Belfast Knights
Home groundMalone Rugby Club, 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, 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

Season records
SeasonWLTFinishPlayoff results
IAFL
1994 ? ? ? ??Runner-up – Shamrock Bowl IX
1995 ? ? ? ??Runner-up – Shamrock Bowl X
1996 ? ? ? ?? ??
1997 ? ? ?IAFL League ChampionsChampions – Shamrock Bowl XII
1998602IAFL League ChampionsChampions – Shamrock Bowl XIII
1999 ? ? ? ??Runner-up – Shamrock Bowl XIV
2000000No League PlayN/A
2001510IAFL League ChampionsRunner-up – Shamrock Bowl XV
20024202nd IAFLChampions – Shamrock Bowl XVI
2003510IAFL League ChampionsRunner-up – Shamrock Bowl XVII
20046112nd IAFLRunner-up – Shamrock Bowl XVIII
20055213rd IAFLBeaten Semi-finalists
20066202nd IAFLBeaten Semi-finalists
20073413rd IAFL North–
20083502nd IAFL North–
20096203rd IAFLBeaten Semi-finalists
20106203rd IAFLBeaten Semi-finalists
20116202nd IAFLBeaten Semi-finalists
20122603rd IAFL NorthBeaten Semi-finalists
2013341IAFL North SBCBeaten Quarter-Finalists
2014350IAFL North SBCBeaten Quarter-Finalists
2015260IAFL North SBC–
2016530IAFL North SBCBeaten Quarter-Finalists
2017530IAFL North SBC ChampionsRunner-up – Shamrock Bowl XXXI
Totals81516

Knights Individual Awards

Knights MVP

YearWinnerAgePosition
2009Chris Carson22RB
2010Adam Devenney27QB
2011Adam Devenney / Paul McKillop28 / 31QB
2012Spencer McDowell29LB/QB
2013Adam Devenney30QB
2014John McCambridge25LB
2015Josh Davis ??QB

Knights Offensive Player of the Year

YearWinnerAgePosition
2006Robert Elliott24RB
2010Chris Carson23RB
2011Gary McElkerney28WR
2012Darren Montgomery31RB
2013Darren Montgomery32RB
2014Chris Ireland ??WR
2015Gareth Millar ??RB

Knights Defensive Player of the Year

YearWinnerAgePosition
2009Spencer McDowell26LB
2010Spencer McDowell27LB
2011Ciaran "CJ" Watson24CB
2012Spencer McDowell29LB
2013Aaron McNaughton26DE
2014John McCambridge25LB
2015Conor Beckett25DT
2018Aaron Klewchuk31LB

Special Teams Player of the Year

YearWinnerAgePosition
2014Marty Caskey ??K
2015Steafan Brown ??KR/PR

Knights Rookie of the Year

YearWinnerAgePosition
2009Conor Beckett19DT
2010Joel Neill22OL
2011Callum Leckey19QB/TE/LB
2012Stevie McCrystal / John Wayland24 / 25OL, WR
2013Niall O'Hara27RB
2014Phill Henson ??OL
2015Dave Shaw27OL

Knights Most Improved Player

YearWinnerAgePosition
2011Joel Neill, Mark Wharry23.23OL, WR
2012Alastair Nixon, Joel Neill21, 23WR, OL
2013John Wayland, Phil Gunning25, 23WR, TE
2014John McCambridge25LB
2015Alastair Nixon24RB
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