The Irish American Football League (IAFL) has now published its league fixtures for 2008. Nine teams from various parts of the country will compete for the Shamrock Bowl. The regular season will start on 16th March 2008 when defending Champions, Univ. of Limerick Vikings visit the Dublin City Univ. Saints. This game will also serve as the 2008 College Championship game. The regular season will finish in late June with the top 5 teams advancing to the play-offs which will take place during July. Shamrock Bowl XXII, the National Championship game, will take place on Sunday 10th August 2008.

The IAFL has retained its divisional structure. Each team will play 8 regular season games - 4 games within their division and 4 games against teams in other divisions. For the first time ever, the IAFL has introduced a scheduling formula which, like the NFL, grades the strength of schedule for each team according to their league positions in the previous season. The Divisional line-up for 2008 is as follows:

IAFL North:
Belfast Bulls, Belfast Trojans, Carrickfergus Knights.

IAFL Central:
Dublin Rebels, DCU Saints, Dublin Rhinos.

IAFL South:
Univ. of Limerick Vikings, Cork Admirals, Tallaght Outlaws.

New team, the Dublin Rhinos, will play in the IAFL’s highest division for the first time in 2008. They replace the Dublin Dragons who have dropped back to the Development League (see below).

NEW DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE.

The IAFL has started up a new development league for 2008. This league, called the DV-8s league will be used to assist new formed teams in getting kitted football experience before entering the main IAFL league and also to allow existing teams to field “B” teams of mainly rookie players to help get them experience. Whereas American football is usually played with 11 players on the field at any time, the DV-8s league will have only 8 players on the field at any time – not unlike Arena football in the USA. This means that new teams with smaller squads who are not strong enough to compete in the main league can play in the DV-8s league as a squad size of c.20 players would be sufficient to be competitive. There are also some other rule changes to facilitate the development of new players including a rule which states that each team must have a minimum of 5 players with less than 2 years experience on the field at any time. Like the main IAFL league, the DV-8s league will be full kitted, full contact adult American football. The schedule for the DV-8s league will be released early in 2008. The participants include 3 teams new to the IAFL, 1 team which has dropped down from full IAFL level and 2 “B” teams. All of the new teams are expected to step up to full IAFL level within 2 years.

DV-8s Line-up:

Craigavon Cowboys
Edenderry Soldiers
Trinity College Thunderbolts
Dublin Dragons
Cork Admirals “B” team.
Dublin Rebels “B” team.

2008 SCHEDULE