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.
In the Knights' inaugural season, they reached the All-Ireland Championship, but were narrowly beaten by the Dublin Tornadoes, 21–15.
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.
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 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 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.
The '99 team were defeated by the Dublin Tigers 22–6 in Shamrock Bowl XIV.
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.
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.
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.
|-| colspan="6" align="center" | IAFL|-|1994 || ? || ? || ? || ?? || Runner-up – Shamrock Bowl IX|-|1995 || ? || ? || ? || ?? || Runner-up – Shamrock Bowl X|-|1996 || ? || ? || ? || ?? || ??|-|1997 || ? || ? || ? || IAFL League Champions|| Champions – Shamrock Bowl XII|-|1998 || 6 || 0 || 2 || IAFL League Champions|| Champions – Shamrock Bowl XIII|-|1999 || ? || ? || ? || ?? || Runner-up – Shamrock Bowl XIV|-|2000 || 0 || 0 || 0 || No League Play || N/A|-|2001 || 5 || 1 || 0 || IAFL League Champions|| Runner-up – Shamrock Bowl XV|-|2002 || 4 || 2 || 0 || 2nd IAFL|| Champions – Shamrock Bowl XVI|-|2003 || 5 || 1 || 0 || IAFL League Champions|| Runner-up – Shamrock Bowl XVII|-|2004 || 6 || 1 || 1 || 2nd IAFL|| Runner-up – Shamrock Bowl XVIII|-|2005 || 5 || 2 || 1 || 3rd IAFL|| Beaten Semi-finalists|-|2006 || 6 || 2 || 0 || 2nd IAFL || Beaten Semi-finalists|-|2007 || 3 || 4 || 1 || 3rd IAFL North|| –|-|2008 || 3 || 5 || 0 || 2nd IAFL North|| –|-|2009 || 6 || 2 || 0 || 3rd IAFL|| Beaten Semi-finalists|-|2010 || 6 || 2 || 0 || 3rd IAFL|| Beaten Semi-finalists|-|2011 || 6 || 2 || 0 || 2nd IAFL|| Beaten Semi-finalists|-|2012 || 2 || 6 || 0 || 3rd IAFL North|| Beaten Semi-finalists|-|2013 || 3 || 4 || 1 || IAFL North SBC || Beaten Quarter-Finalists|-|2014 || 3 || 5 || 0 || IAFL North SBC || Beaten Quarter-Finalists|-|2015 || 2 || 6 || 0 || IAFL North SBC || –|-|2016 || 5 || 3 || 0 || IAFL North SBC || Beaten Quarter-Finalists|-|2017 || 5 || 3 || 0 || IAFL North SBC Champions || Runner-up – Shamrock Bowl XXXI |-|Totals || 81 || 51 || 6|colspan="2"|
| 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 | ?? | QB | |
| 2022 | Jordan Clinton | ?? | WR | |
| 2023 | Robbie Alexander | ?? | DL |
| 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 | ?? | RB | |
| 2022 | Jordan Clinton | ?? | WR | |
| 2023 | Matthew Moody | 25 | OL |
| 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 | LB | |
| 2022 | Robbie Alexander | ?? | DL | |
| 2023 | Robbie Alexander | ?? | DL |
| Year | Winner | Age | Position | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Marty Caskey | ?? | K | |
| 2015 | Steafan Brown | ?? | KR/PR | |
| 2023 | Daithi McShane | ?? | K/P |
| 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 | OL | |
| 2022 | Josh Harvey | ?? | DB | |
| 2023 | Daithi McShane | ?? | WR |
| 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 | RB | |
| 2023 | Ian Donnell | ?? | LB |