The Ansbach Grizzlies are an American football team based in Ansbach , Germany . The club, together with the Düsseldorf Panther and the Munich Cowboys , is one of the oldest in Germany. The Grizzlies were a dominating force in the game during the first decade of American football in Germany, reaching all of the first eight German Bowls .
27-642: The Ansbach Grizzlies date back to the 3 April 1979, when an information session on the sport was held by Erich Grau and Uli Sorge, after which fifteen players ordered their football gear and formed a team. Initially, this team was part of the multi-sports club SpVgg Ansbach . In 1979 , the Grizzlies became a founding member of the American Football Bundesliga , renamed the German Football League in 1999, together with
54-583: A powerhouse and, by 1991, it was relegated from the Bundesliga . It suffered four relegations in a row in the following years and carried out a generation change in the process. By 1995, the club managed to stabilise itself, now playing in the Bayernliga , the Bavarian league. It played a couple of successful seasons until 1999, when a substantial loss of players forced it to withdraw from competition for
81-723: A team for a number of years. For the 2015 season the club returned to league football, entering the tier five Landesliga Bayern Nord. It finished second in its division but lost the semi-final for the Landesliga championship to the reserve team of the Allgäu Comets . The club's appearances in the German Bowl: SpVgg Ansbach SpVgg Ansbach is a German football club from the city of Ansbach , Bavaria. The club's greatest league success came in 2001, when it earned promotion to
108-573: A year. The team had to restart at the lowest level of football in Bavaria , but managed to work its way up again to the Bavarian league by going undefeated in the state league all season in 2001. The team continued as a dominant force in Bavaria in 2002 and narrowly missed out on another promotion to the college-player reinforced Burghausen Crusaders . Since then, the club's fortunes have once more declined and, lacking players, has been unable to field
135-464: The Amateurliga . The promotion rounds where sub-divided into northern and southern Bavaria. The champions of the three Franconian Regierungsbezirke would play in the northern group while the other four Regierungsbezirke would play in the southern one. Swabia had a special status within this system, being allowed to send both champions and runners-up to the promotion round. Originally, until 1957,
162-779: The Ansbach Grizzlies 1981 e.V. , the Grizzlies finally triumphed and won their first German Bowl. For Frankfurt, it was the last-ever Bowl appearance, while Ansbach also won the one and only edition of the German Cup that year. After defeating the Cologne Crocodiles in the 1982 edition of the German Bowl, Ansbach had to face a new opposition in the following four finals, the Düsseldorf Panther. The two teams stood for opposing styles of football,
189-593: The Frankfurter Löwen , Düsseldorf Panther , Munich Cowboys , Berlin Bears und Bremerhaven Seahawks . The first three league seasons were dominated by Ansbach and Frankfurt, who met each other in the German Bowl on each occasion. In 1979 and 1980, Frankfurt, playing at home, proved the stronger, defeating the Grizzlies. In 1981, the year the club split from the SpVgg Ansbach and became independent as
216-697: The German football league system was reorganised with the introduction of the Bundesliga and replaced by the Landesligas . The 2. Amateurligas were introduced in Bavaria in 1951 to replace the previously existing Kreisligas at this level. This step was taken after the introduction of the 2nd Oberliga Süd as the new second division in southern Germany in 1950 and the renaming of the Landesliga Bayern to Amateurliga Bayern in 1951. The Landesliga had, until 1950, been functioning as one of
243-644: The Landesliga Bayern-Mitte in 1985 and again qualified to participate in the opening round of the DFB Pokal the same year where they were put out 0–3 by SV Waldhof Mannheim . SpVgg spent eleven seasons in the Landesliga with a fifth place in 1993 as its best result, but was then relegated to the Bezirksoberliga Mittelfranken in 1996. This lasted for only one season, earning promotion straight back and returning to
270-647: The Landesliga Bayern-Nordwest in 2014 and earned promotion back to the Bayernliga. After a fifteenth place in 2014–15 the club had to enter the relegation round where it lost to 1. FC Bad Kötzting and was relegated. Ansbach won its Landesliga division in the following season and was promoted back to the Bayernliga. The club's honours: Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Recent managers of
297-615: The Landesliga as a much more competitive side. Ansbach enjoyed their best successes to date in the late 90s as they won promotion first to the Fußball-Bayernliga (IV) in 1999, and two seasons later, to the Regionalliga Süd (III). However, they had a difficult time in the third tier, and after a 12-game winless streak and a next to last place finish, the team was sent down. The club continued to struggle after being sent down and narrowly missed relegation in each of
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#1732776443515324-600: The Panthers favouring a long-ranging passing game while the Grizzlies relied on their strong defence. Of the four encounters, three went for the team from Düsseldorf , with Ansbach only able to win the 1985 final. It was not until the mid-2000s that the Braunschweig Lions surpassed the Grizzlies record of eight consecutive finals, the Lions eventually playing in twelve from 1997 to 2008. The Grizzlies participated in
351-537: The club: The recent season-by-season performance of the club: Since 1976 the club has played its home matches at the Sportpark Ansbach which has a capacity of 5,000 (1,000 seats). The club has qualified for the first round of the German Cup three times: From 1979 to 1981, the club was home to an American football department, the Ansbach Grizzlies . The Grizzlies were a successful team during
378-465: The country, including sports and football clubs, were dissolved by occupying Allied authorities. The club was re-established in 1945 as Sportverein Ansbach out of the membership of a number of local sports clubs. On 30 November 1948, the association was renamed Turn- und Sportverein Ansbach and, in 1951, the footballers went their own way again as Spielvereinigung 1909 Ansbach . The team advanced to
405-538: The early days of the game in Germany, reaching every German Bowl from 1979 to 1986 and winning it in 1981, 1982 and 1985. In 1981, this department however went its own way, separating from the SpVgg. 2nd Amateurliga Bayern The 2. Amateurliga Bayern was a set of eleven regional leagues in Bavaria existing from 1951 to 1963 as the fourth tier of football in the state. The leagues were disbanded in 1963, when
432-549: The first two in each group still promoted. In 1955, three teams were promoted from the north because VfB Helmbrechts had been promoted to the 2nd Oberliga Süd , thereby providing an additional spot in the Amateurliga Nordbayern . An expansion of the Amateurliga Südbayern from 14 to 16 clubs in 1957 allowed four teams to be promoted from the south. From 1957-58 onwards, the promotion system
459-682: The first-ever edition of the European Football League in 1986, losing to the Birmingham Bulls in the quarter-finals. With the lost 1986 Bowl, the golden area of the team came to an end. Its domination of football in Southern Germany was halted by the Badener Greifs in 1987, and the Grizzlies were knocked out in the semi-finals. The move to semi-professional players lead to the demise of the team as
486-516: The fourth tier 2nd Amateurliga Bayern in 1953 for a single season, and after being sent down, promptly returned in 1955. They played at that level until sent down through league restructuring in the early 60s. The club qualified for DFB Pokal (German Cup) play for the first time in 1981 and advanced out of the first round by defeating FSV Pfaffenhofen 1–0. In the next round they were soundly thrashed by second-division side Stuttgarter Kickers (0:13). Ansbach returned briefly to fourth-tier play in
513-419: The highest league in the country. Below it, five Regionalligas were created as the new second divisions. On 27 April 1963, it was decided to reorganise the Bavarian league system, too. The two Amateurligas in Bavaria were reduced to a single division again, like until 1953. The 2nd Amateurligas were completely disbanded and replaced by three Landesligas as the new fourth tier, those being: Apart from
540-552: The next two campaigns. They were finally relegated to the Landesliga Bayern (V) after a 15th-place finish in 2004–05. Ansbach promptly rebounded and on the strength of a division title in 2006–07 and won promotion back to the Fußball-Bayernliga (IV) for three seasons, before it was relegated again in 2010. After only being saved from relegation from the Landesliga in 2012 by a league expansion Ansbach won
567-588: The promotion rounds were held in two groups of six teams, playing a home-and-away round, with the top-two teams from each being promoted. In 1953, the Amateurliga Bayern was split in itself in two regional divisions, north and south, resulting in two new leagues: This decision was made rather late, on 7 July 1953, after the promotion rounds had already been played, resulting in all twelve teams that had taken part being promoted. The promotion system remained unchanged after this, two groups of six with
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#1732776443515594-722: The regional second divisions below the Oberliga Süd , alongside the Landesliga Nordbaden , the Landesliga Hessen and the Landesliga Württemberg . The 2. Amateurliga , as the fourth tier of the German league system, below the Amateurliga Bayern as the third, was sub-divided into seven regions, along the boundaries of the seven Regierungsbezirke , those regions being: Some of
621-429: The seven regions of the 2. Amateurliga were in turn sub-divided into regional leagues, resulting in the existence of eleven leagues at this level: Within the four Regierungsbezirke who had two leagues, a championship was played to determine the local champions, but no overall 2. Amateurliga championship was held. Instead, the regional champions would play promotion rounds to determine the teams that would move up to
648-461: The three runners-up. The same happened in 1959, when SpVgg Bayreuth moved up to the second division. In 1960, when Schwaben Augsburg was promoted to the 2nd Oberliga , the losing team of the Niederbayern versus Oberpfalz encounter was also promoted. In 1963, the German league system was changed drastically. The Fußball-Bundesliga replaced the previously existing five Oberligas as
675-484: The tier-three Regionalliga Süd , where it lasted for only one season. They returned to the Regionalliga in 2022. SpVgg Ansbach qualified for the German Cup on three occasions, reaching the second round once, in 1980–81 . The club roots go back to the 1909 formation of a football department within the gymnastics club Turnverein 1860 Ansbach . The team disappeared for a period of three years during World War I but
702-469: Was changed. In the north, the three Regierungsbezirk champions were now directly promoted. In the south, the Oberbayern and Schwaben champions were directly promoted while the champions of Niederbayern and Oberpfalz played a decider for one more promotion spot. In 1958, an additional spot was available because 1. FC Bamberg had been promoted to the second division, this was played out between
729-499: Was re-formed in 1917 as the independent club Sportverein 1909 Ansbach by the footballers of TV and 1. FC 1912 Ansbach . A highlight of the club's early years came in 1928 with the capture of the A-Klasse Mittelfranken title and subsequent promotion playoff win over 1. FC Zirndorf that advanced the club to the second tier Kreisliga where they would compete until 1937. Following World War II most organizations in
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