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38-656: It is the second-oldest still existing bowl game in Germany, after the German Bowl , dating back to 1982. Record winners are the Düsseldorf Panther , who celebrated their 18th success and their 23nd Junior Bowl appearance in 2024. The first edition of the Junior Bowl was held in 1982 and became a recognised national championship in the following year. Until 2000, regional championships were held rather than

76-473: A national league. The regional champions then participated in the play-offs to determine the national champion. In 2001, the GFL Juniors was introduced. The league consisted, for the most part of its existence, of twelve teams, split into three regional divisions, north, central and south, with four teams each. The best eight clubs then took part in the play-offs to determine the two teams that will play in

114-483: A number of years after that it operated a youth department before fielding a senior team once more beginning in 2009. The Cologne Crocodiles were formed in 1980, making it one of the oldest American football clubs in Germany. The club, in its first season, took part in the Nordwestdeutsche Football Liga , a renegade league which only existed for two seasons, 1980 and 1981. The club joined

152-612: 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

190-591: 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

228-509: The American Football Bundesliga in 1981, in the third year of the league's existence, and were an instant success in this league, finishing second in their division and reaching the play-off semi finals. The club's second season was even more successful, winning their division with only one loss all season, against future arch-rival Düsseldorf Panther , and reaching their first-ever German Bowl . In this game however,

266-614: 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

304-624: The Ansbach Grizzlies were the stronger side and the Crocodiles would suffer their first of five German Bowl defeats. The club remained a strong side in the northern division of the Bundesliga the following seasons, but had the misfortune of being in the same division with the all-dominating Düsseldorf Panther. Finishing second behind the team from Düsseldorf , the club then had to face southern power house Ansbach Grizzlies in

342-568: The Munich Cowboys in 1992, the team faced the same opposition in the 1993 German Bowl. The Crocodiles were leading for most of the game but the Cowboys equalised shortly before the end and eventually won the game in extra time. In 1994, the Adler were once more the stronger side in the two teams semi final encounter, the following two years after it was the Düsseldorf Panther. In 1997,

380-665: 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

418-503: 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

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456-482: 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,

494-679: 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

532-636: 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

570-420: 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

608-476: The German Bowl were: Cologne Crocodiles The Cologne Crocodiles are an American football team from Cologne , Germany . The club's greatest success came in 2000, when it won the German Bowl for the first and, so far, only time. Prior to this, the club had made five losing appearances in the championship game, stretching from 1982 to 1997. The club, a long-term member of the German Football League , became insolvent in 2003, folded and reformed. For

646-570: The Junior Bowl. Like Germany's elite league, the German Football League , the GFL Juniors will be expanded for the 2011 season and play with four regional divisions of five teams each. However, the new western division will play with only four clubs as the Langenfeld Longhorns have withdrawn from the league. In 2012, the divisions will then expand to six teams each, taking the number of elite level junior clubs to 24. The Junior Bowls since 1982: German Bowl The German Bowl

684-471: 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

722-414: 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,

760-533: 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,

798-487: The club made its fifth German Bowl appearance, but the Braunschweig Lions took home the title with a 26–23 victory. The same team also defeated the club in the 1998 semi finals, followed by a semi final loss to the Hamburg Blue Devils in 1999. The 2000 season was to be the Crocodiles best-ever. Suffering only one defeat all season, to the Panther , the team reached the German Bowl for the sixth time and, this time, won

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836-577: The club was able to move up once more and played in the tier-four Oberliga in 2011. In 2012, the club experienced some further success, its youth team making a losing appearance in the Junior Bowl while the senior side won the Oberliga and earned promotion to the Regionalliga . In the 2013 Regionalliga season the club won its division and earned the right to promotion to the GFL 2. The club competed in

874-433: 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

912-461: 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,

950-463: 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

988-685: 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

1026-611: 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

1064-412: The league now renamed the German Football League saw the team win only one game all season and finish in fifth place, a point and a rank above the relegation spot. Despite having qualified on the field for the 2004 GFL season, the club was unable to participate, instead becoming insolvent. The senior team was withdrawn altogether but the Crocodiles survived and continued, fielding youth teams only for

1102-419: The local rival disappearing from the league in 1991 and the Crocodiles reaching the play-off semi finals, as a minimum, in every one of the next eleven seasons. In 1990 and 1991, the club reached the German Bowl but lost both times to the Berlin Adler , close at the first attempt (interception late in the game called back which led to a late Adler score) and by a point at the second. After a semi final defeat to

1140-541: The next five years. The following year, Cologne received an NFL Europe team, the Cologne Centurions , keeping American football at top level alive. The club re-entered senior football in 2009, joining the lowest regional league, the tier-six Landesliga North Rhine-Westphalia South . It won all its eight games there and earned promotion to the Verbandsliga for 2010. With only one defeat at that level,

1178-450: 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

German Junior Bowl - Misplaced Pages Continue

1216-477: The northern division of the GFL 2 in 2014. After two seasons at that level with records of 8–6, they posted a record of 13–1 in the 2016 season, easily qualifying for the promotion round against the Düsseldorf Panther. After a losing the 2012 and 2013 German Junior Bowl finals the Crocodiles won the 2014 edition against old rival Düsseldorf Panthers and defended their title in 2015. The club's appearances in

1254-473: The post season once more in 1988. To make matters worse, local rival Red Barons Cologne defeated the Düsseldorf Panther in the German Bowl that year and brought home the first senior national title in the sport to Cologne. In 1989, the Crocodiles exited the play-offs in the round of 16, while the Red Barons made another, this time losing, Bowl appearance. With this, however, the tables would turn, with

1292-533: 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

1330-406: The semi-finals and was knocked out on each occasion in 1981, 1983 and 1984. In 1985, the Crocodiles were less successful, finishing only third and being knocked out in the quarter-finals, the year after the club didn't qualify for the play-offs at all, something it experienced only three times in its 23 seasons at the elite level. The 1987 season saw another quarter final exit, followed by missing

1368-473: 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

1406-474: The upper hand, defeating the Lions by two points. It was also the end of an era, with the Crocodiles rapidly declining from here. In 2001, the club came only fourth in its division and suffered its first quarter final exit since 1989, losing to the Cowboys . Doing better in the league in 2002, the team nevertheless lost in the quarter-finals once more, this time to the Stuttgart Scorpions . The final season in

1444-739: 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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