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35-803: Formed in 1982, the association oversees the German league system, the various German Bowls and the national selections. The history of American football in Germany, outside the US Army bases in the country, began in 1977, when the Frankfurter Löwen were formed as the first club to play the game in Germany. In March 1979, the AFBD , the American Football Federation of Germany ( German : American Football Bund Deutschland ),

70-612: A wild-card round was introduced as well, taking the number of teams in the play-offs to twelve. The 1987 German Bowl saw two completely new teams compete against each other, the Badener Greifs making their only appearance in the championship game to date, while the Berlin Adler won their first of what would be six national championships by 2010. In 1988, Red Barons Cologne defeated the Düsseldorf Panther in

105-591: Is the annual national championship game in the sport of American football in Germany . It is contested by the two best teams of the German Football League . The New Yorker Lions , from Braunschweig , are the record winners of the German Bowl, with 12 successful participations out of 18 overall. The Düsseldorf Panther and the Berlin Adler both have six titles to their name, but Berlin has

140-627: The Nordwestdeutsche Football-Liga - NFL , but, by 1982, union was restored and the renegade teams returned. In 1981, the German national team was formed, winning its first-ever international, a game against Italy , 12–6. On 16 October 1982, the AFVD was officially formed and, in the following year, it was decided to form regional associations as well. The German national team, also from 1983 onwards, started to participate in

175-614: The 2018 edition when another Frankfurt based team - Frankfurt Universe - did what had only been achieved before by the long since defunct Frankfurter Löwen - reaching a German Bowl against another GFL South representative - The Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns . Between the end of the golden era of the Ansbach Grizzlies in 1986 and the rise of the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (who first reached the German Bowl in 2011), southern clubs have only made five appearances in

210-657: The BIG6 European Football League since its inception in 2014, the AFVD has established itself as one of the premier American Football associations in Europe, if not the world. The league system in American football in Germany operates as a pyramid, with clubs in every league being able to achieve promotion and relegation, subject to their final standings and the promotion and relegation games. In 2010,

245-665: The Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns and the New Yorker Lions has occurred five times - all in the span from 2014 to 2019. German Bowl XIX to German Bowl XXX (inclusive) all had appearances by the Braunschweig Lions (later to be renamed for sponsorship reasons to "New Yorker Lions") for twelve consecutive appearances over the space of over a decade. Apart from the German Bowl, a Junior Bowl has also been contested in Germany since 1982. A Ladies Bowl

280-503: The 2013 title went to a resurgent and renamed Braunschweig, now playing as the New Yorker Lions in a close 35–34 victory against the Dresden Monarchs in their first German Bowl appearance. Dresden missed an extra-point attempt after their first touchdown and went on to lose on a late fumble, the only turnover of the game, while driving towards good field position for a field goal. The Lions won their ninth German Bowl in 2014 with

315-482: The Ansbach Grizzlies continued to be an outstanding team, playing in all of the first eight German Bowls. Unlike the first season, play-off semi-finals were played in 1980 and 1981 to determine the two German Bowl contestants. From 1982, the play-offs were enlarged to include a quarter-final round as well. The 1982 season saw Ansbach repeat its title, this time against the Cologne Crocodiles . After that,

350-737: The Bowl. Instead, the Cologne Crocodiles finally reversed their fortunes and won a championship in their sixth attempt. In between, in 1999, the Bundesliga was renamed to German Football League. Braunschweig lost a fifth final in a row in 2004, when the Berlin Adler won their first title in 13 years. After that, the Braunschweig Lions set a new record, winning four German Bowls in a row, beating four different teams in

385-636: The Düsseldorf Panther once more won the German Bowl, with the second title won against a new force in the game in Germany, the Hamburg Blue Devils . In 1996, the Blue Devils then reversed their previous misfortune and defeated the Panthers in the final. The most dominant era of any team in the sport in Germany begun in 1997, when the Braunschweig Lions reached and won the German Bowl for the first time. The Lions would play in every one of

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420-596: The European Championships. In 1986, women's American football began to develop, with the first official game held in 1987. American football started to boom in Germany from the early 1990s onwards, initiated through the Frankfurt Galaxy , which attracted many younger fans to the sport and also provided some media attention. As of 1 January 2010, the AFVD announced a new record membership of 40,051, and increase of 7.31 percent in comparison to

455-473: The GFL, there are no inter conference games and no GFL2 champion is determined. For the 2011 season, both the northern and the southern champions were promoted, while the runners-up of the two divisions played the last placed team in the GFL division above for another spot in the league in 2012. Since then the two division champions play a home-and-away series for a place each in the northern and southern division of

490-527: The GFL. Below the GFL2, six Regionalligas , Regional Leagues , are set, North, South, West, Central, East and Southwest. Four teams each are promoted each season from the Regionalliga to the GFL2. However, additional spots may become available if teams resign from either the GFL or the GFL2. Promotion to the GFL2 is achieved through a promotion round at the end of the Regionalliga season which includes

525-420: The German Bowl differs hugely between the clubs from the northern and the southern division, with the south only winning ten German Bowls and the north the remaining 32 (through XLII). Similarly (through XLII), southern clubs have only made 26 appearances in the Bowl, while northern clubs have appeared 58 times. After the first three German Bowls, the final was only contested by two southern clubs one other time; in

560-406: The German Bowl were: German Football League 2 The German Football League 2 (GFL2) is the second tier of American football in Germany, below the German Football League . Until 2007, the league was known as the 2. Bundesliga . The GFL2 , formerly the 2. Bundesliga , which was formed in 1982, is divided into a northern and southern division, with eight teams in each division. Unlike

595-477: The best Regionalliga teams. For the southern division of the GFL2 the champions of the southern, southwestern and central division and for the northern GFL2 division the champions of the Regionalliga divisions north, west and east play each other once to determine the two promoted teams. The league was formed as the 2nd American Football Bundesliga in 1982, consisting of 16 clubs in three regional divisions. League strength varied from season to season after this, but

630-471: The best win–loss record of all clubs, 75 percent. Altogether, as of 2021, twelve clubs have won a German Bowl, while a further four clubs have reached the German Bowl once but lost their sole appearance ( Stuttgart Scorpions , Badener Greifs , Marburg Mercenaries and Frankfurt Universe ). The most-played match up in the history of the game is the Braunschweig Lions versus the Hamburg Blue Devils , having been played six times, last in 2005. The matchup between

665-477: The championship game of which only one was successful (the Munich Cowboys in 1993). After first reaching the German Bowl in 2011, the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns made all (as of 2021) subsequent German Bowls except the 2013 edition where they were upset by the Berlin Adler in the quarterfinal of the playoffs. As the 2018 German Bowl was an all Southern affair, balancing out the all Northern German Bowl 2013,

700-533: The championship themselves, against Cologne Crocodiles, who suffered their fourth defeat in their fourth German Bowl. Munich's title in 1993 was to be the last occasion for the next twelve years that a team from the South would reach the final, and the last time until 2011 that a team from the South would win the championship. The Bundesliga and the German Bowl were from then on dominated by the North. In 1994 and 1995,

735-433: The divisions have achieved parity in representation at the final for the period beginning in 2011. However, in terms of wins the North still has the edge even for the 2011-2019 period as Schwäbisch Hall won it all four times in that decade whereas Braunschweig's New Yorker Lions won the Bowl five times in the same period. The German Bowls since 1979: Champions in bold * indicates overtime wins The host cities of

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770-461: The era of the Düsseldorf Panther versus Ansbach Grizzlies rivalry began, with the two teams meeting in the next four finals. Of those, the team from Düsseldorf won the 1983, 1984 and 1986 editions, while the Grizzlies earned their third championship in 1985. With the 1986 final, the golden age of the Ansbach Grizzlies ended and the club disappeared from the top level altogether by 1991. From 1986,

805-463: The final, while, from 1989 onwards, the Berlin Adler became the first team to win three championships in a row, all against teams from Cologne . After the 1990 season, the play-offs were reduced to eight teams again, dropping the wild-card round, a system still in place as of 2010. The Panther earned their fourth title in 1992, defeating the Munich Cowboys, which, in the following year, won

840-685: The finals. In 2005, the Blue Devils were once more the opposition, followed by two southern teams, the Marburg Mercenaries in 2006 and the Stuttgart Scorpions in 2007. The seventh title for the Lions came in 2008, against the new force of the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes . Kiel also played in the 2009 final, losing to the Berlin Adler, before finally being successful in 2010 and securing their first title against

875-555: The highest-ever winning margin, defeating the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns 47–9. Schwäbisch Hall scored no points in this game after a field goal on their first possession until the fourth quarter when most of the Braunschweig starters, including MVP quarterback Casey Therriault, were already off the field. The Lions repeated their 2014 success against the Unicorns in 2015, winning 41–31. Success in American football in Germany and at

910-450: The next twelve German Bowls until 2008, and win seven of those. Their first title, in 1997, was won against the Cologne Crocodiles, who now had the unenviable record of five losses in five German Bowl appearances. The following six seasons, the final was contested by the Lions and the Blue Devils on five occasions, with the Lions winning in 1998 and 1999, while the Blue Devils won in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Only in 2000 did neither of those two win

945-497: The previous year. The associations growth since the year 2000, when it had 18,875 members, is mainly due to the improved youth programs of its clubs. While, in the early years, very few clubs had a youth team, it is now commonplace to have a number of junior teams in every club. In 2018, the AFVD reached a new peak by counting 63,060 members. With triumphs in the European Championships of American Football 2001, 2010 and again 2014 as well as dominant performances of German club teams in

980-501: The pyramid consisted of six levels, however, tier six leagues did only exist in some regions. The top level of the league system, the GFL, is a national league with inter conference games between the two regional divisions. The second level, the GFL2, is divided into two regional divisions without inter conference games. The third level is the Regionalliga (English: Regional League ), divided into five separate leagues. Below this,

1015-533: The same team. German Bowl XXXIII was held on 8 October 2011 at the MDCC-Arena in Magdeburg . The 2011 season saw the end of an 18-year title drought for the south, when the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns defeated Kiel 48–44 to carry off the national championship for the first time. The Unicorns repeated their 2011 title in 2012 in the highest-scoring German Bowl to date winning 56–53 on a late field goal, while

1050-1629: The seven Oberligas (English: Premier League ) are set, followed by the Verbandsligas (English: Association League ), Landesligas (English: State League ) and Aufbauligas (English: Development League ): Level League I German Football League Northern Division 8 clubs Southern Division 8 clubs II German Football League 2 Northern Division 8 clubs Southern Division 8 clubs III Regionalliga North 8 clubs Regionalliga West 6 clubs Regionalliga East 9 clubs Regionalliga Central 7 clubs Regionalliga Southern West 8 clubs Regionalliga South 6 clubs IV Oberliga North-HH/SH 5 clubs Oberliga North-LS/B 4 clubs Oberliga NRW 6 clubs Oberliga East 6 clubs Oberliga HE/RP/SA 7 clubs Oberliga Baden-Württemberg 7 clubs Bayernliga 12 clubs V Verbandsliga North-HH/SH 4 clubs Verbandsliga North-LS/B North 4 clubs South 4 clubs Verbandsliga NRW 5 clubs Oberliga East 7 clubs Landesliga Central 6 clubs Landesliga Baden-Württemberg 8 clubs Verbandsliga Bavaria North 6 clubs South 5 clubs VI Landesliga NRW North 4 clubs South 4 clubs Bezirksliga Baden-Württemberg 6 clubs Aufbauliga Bavaria 5 clubs German Bowl The German Bowl

1085-408: The three division format was retained until 1986, when a fourth regional group was added. In 1995, the league was reduced to two divisions with seven clubs each. The strength was increased to eight teams per division in 1998 but continued to fluctuate because of teams withdrawing. Promotion to the GFL2 is achieved through the promotion round of the best Regionalliga clubs whereby the champions from

American Football Association of Germany - Misplaced Pages Continue

1120-473: The top two teams would contest the first ever German Bowl on 10 November 1979. The early years of the league were dominated by two teams, Frankfurt and Ansbach, who met each other in the first three editions of the German Bowl. Of those, Frankfurt won the first two and Ansbach the last. The era of the Frankfurter Löwen came to an end soon afterwards and the club went defunct in the mid-1980s, while

1155-807: Was formed, the first of its kind in Europe . This organisation, in 1982, was replaced by the AFVD , the American Football Association of Germany. A national league, originally the American Football Bundesliga , later to be renamed the German Football League, was formed in 1979, consisting of six clubs, the Frankfurter Löwen, Ansbach Grizzlies , Düsseldorf Panther , Munich Cowboys , Berlin Bears and Bremerhaven Seahawks . The first-ever league game

1190-427: Was held on 4 August 1979, played between the Frankfurter Löwen and the Düsseldorf Panther, and ended in a victory for Frankfurt. The first ever German Bowl was held on 10 November 1979 and also ended in a victory for the Frankfurter Löwen. In 1980 and 1981, the league and American football in Germany saw a split with Düsseldorf and Bremerhaven leaving the competition to take part in a separate, short-lived competition,

1225-612: Was introduced in 1990. Other, related, national championship games in Germany include the German Flag Bowl (est. 2000), German Junior Flag Bowl (1999) and a German Indoor Flag Bowl (2000). In 1979, the American Football Bundesliga , later to be renamed the German Football League, was formed, consisting of six clubs, the Frankfurter Löwen, Ansbach Grizzlies , Düsseldorf Panther , Munich Cowboys , Berlin Bears and Bremerhaven Seahawks . Of those six,

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