IAFA finishes biggest ever kitted season – the year in numbers.

The final whistle in the IAFL2 Bowl last Sunday marked the end of the 30th season of adult kitted football season in Ireland. It was a year that broke many records for the right reason including:

  • A record 914 players played in the 2016 season. SBC teams had average squads of 48 players. IAFL1 & IAFL2 averaged 34 players. These are remarkable figures considering that there were less than 120 players in the country as recently as 2002.
  • A record 23 teams fielded by 22 clubs played a full competitive season. This included 3  new clubs – Wexford Eagles, North Dublin Pirates and PSNI Razorbacks.
  • There were a record 96 scheduled competitive fixtures.
  • There were, on average, 39.6 points per game scored Shamrock Bowl Conference regular season fixtures. The figures for IAFL1 & IAFL2 are 30.3 and 26.2.
  • All regular season fixtures were fully completed in the SBC and IAFL2, with only one fixture not being completed in IAFL1. This is an almost unprecedented completion rate amongst similar European leagues. It is the 3rd successive season with 100% completion in the SBC. A 100% completion record for IAFL2, a development league with 3 additional new clubs is also remarkable and a tribute to the hard work of those establishing new clubs.
  • This years SBC was statistically the closest ever with 5 teams finishing the regular season within one game of 6 victories.
  • It was the year of close finals with two of the three Bowl games being decided in the last minute!