The IAFL is pleased to announce that a new team has joined the league. The Belfast Trojans will be associate members for the remainder of 2006 and play a full league schedule in 2007. American football has become more popular in Belfast since it hosted Shamrock Bowl XIX last August. The IAFL believes that Belfast can support at least 2 viable teams, so the Torjans will be joining cross town rivals the Belfast Bulls in the IAFL.

The new Belfast team has already recruited a number of IAFL veteran players. Barry Magee, former Defensive Coordinator for the Belfast Bulls has been named as the provisional coach for the 2007 season. The teams committee includes Chris Weir, Warren Thompson and Jeroen Egge, all of whom are familar to IAFL fans.

South East Strongbows News:

In other expansion news, the proposed South East team has been named the South East Strongbows. The interim Coach of the team has been named as Dave Collins, formerly of the Dublin Tornadoes and Dublin Celts (1980s/90s). The team will be training periodically in Peoples Park, Waterford as it builds its membership for 2007.

New IAFL Chair:

In other IAFL news, Terry Lynch has been named as the new IAFL Chairman, replacing Greg Anderson who was voted off due to a conflict of interests. Terry has more than 20 years experience in the sport with the Craigavon Cowboys and Carrickfergus Knights.

Change of Name and Management for Marshals:

Following a change of management during the mid-season break, the Marshals announced that they will be reverting to their original name, the North Dublin Marshals after playing as the "Dublin City Marshals" since late March. The name follows a change in management structure and the rejection of a bid to takeover the team by the interim management who had run the team for the past few weeks. John Collins has been named as interim General Manager and will be assisted by Seth Larson & Dan Breslin. The team plans to revert to being a members club later this season. Thankfully the management changes have not impacted on the teams on-field operations, so the Marshals potent passing attack will continue to entertain IAFL fans.