  ? ? ? ? ? ? ?1997  ? ? ? IAFL League Champions Champions – Shamrock Bowl XII1998  6  0  2  IAFL League Champions Champions – Shamrock Bowl XIII1999  ? ? ? ? ? Runner-up – Shamrock Bowl XIV2000  0  0  0  No League Play  N/A2001  5  1  0  IAFL League Champions Runner-up – Shamrock Bowl XV2002  4  2  0  2nd IAFL Champions – Shamrock Bowl XVI2003  5  1  0  IAFL League Champions Runner-up – Shamrock Bowl XVII2004  6  1  1  2nd IAFL Runner-up – Shamrock Bowl XVIII2005  5  2  1  3rd IAFL Beaten Semi-finalists2006  6  2  0  2nd IAFL  Beaten Semi-finalists2007  3  4  1  3rd IAFL North –2008  3  5  0  2nd IAFL North –2009  6  2  0  3rd IAFL Beaten Semi-finalists2010  6  2  0  3rd IAFL Beaten Semi-finalists2011  6  2  0  2nd IAFL Beaten Semi-finalists2012  2  6  0  3rd IAFL North Beaten Semi-finalists2013  3  4  1  IAFL North SBC  Beaten Quarter-Finalists2014  3  5  0  IAFL North SBC  Beaten Quarter-Finalists2015  2  6  0  IAFL North SBC  –2016  5  3  0  IAFL North SBC  Beaten Quarter-Finalists2017  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  ? ? QB2022Jordan Clinton? ?WR2023Robbie Alexander ? ?DL===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 Montgomery  31  RB 2013  Darren Montgomery  32  RB 2014  Chris Ireland  ? ? WR 2015  Gareth Millar  ? ? RB2022Jordan Clinton ? ?WR2023Matthew Moody25OL===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  LB2022Robbie Alexander? ?DL2023Robbie Alexander ? ?DL===Special Teams Player of the Year=== Year  Winner  Age  Position 2014  Marty Caskey  ? ? K 2015  Steafan Brown  ? ? KR/PR2023Daithi McShane? ?K/P===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  OL2022Josh Harvey? ?DB2023Daithi McShane? ?WR===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  RB2023Ian Donnell? ?LB
External links *  Official website *  IAFL official website