UL Vikings
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| Website | www.ulvikings.ie |
| All-time Regular Season Record: | 56-30-3 |
| All-time Playoff Record: | 10-6 |
| Head Coach: | Paul Gilhool |
| Shamrock Bowl Record: | 3-4 |
| Highest EFAF Ranking: | #18 (July 18, 2010) |
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| Nickname: | Vikings |
| Colors: | Blue and Yellow |
| Mascot: | Gvoven |
| Home Field: | University of Limerick Sports Fields |
| Rivals: | |
| Storied Vikings | |
| Retired Jerseys: | Paddy Ryan (#88) |
| Vikings Hall of Fame: |
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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 competes in the Irish American Football League. The Vikings have won three IAFL Shamrock Bowl titles - in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
The Vikings' all-time record is 48-28-3 (0.580).
Established in 1999, the team played mostly flag football until late 2001, when they joined the IAFL winter league.
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 December 2, 2001, they recorded their first-ever win, 12–8, over the Dublin Dragons in Limerick, with touchdowns from Tommy Conneelly and Paddy "The Saint" Ryan.
In 2002, the Vikings won every game they played thanks to a powerful team of mostly American exchange students. 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.
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. The 2003 and 2004 seasons were devoted to building a base of home-grown Irish players. Despite going winless during both of those seasons, the Vikings recruited the core of the future Shamrock Bowl-winning teams, including Liam Ryan and Kieran Coen.
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. Buoyed by their promising 2005 campaign, the Vikings made the playoffs their goal in 2006. With the team becoming more and more popular around Limerick, 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 – Chris Bassitt, Jeremiah Sexton, Alex Smith and Seamus Hogan. The 2006 UL Vikings finished the season with a 5–2–1 record, led by their defense, 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 former players Kieran Coen and Dan Levy, 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 very strong Dublin Rebels team upended the Vikings 44–12 to claim their fourth consecutive Shamrock Bowl victory. Despite the defeat, the team had managed to turn a corner by making the Shamrock Bowl with a young, almost exclusively Irish team.
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Wikipedia