Belfast Trojans

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Belfast Trojans
The 2012 Belfast Trojans
Founded 2006
League Irish American Football League
Stadium Shorts Sports & Recreation Club
Based in Belfast, Northern Ireland
Colors Green and White
         
Championships 2012 Shamrock Bowl Winners
Division titles Northern Division Champions 2008,2012
Local media annievea@media401
Website http://www.belfasttrojans.com

The Belfast Trojans are an American Football team formed in January 2006, and have competed in the IAFL since 2007.They are a fully kitted team, and play NCAA rules in full contact.

The players have a wide range of experience levels from rookie to twenty-year veteran. They have played as far afield as Duke University and the University of Michigan.

The team currently train and play their home matches at Shorts Sports & Recreation Club. The Belfast Trojans are the only Irish team to have a dedicated American Football pitch at their facility.

History

Formed in 2006 by players disillusioned with the now defunct Belfast Bulls the Trojans joined the IAFL in 2007

2007 Season

Playing their games at Malone RFC the fledgling Trojans ended their rookie year in the IAFL with a 3-3-2 record.

The 2007 Belfast Trojans
Date Home Team Score Away Team
01/04/07 Belfast Bulls 14-12 Belfast Trojans
15/04/07 Belfast Trojans 60-12 Tallaght Outlaws
22/04/07 Belfast Trojans 12-6 Dublin Rebels
27/05/07 Belfast Trojans 6-6 Belfast Bulls
03/06/07 Belfast Trojans 28-14 Dublin Dragons
17/06/07 Cork Admirals 60-0 Belfast Trojans
15/07/07 Carrickfergus Knights 0-0 Belfast Trojans

2008 Season

The Trojans sopohmore year would prove to be one of great success but success that came at a cost.

The Trojans started with back to back games against two of the powerhouses of Irish American Football, the Dublin Rebels & the Limerick Vikings. Defeats in these two fixtures saw the Belfast side going 0-2 at the start of the season. However by game day three something had begun to click and the Trojans swept away all teams before them as they battled to their first Northern Division Title. The division win set up a semi final playoff in Limerick where the Trojans could not find their feet against a dominating Vikings side who conquered the Trojans in a 52-8 victory.

Erin Wagner finds some space against the Belfast Bulls
Date Home Team Score Away Team
30/03/08 Belfast Trojans 0-16 Dublin Rebels
13/04/08 UL Vikings 22-8 Belfast Trojans
20/04/08 Belfast Trojans 24-8 Belfast Bulls
04/05/08 Carrickfergus Knights 0-42 Belfast Trojans
11/05/08 Belfast Bulls 14-30 Belfast Trojans
01/06/08 Belfast Trojans 44-19 Carrickfergus Knights
15/06/08 Belfast Trojans 56-0 Dublin Rhinos
22/06/08 Belfast Trojans 30-0 Tallaght Outlaws

Playoffs

Date Home Team Score Away Team
27/07/08 UL Vikings 52-8 Belfast Trojans

2009 Season

Devastated by the semi-final loss the Trojans ranks withered and the 2009 season would prove to be a struggle. The IAFL was restructured into a single league after the dissolution of the Belfast Bulls and the remaining Belfast side suffered too. With the squad decimated and morale low the Trojans would slump to a 2-6 losing season, their worst since their formation.

Date Home Team Score Away Team
22/03/09 UL Vikings 49-0 Belfast Trojans
05/04/09 Belfast Trojans 22-12 Cork Admirals
26/04/09 DCU Saints 26-22 Belfast Trojans
10/05/09 Belfast Trojans 6-47 Dublin Rebels
24/05/09 Belfast Trojans 18-23 Carrickfergus Knights
07/06/09 Dublin Rebels 56-6 Belfast Trojans
14/06/09 Dublin Rhinos 9-52 Belfast Trojans
05/07/09 Carrickfergus Knights 28-0 Belfast Trojans

2010 Season

The Trojans fourth season saw the dark times continue. Again the squad was depleted and veteran players were ravaged by injury. The Trojans limped through 2009 ending with a 3-5 record making it two successive losing seasons. The future looked uncertain for the Belfast side.

Belfast Trojans Vs Dublin Dragons
Date Home Team Score Away Team
14/03/10 Carrickfergus Knights 14-8 Belfast Trojans
18/04/10 Trinity 42-8 Belfast Trojans
02/05/10 Belfast Trojans 38-0 Dublin Dragons
09/05/10 Belfast Trojans 0-30 Carrickfergus Knights
23/05/10 Cork Admirals 25-8 Belfast Trojans
30/05/10 Belfast Trojans 20-0 DCU Saints
13/06/10 Belfast Trojans 20-24 Craigavon Cowboys
04/07/10 Craigavon Cowboys 14-15 Belfast Trojans

2011 Season

A proactive recruitment drive bolstered the Trojans squad with not only their largest roster to date but one with real quality throughout. The dark days of 2010 gave way to brighter times as the Trojans recovered finishing the season 6-2, narrowly missing out on winning the Northern Division away from bitter rivals the Carrickfergus Knights. The playoffs would prove a bridge too far though with the Trojans losing a tight wildcard playoff to the Craigavon Cowboys.

Belfast Trojans Vs Dublin Rhinos
Date Home Team Score Away Team
27/03/11 Belfast Trojans 8-0 UCD
03/04/11 Carrickfergus Knights 34-6 Belfast Trojans
17/04/11 Belfast Trojans 33-12 Craigavon Cowboys
01/05/11 Dublin Dragons 0-59 Belfast Trojans
15/05/11 Dublin Rhinos 0-10 Belfast Trojans
22/05/11 Belfast Trojans 14-12 Dublin Rebels
05/06/11 Craigavon Cowboys 28-21 Belfast Trojans
10/06/11 Belfast Trojans 16-14 Carrickfergus Knights

Playoffs

Date Home Team Score Away Team
10/07/11 Belfast Trojans 14-17 Craigavon Cowboys

2012 Season

Buoyed by the progression in 2011 the Trojans again worked hard at recruiting, numbers again swelled and the Trojans could for the first time boast the largest playing squad in Ireland. Improvements to the playbook and to the work ethic on the training pitch saw the Trojans approach the season with confidence. The regular season could not have went more to plan with the Trojans topping the Northern Division for the first time since 2008 going unbeaten along the way.

The Trojans defeat the Craigavon Cowboys
Date Home Team Score Away Team
11/03/12 Craigavon Cowboys 12-31 Belfast Trojans
25/03/12 Dublin Rhinos 20-24 Belfast Trojans
15/04/12 Belfast Trojans 53-0 Dublin Dragons
29/04/12 Belfast Trojans 48-12 Craigavon Cowboys
06/05/12 Belfast Trojans 30-0 Tullamore Phoenix
20/05/12 Carrickfergus Knights 0-43 Belfast Trojans
03/06/12 Belfast Trojans 54-0 Cork Admirals
10/06/12 Dublin Rebels 20-27 Belfast Trojans

Playoffs

A home semi final against the 2011 Champions the Dublin Rebels proved to be a cagey affair in the first half, but the third quarter saw the Trojans really come into their own and set up a high scoring finale where the Belfast side came out 66-38 winners.

The Trojans storm past the Dublin Rebels and into their first ever Shamrock Bowl
Date Home Team Score Away Team
01/07/12 Belfast Trojans 66-38 Dublin Rebels

Shamrock Bowl XXVI

For the first time in the competitions history two unbeaten teams contested the Shamrock Bowl. Both the Trojans and the UL VIkings had dominated their respective divisions and had won their semi finals in high scoring style.The showpiece game in Irish American Football would once again return to Tallaght Stadium. The Bowl itself didn't reflect the high scoring natures of the two teams but it was a hard, tough, smash mouth affair that the Trojans managed to edge in the first two quarters before finally securing the 16-14 win with a field goal in the final two minutes.

Trojans Running Back Dave Colvin attacks the Viking defense
Date Home Team Score Away Team
14/07/12 UL Vikings 14-16 Belfast Trojans
The Belfast Trojans celebrate winning their first Shamrock Bowl tite

DV8's League

For the first time in their history the Trojans had a squad so large that it became necessary to enter the IAFL's DV8's development league in order to ensure playing time for all their players. Typifying the resolve shown by the Belfast outfit in 2012 the Trojans DV8's went 4-0, blowing away the opposition and capping off a fine unbeaten season for the team in green.

Date Home Team Score Away Team
13/05/12 Belfast Trojans 33-19 Trim Bulldogs
22/07/12 Craigavon Cowboys 18-27 Belfast Trojans
05/08/12 Drogheda Lightning 6-49 Belfast Trojans
19/08/12 Belfast Trojans 41-0 Carrickfergus Knights

Rivalries

The Belfast Bulls

The Belfast Trojans were created by former Belfast Bulls players who had become dissatisfied with the atmosphere within the team. The split caused a schism between the former teammates and once the Trojans entered the IAFL in 2007 a heated rivalry between the two teams was evident. It was fitting that the Trojans first game in the IAFL should be against their former brothers in arms however it was the established Bulls rather than the upstart Trojans who would triumph. This first meeting of the two city rivals would also prove to be the last time the Bulls would have the edge over the Trojans., the return fixture later in the 2007 season ended in a tie. The Trojans were in the ascendency and would prove it in 2008. The Trojans dominated the Bulls in both home and away fixtures as they surged to their first Northern Division Championship in 2008. The Bulls finished bottom of the Northern Division. Financial difficulties saw the Bulls unable to enter the IAFL in 2009 and they were forced to fold.

The Carrickfergus Knights

The end of the Bulls saw many Football players in the Belfast area without a team. The bad blood between the Trojans and the Bulls meant that the majority of Bulls players chose to join the Carrickfergus Knights. Bolstered by this influx of numbers the Knights quickly resumed their dominance of the Northern Division and the old animosity that the Bulls had for the Trojans transferred to the Knights. Whilst the rivalry between these two teams is always heated on the pitch, relations away from the field are always friendly and respectful.

Charity Work

In the late summer of 2012 the Belfast Trojans adopted the Northern Ireland Cancer Fund For Children as their principle charity.

Official Sponsors

In 2012 the Trojans signed a two-year partnership with Madisons Hotel Belfast.

External links

SBC North
SBC South
IAFL-1
Defunct teams
Other
Seasons
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