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The Westmeath Minotaurs are an American football club located in Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland. They are a part of American Football Ireland (AFI) and play their home matches at Shay Murtagh Park, which is shared with Mullingar Rugby Football Club. The club fields both Senior and Youth teams for tackle football and also supports teams in the flag football division.
 | |
| Sport | American Football |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2011 |
| First season | 2013 |
| League | American Football Ireland |
| Based in | Mullingar |
| Home ground | Shay Murtagh Park |
| Colours | Purple, White, Black |
| Divisions |
|
| Championships |
|
| League titles |
|
| Division titles |
|
| Playoff berths |
|
| Website | westmeathminotaurs |
The Minotaurs were established in 2011[1] and commenced Senior kitted football in 2013[2] as part of American Football Ireland's Division 1. In 2022, they secured promotion to the Premier Division after winning the Division 1 Bowl against the University of Limerick Vikings.[3]
The flag football team began competing in 2014 and won the inaugural Emerald Bowl, becoming the Irish flag football champions in 2015.[4] In 2022, they claimed victory in Glas Bowl III, earning promotion back to the Flag Premier Division.[5] The club celebrated its tenth anniversary competitive season in 2022.[6]After being relegated once again in their return to the Premier Division in 2023, the Minotaurs won Glas Bowl V in 2024 to re-earn promotion.[7]
In 2022, the Senior Kitted Team defeated the Philadelphia Blue Flame by a score of 15-8 in an international friendly.[8][9] Then in 2023, they won their first ever game in the Premier Division, the highest level division in AFI, over the Craigavon Cowboys, 38-0.[10]
Seasons
editSenior Kitted
edit| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Pct | The team's winning percentage for the season |
| † | Shamrock Bowl champions |
| ‡ | Division 1 champions |
| * | Division championship appearance |
| ^ | Playoff appearance |
| Relegated | |
| Season | League | Division | Regular season | Postseason results | Head coach | Refs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | W | L | T | Pct | ||||||
| 2013 | AFI | Division 1 | 7th | 1 | 6 | 1 | .188 | Paddy Lally | ||
| 2014 | AFI | Division 1 | 3rd | 4 | 4 | 0 | .500 | |||
| 2015 | AFI | Division 1 | 6th | 0 | 8 | 0 | .000 | |||
| 2016 | AFI | Division 1 | 4th^ | 4 | 4 | 0 | .500 | Forfeited Semifinal (at Admirals) | Diarmaid Hyland | |
| 2017 | AFI | Division 1 | 5th | 3 | 5 | 0 | .375 | Paddy Lally | ||
| 2018 | AFI | Division 1 | 3rd^ | 6 | 2 | 0 | .750 | Lost Wild Card (Rhinos) 13-3 | Conor Brennan | |
| 2019 | AFI | Division 1 | 2nd* | 6 | 2 | 0 | .750 | Won Semifinal (Eagles) 27-22
Lost IAFL-1 Bowl (vs. Cowboys) 28-27 |
||
| 2020 | AFI | Division 1 | - | - | - | - | - | Bill Dougherty | [A] | |
| 2021 | AFI | Division 1 | - | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | [B] | ||
| 2022 | AFI | Division 1‡ | 1st‡ | 7 | 1 | 0 | .875 | Won Semifinal (Vipers) 41-6
Won Division 1 Bowl (vs. Vikings) 16-13 |
[C] | |
| 2023 | AFI | Premier Division | 6th | 2 | 6 | 0 | .250 | |||
| 2024 | AFI | Premier Division | 8th | 0 | 8 | 0 | .000 | Adam Corcoran | [D] | |
| Totals | 39 | 49 | 1 | .444 | All-time regular season record (2013–2024) | [11] | ||||
| 3 | 3 | — | .500 | All-time postseason record (2013–2024) | ||||||
| 42 | 52 | 1 | .447 | All-time regular & postseason record (2013–2024) | ||||||
Flag
edit| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Pct | The team's winning percentage for the season |
| † | Emerald Bowl champions |
| ‡ | Glas Bowl champions |
| * | Championship appearance |
| ^ | Playoff appearance |
| Relegated | |
| Season | League | Division | Regular season | Postseason results | Refs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | W | L | T | Pct | |||||
| 2014-15 | AFI | Midlands^ | 1st^ | 9 | 1 | 0 | .900 | Lost Semifinal (Rebels) 25-15 | |
| 2015 | AFI† | South† | 1st† | 6 | 2 | 0 | .750 | Won Semifinal (at Cowboys) 37-31
Won Summer Final (at Eagles) 27-25 Won Emerald Bowl I (vs. Eagles) 19-13 |
[E] |
| 2015-16 | AFI | Midlands* | 1st* | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | Won Wild Card (Elks) 39-7
Won Semifinal (Reapers) 27-19 Lost Emerald Bowl III (vs. Cowboys) 36-0 |
|
| 2016-17 | AFI | West | 2nd | 4 | 4 | 0 | .500 | ||
| 2017 | AFI | Premier Division | 2nd^ | 5 | 2 | 1 | .688 | Lost Semifinal (at Eagles) 41-26
Won 3rd Place Game (Cowboys) |
|
| 2018 | AFI | West | 2nd | 6 | 4 | 0 | .600 | ||
| 2019 | AFI | Premier Division | 9th | 4 | 4 | 0 | .500 | ||
| 2020 | AFI | Premier Division | - | - | - | - | - | [F] [G] | |
| 2021 | AFI | Division 1 South | 5th | 4 | 2 | 0 | .667 | ||
| 2022 | AFI | Division 1 South‡ | 1st‡ | 8 | 2 | 0 | .800 | Won Divisional Final (Crusaders) 45-18
Won Glas Bowl III (vs. Knights) 46-12 |
[H] |
| 2023 | AFI | Premier Division South | 5th | 1 | 9 | 0 | .100 | [I] | |
| 2024 | AFI | Division 1 Central‡ | 2nd‡ | 8 | 2 | 0 | .800 | Won Wild Card (vs Mavericks) 48-28
Won Semifinal (Giants) 53-6 Won Glas Bowl V (vs. Dunboyne Wildcats) 19-7 |
[J] |
| Totals | 77 | 36 | 1 | .680 | All-time regular season record (2014–2024) | [11] | |||
| 11 | 3 | — | .786 | All-time postseason record (2014–2024) | |||||
| 88 | 39 | 1 | .691 | All-time regular & postseason record (2014–2024) | |||||
Notes
edit- ^ Season cancelled due to Covid-19 pandemic.
- ^ Season cancelled due to Covid-19 pandemic. Two friendly games were scheduled when restrictions were lifted.
- ^ Promoted to Premier Division after season.
- ^ Relegated to Division 1 after season
- ^ For this season, the winners of the Winter and Summer finals played each other in the Emerald Bowl.
- ^ Season cancelled due to Covid-19 pandemic.
- ^ Relegated to Division 1 after the season.
- ^ Promoted to Premier Division after season.
- ^ Relegated to Division 1 after the season.
- ^ Promoted to Premier Division after season.
References
edit- ^ "Westmeath Minotaurs AFC". American Football Ireland. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
- ^ "History of the Westmeath Minotaurs - Westmeath Minotaurs". westmeathminotaurs.com. 2021-12-19. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
- ^ "Westmeath Minotaurs claim first championship victory". Westmeath Examiner. 2022-08-03. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
- ^ "EBC2014". American Football Ireland. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
- ^ "divone22". American Football Ireland. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
- ^ "Westmeath Minotaurs mark tenth anniversary season". Westmeath Independent. 2022-01-05. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
- ^ "Minotaurs are Glas Bowl V champions! - Westmeath Minotaurs". 2024-11-02. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
- ^ English, Jimmy (2022-03-04). "Minotaurs to face Philly First Responders". Gaelic Gridiron. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
- ^ "Minotaurs defeat Blue Flame 15-8 - Westmeath Minotaurs". westmeathminotaurs.com. 2022-03-19. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
- ^ "American football round-up: Ty Henry leads Rebel revolt as Minotaurs run riot". Irish Independent. 2023-03-27. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
- ^ a b "Schedule - Westmeath Minotaurs". westmeathminotaurs.com. 2023-09-09. Retrieved 2024-09-02.