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The University of Limerick Vikings are the American football team from the University of Limerick in Limerick, Ireland. The team currently[when?] competes in the American Football Ireland Division One. The Vikings have won three IAFL Shamrock Bowl titles – in 2007, 2008 and 2009 and the Atlantic Cup in 2010. The Vikings also won their first AFI Division 1 Bowl in 2023, concluding a perfect 10-0 season.
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| School | University of Limerick |
|---|---|
| Colors | Blue and Yellow |
| Head coach | Darragh ‘Plum’ O’Callaghan |
| Mascot | Gvoven |
The Vikings' all-time record is 105-49-5 (0.660).
Established in 1999, the team played mostly flag football until late 2001, when they joined the IAFL winter league.[1]
In UL's first-ever game, they took the field on the road to the eventual Shamrock Bowl champion Dublin Rebels and were beaten 48–0. The Vikings lost their first four games, but on 2 December 2001, they recorded their first-ever win, 12–8, over the Dublin Dragons in Limerick.[citation needed]
In 2002, the Vikings won every game they played thanks to a team of mostly American exchange students.[citation needed] As league champions, they progressed directly to the Shamrock Bowl. However, as most of the American students had returned home, UL was well beaten by the Carrickfergus Knights, 66–0.[citation needed]
The Vikings decided that for the long-term benefit of the team, they couldn't rely on exchange students as much as they had been doing.[citation needed] The 2003 and 2004 seasons were devoted to building a base of home-grown Irish players.[citation needed] Despite going winless during both of those seasons, the Vikings recruited several players who would go on to be part of future Shamrock Bowl-winning teams.[citation needed]
In 2005, the much improved Vikings snapped their three-year, 13-game losing streak with a 26–22 victory over rival Cork Admirals, and narrowly missed the playoffs, finishing with a 3–5 record.[tone] Buoyed by their promising 2005 campaign,[tone] the Vikings made the playoffs their goal in 2006. The Vikings had another strong recruiting class and the team was made up of mostly Irish players, although they were helped by the arrival of four American exchange students.[citation needed] The 2006 UL Vikings finished the season with a 5–2–1 record, led by their defence, which gave up only 6 points in five home games. The Vikings made the postseason for the first time in four years. Aided by the return of several former players, UL defeated the Carrickfergus Knights on the road to make the Shamrock Bowl for the second time in the team's short history. However, a strong Dublin Rebels team upended the Vikings 44–12 to claim their fourth consecutive Shamrock Bowl victory.[tone] Despite the defeat, the team had managed to turn a corner by making the Shamrock Bowl with a young, almost exclusively Irish team.[tone]
The Vikings had their greatest season ever in 2007.[tone] Winning every game they played (the sole loss coming by way of a forfeit due to field unavailability against Cork) in dominant fashion – their smallest margin of victory being 16 points.[tone] The Vikings league best defence allowed more than 6 points in a game only once, in a 36–20 road victory over the Cork Admirals, and the offence was equally as dominant,[original research?] averaging almost 43 points a game and scoring at least four touchdowns in every game, led by an overpowering O-Line and strong running game.[original research?]
The Vikings entered the playoffs as Shamrock Bowl favourites, but had to get past a 4th-seeded Belfast Bulls team in the semi-finals, eventually winning by a dominating 44–2 scoreline. This led to the first ever all-Munster Shamrock Bowl against the Cork Admirals, which was held at the UL Sports Grounds on 29 July. The Vikings won a close fought match by a margin of 22–14 courtesy of three rushing touchdowns from game MVP Seamus Hogan to claim their first-ever Shamrock Bowl title.
The Vikings finished the 2008 regular season with a 7–1 record, winning their second consecutive Southern Division title. The sole loss came at home at the hands of fellow Shamrock Bowl finalists Dublin Rebels. The Vikings returned most of the starters from the 2007 season.[citation needed]
The Vikings finished as the number two seeds, and after easily defeating the Belfast Trojans 42–8 in the semi-final, proceeded to their third consecutive Shamrock Bowl. The bowl took place on 10 August at CIT Stadium in Cork against the number one seeded Dublin Rebels. The Vikings had a 14–3 lead going into half-time, and thanks to a blocked field goal in the fourth quarter, the Vikings won their second Shamrock Bowl in two years, defeating the Rebels 14–12.[citation needed]
The 2009 season saw the Vikings return the core of their team from 2008, but lost linemen Jim Davis and Kieran Coen to the Valencia Firebats of the Spanish League.
The Vikings once again relied upon power running and a tough, fast defence to make the playoffs for the fourth year in a row, but they once again fell to the Dublin Rebels, this time 12–7 at home. The Vikings finished as the number two seed for the third year in a row, and met the physical Carrickfergus Knights at home in the semi-finals, where they welcomed back Davis and Coen, who had helped lead Valencia to victory in the Spanish Bowl. Leading 20–0 at half time, the game was abandoned shortly after the break when a Knights player was seriously injured, and the Vikings advanced to their fourth Shamrock Bowl in a row.
The Vikings met the Dublin Rebels in Belfast for Shamrock Bowl XXIII. In a close, physical game, the score was tied at 6–6 after four-quarters, which meant the Shamrock Bowl would go into overtime for the first time in the game's history. The Rebels won the toss and elected to receive the ball, but two plays into the extra period, Rebels' QB Andy Dennehy was intercepted by Vikings' CB JP Nerbun to set up a game winning 30-yard field goal attempt. UL kicker Daniel Smith converted it successfully[2] and the Vikings claimed their third Shamrock Bowl in three years.
The Vikings continued the success of recent years by reaching the playoffs for the fifth successive year. Helped by the addition of rookies Shane Gleeson at centre and Sean Sheehy at corner back, the team was once again led by a strong running game and a physical defence on their way to a 6–1–1 record. Their only defeat once again came at the hands of perennial championship rivals, the Dublin Rebels. In June 2010, the Vikings won their first international title, by winning the second EFAF Atlantic Cup, held in Dublin. This win, along with their consistent domestic success, elevated the Vikings into the EFAF Top 20 rankings for the first time in the team's history, debuting at No. 19. [3] The Vikings success in the Atlantic Cup resulted in them being named the IFAF Team of the Month for June 2010 – the first Irish team ever to win this award. [4] The Vikings proceeded to their fifth Shamrock Bowl in five years by beating the Carrickfergus Knights 20–0 in their Shamrock Bowl semi-final. The Vikings failed to make it four Shamrock Bowl victories in a row as they lost in the Shamrock Bowl to the No. 1 seed Dublin Rebels, 15–0.
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties
| Year | W | L | T | Finish | Playoff Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 4th IAFL | – |
| 2002 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1st IAFL | Lost Shamrock Bowl XVI (Knights) |
| 2003 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3rd IAFL Division 2 | – |
| 2004 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 6th IAFL | – |
| 2005 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 5th IAFL | – |
| 2006 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3rd IAFL | Lost Shamrock Bowl XX (Rebels) |
| 2007 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1st IAFL Southern Division | Won Shamrock Bowl XXI (Admirals) |
| 2008 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1st IAFL Southern Division | Won Shamrock Bowl XXII (Rebels) |
| 2009 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2nd IAFL | Won Shamrock Bowl XXIII (Rebels) |
| 2010 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1st IAFL Southern Division | Lost Shamrock Bowl XXIV (Rebels) |
| 2011 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1st IAFL Southern Division | Lost Shamrock Bowl XXV (Rebels) |
| 2012 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1st IAFL | Lost Shamrock Bowl XXVI (Trojans) |
| 2013 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2nd IAFL Southern Division | Lost Shamrock Bowl Semi-final (Trojans) |
| 2014 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2nd IAFL Southern Division | Lost Shamrock Bowl Semi-final (Trojans) |
| 2015 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2nd IAFL Southern Division | Lost Shamrock Bowl Semi-final (Trojans) |
| 2016 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2nd IAFL Southern Division | Lost Shamrock Bowl Semi-final (Dublin Rebels) |
| 2017 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2nd IAFL Southern Division | Lost Shamrock Bowl Semi-final (Carrickfergus Knights) |
| 2018 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4th IAFL Southern Division | – |
| 2019 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 5th IAFL | – |
| 2022 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2nd AFI Division 1 | Lost AFI Division One Bowl (Westmeath Minotaurs) |
| 2023 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1st AFI Division 1 | Won AFI Division One Bowl (Louth Mavericks) |
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