The Düsseldorf Panther are an American football team from Düsseldorf , Germany . The club is the oldest extant American football club in Europe , having been formed on 1 May 1978.
58-593: The Panthers are one of the most successful American football clubs in Germany, having won six German Bowls as well as becoming the first-ever German team to win the Eurobowl in 1995. Having won its 18th Junior Bowl in 2024, the club has the most successful youth department in the sport in Germany. The Panthers were formed on 1 May 1978 and, while not the first American football club in Germany—this honour going to
116-456: A 1991 season when the club couldn't qualify for the play-offs, the Panthers returned to their former strength from 1992 onwards, the club experiencing a second golden era until 1996. Three German championships were won, in 1992, 1994 and 1995. In between, in 1993, the club only reached the semi-finals while in 1996, it lost the final. Additionally, the Panthers became the first German side to win
174-718: A 48–44 victory for the Unicorns, which thereby ended an 18-year title drought for the south. In 2012, the club once more won its division, reaching the German Bowl after victories over the Düsseldorf Panther and Berlin Adler in the quarter and semi finals of the play-offs. In a repeat of 2011 the club once more defeated the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes in the German Bowl. The 2013 season saw the club win
232-734: 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 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
290-543: A fifth place was still enough not to have to enter the relegation round, the following two years this was not the case. The team was unable to win a league match in 2005, but was saved in the relegation round when it defeated the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes there. The following season, its league performance was much improved but it could nevertheless only finish last, faced Kiel again in the relegation round and, this time lost. The Panthers played four seasons at
348-559: A game that opened in a sack by the Unicorns defense and saw an interception carried to a pick six in the opening drive by Italian-American Unicorns defender Cody Pastorino Hall defeated Braunschweig by 38–13 taking five turnovers from the Lions. The semifinal against the Potsdam Royals proved closer at 28–18 but its main importance was in the injuries to key players the Unicorns suffered - starting Quarterback Alexander Haupert (also
406-589: 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 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
464-580: A much more closely fought contest than the previous year. 2015 also saw their first appearance in the BIG6 European Football League , where they advanced to the final before losing 24–14 in Eurobowl XXIX to host New Yorker Lions . The 2016 season saw an unthreatened defense of the division championship with the Unicorns compiling a perfect season in the process under the direction of new head coach Jordan Neuman . However,
522-527: A quarter-final round as well. The 1982 season saw Ansbach repeat its title, this time against the Cologne Crocodiles . After that, 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
580-467: A successful return to Germany's highest league in 2011, finishing third and qualifying for the play-offs where they met and defeated the Marburg Mercenaries in the quarter-finals and advanced to the semi-finals, where they lost to the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes . In 2012, the club came fourth in the northern division of the GFL and qualified for the play-off where it was knocked out by Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns in
638-515: 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 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
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#1732775993809696-484: A third consecutive division title but the team was unable to defend their national championship, being knocked out in the quarter-finals by the Berlin Adler. The club took out the southern division title of the GFL once more in 2014 and defeated the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes 50–24 in the quarter-finals and the Dresden Monarchs 33–27 in the semi-finals of the play-offs to reach the 2014 German Bowl where it lost to
754-792: The 2021 season in the North saw the Hildesheim Invaders and the Elmshorn Fighting Pirates try to join the upstart European League of Football and ultimately withdraw their teams from the GFL after talks fell through with the ELF, thus leaving two open spots for the 2022 German Football League . Düsseldorf, having placed second in the 2021 GFL2 season behind the Berlin Adler would be eligible to fill one of those two spots if they so chose. The club's appearances in
812-470: The 2nd Bundesliga for the next three seasons, before suffering further relegation. The side's absolute low came in 1995, when it had dropped to the tier-four Oberliga Baden Württemberg , but it quickly recovered, winning the league that season and earning promotion to the third tier. After another title, now in the Regionalliga Mitte , the team returned to the 2nd Bundesliga once more for
870-407: The Berlin Adler both have six titles to their name, but Berlin has 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
928-402: 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 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,
986-583: The Berlin Rebels (24–14) and continued – as the two years before – with a close fought match against the Dresden Monarchs . Despite a 21–7 lead going into halftime, the Unicorns only managed to put the game out of reach near the end ultimately prevailing 35–26 on a 100-yard kickoff return immediately following the Dresden field goal that had made it a close contest at 28–26. Thus Hall achieved
1044-655: The Cologne Crocodiles that had placed first in the GFL2 North. They lost relegation sending them down to the GFL2 for two years, before they again returned (overcoming the Hamburg Huskies in the Relegation round , but lost every single game in the 2019 German Football League including the relegation round against the Elmshorn Fighting Pirates . While Covid-19 led to the cancelation of the planned 2020 season ,
1102-581: The Dresden Monarchs in German Bowl XLII in 2021. Their 2011, 2017 and 2018 seasons also saw them post flawless perfect season records in the GFL on their way to championship rings. In 2016 and 2019 their only GFL losses came in the respective German Bowl at the hands of Braunschweig. In the Covid-truncated 2021 German Football League they also reached the German Bowl after posting a perfect regular season record (10–0) but lost again in
1160-519: The Dresden Monarchs in the quarterfinals of the play-offs. The team played a flawless regular season in 2011, winning every game, followed by beating the Berlin Adler in the quarter-finals and the Mönchengladbach Mavericks in the semifinals of the play-offs and advancing to the German Bowl for the first time, where they met the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes . The 33rd edition was the highest scoring German Bowl of all time, ending with
1218-690: The Frankfurter Löwen who were formed in 1977 but folded in the mid-1980s—are the oldest still existing club. In 1979 , the American Football Bundesliga , later to be renamed the German Football League, was formed, consisting of six clubs, the Düsseldorf Panther, Frankfurter Löwen, Ansbach Grizzlies , Munich Cowboys , Berlin Bears and Bremerhaven Seahawks . Of those six, the top two teams would contest
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#17327759938091276-533: The German Football League in 2009 and in every season played since 2011 (as of 2021), and participated in every German Bowl held between 2011 and 2022 – except for 2013 and the 2020 season which was cancelled due to COVID-19, winning the title five times: in 2011, 2012, 2017, 2018 and in 2022. The club also made five losing appearances in the German Bowl, suffering defeat by record champion Braunschweig Lions in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2019 and falling to
1334-667: 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 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
1392-523: The TSG Schwäbisch Hall , which is still, as of 2014, the mother club of the Unicorns . In the following year, the team entered in the central division of the 2nd Bundesliga , the second tier of American football in Germany, now the German Football League 2 . At this level, the club quickly acclimatised, winning its division in 1986 and 1987. In 1986, the Stuttgart Scorpions were still
1450-536: The 1986 final, the golden age of the Ansbach Grizzlies ended and the club disappeared from the top level altogether by 1991. From 1986, 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
1508-540: The 1997 season. In four seasons at this level, the team finished in the top four each year, culminating in a second place in 2000, which allowed the side to move up again because of two clubs withdrawing from the GFL. For the next seven seasons, the Unicorns reached the play-offs each year, with a semi final appearance in 2005, where it lost to the Braunschweig Lions , as its best result. The 2008 season
1566-483: 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, 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
1624-452: The Bowl five times in the same period. The German Bowls since 1979: Champions in bold * indicates overtime wins The host cities of the German Bowl were: Schw%C3%A4bisch Hall Unicorns The Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns are an American football team from Schwäbisch Hall , Germany founded in 1983. The club's greatest successes were winning the southern division title in
1682-431: 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 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
1740-589: The Eurobowl in 1995. From 1995 onwards, the Panthers also had some local competition, with the Rhein Fire , based at Düsseldorf, playing in the NFL Europe until the league folded in 2007. From the late 1990s, the club suffered from financial trouble and was unable to maintain its high standard. After three seasons of missing the play-offs altogether, the Panthers reached the semi-finals once more in 2000 and
1798-646: The German Bowl: Recent seasons of the Panthers: German Bowl The German Bowl 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
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1856-514: 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 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
1914-405: The New Yorker Lions in a lopsided 47–9 where they only managed to score a field goal until well into the fourth quarter. The team won the southern division for a fifth consecutive time in 2015 and defeated the Hamburg Huskies in the quarter-finals and the Dresden Monarchs in the semi-finals of the play-offs, facing the New Yorker Lions once more in the German Bowl, which the Unicorns lost 31–41 in
1972-532: 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 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,
2030-565: The Unicorns for one of their youth teams. The Unicorns also founded the first American Football only Sportinternat (sport focused boarding school ) in Germany dubbed the "Unicorns Academy" in cooperation with the Evangelisches Schulzentrum Michelbach in Michelbach an der Bilz near Schwäbisch Hall. Recent seasons of the club: The team is notable for the long bonds between (former) players and
2088-459: The bowl game. This time, the Unicorns managed to beat the Raiders and won their first European title. In the GFL, the team posted their fifth straight perfect regular season with a 10–0 record (the 2020 German Football League was not played due to Covid) in a season with a reduced schedule of only ten games instead of the usual 14. Beating their German Bowl rival Braunschweig in the quarterfinal in
2146-475: The club, like all others in the league, soon returned to the Bundesliga . From 1982 to 1986, the league stood under the dominance of the Panthers and the Ansbach Grizzlies, who played each other in four consecutive German Bowls, with the Panthers winning all but the 1985 one. The team remained a strong side after this but was only able to win one more championship, in 1988, in the following four years. After
2204-546: The division title and home field advantages throughout the playoffs could only be clinched in the last game with a 35–28 win at Frankfurt against Universe . On the European stage, Hall saw their BIG6 campaign stopped at the hands of the Austrian Football League power Tirol Raiders that beat them in the group phase after an easy win over the Berlin Adler . The (GFL) post season began with an easy win over
2262-491: The end Dresden won 28–19 with Hall failing to convert on a Field Goal attempt late in the game. Dresden thus celebrated their first playoff victory over the Unicorns since 2010, the first Championship for a team from the New States of Germany and dealt Hall their fifth German Bowl defeat in nine appearances and the first one not at the hands of Braunschweig. The Head Coach who led Dresden to their victory, Ulrich "Ulz" Däuber,
2320-477: 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 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
2378-459: The field. The Lions repeated their 2014 success against the Unicorns in 2015, winning 41–31. Success in American football in Germany and at 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
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2436-719: The fifth bowl appearance in six years. As of 2016, former Unicorn wide receiver Moritz Böhringer is the first and only European player to be drafted into the National Football League directly out of a European league. In 2021 the Unicorns met the Tirol Raiders again. Since the BIG6 didn't exist anymore the two teams participated in the Central European Football League the new European top tournament and both teams made it to
2494-428: 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 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
2552-605: The final, this time to the Dresden Monarchs. In 2021 the Unicorns also won their first ever European title, beating the Tyrol Raiders in the CEFL Bowl by a score of 22–16. Previously, the only appearance in a national championship game the club has made was in 1997, when it lost the Junior Bowl to the youth team of the Berlin Adler . The club was founded on 9 November 1983, as the American football department of
2610-581: The first ever German Bowl on 10 November 1979, however, the Panthers were a long shot from this game, finishing last without a win or point. The team did not take part in the second or third season of the league, instead forming a rival league with a number of other clubs. The Panthers won this league, the Nordwestdeutsche Football-Liga , the NFL, in 1980 and 1981. Those two titles are however not recognised as national championships and
2668-496: 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 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
2726-523: The game is the Braunschweig Lions versus the Hamburg Blue Devils , having been played six times, last in 2005. The matchup between 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
2784-408: 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, 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
2842-425: The quarter-finals the year after. The year 2001 however saw the club drop out of the league and, for financial reasons, restart in the tier-three Regionalliga West . Success quickly returned, the Panthers won their league and the 2nd Bundesliga in the following year, returning to the GFL by 2004. Unlike in the past, the Panthers were not a play-off contender anymore, struggling against relegation instead. In 2004,
2900-405: The quarter-finals. In the 2013 season the club managed to finish only seventh in its division, thereby missing the play-offs. It came seventh again in 2014 and 2015, each time with only seven teams in the league, with only one win in two seasons. In 2016, they placed dead last once more, however this time the league had its full strength of eight teams, meaning a relegation round of Düsseldorf against
2958-418: The quarterback of the Germany national American football team ) was out with a knee injury and questionable for the final while starting running back John Santiago tore his ACL and was out for the rest of the season. In German Bowl XLII Hall would face another "familiar face" in their semifinal opponents from the 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019 seasons, the Dresden Monarchs. Haupert, playing despite his injury,
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#17327759938093016-471: The second level after that, from 2007 to 2010, finishing in mid-table in the first three. In 2010, a second place entitled the club to play in the promotion round courtesy to the expansion of the GFL from 12 to 14 teams. The Panthers were then able to earn promotion to the GFL by narrowly overcoming the Berlin Rebels by a point on aggregate, winning 43–41 in Berlin and losing 33–34 at home. The Panther's made
3074-487: 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 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,
3132-509: The stronger side in the promotion round, winning both games and baring the Unicorns from moving one level up, but the year after the club managed to take up the Scorpions place in the American Football Bundesliga . The team played at this level for the next three seasons, without ever qualifying for the postseason, before losing its league place in 1990 when the league was reduced from 26 to 16 clubs. The Unicorns found themselves back in
3190-738: Was a Unicorns alumn himself, having played for them in the eighties and nineties and having been a coach in their youth system in the 1990s before an extended stint in the US. The Unicorns won the German Bowl XLIII against the Potsdam Royals. The club's appearances in the German Bowl: The Unicorns are well known for their superb youth programmes and a significant number of their top players including national team quarterback Marco Ehrenfried have started playing with
3248-410: Was a disappointment to the club, finishing fifth in its division and missing the postseason, but also staying well clear of relegation trouble. In 2009, the Unicorns were much improved, winning the southern division for the first time and missing out on a first-ever German Bowl appearance by a point, losing 21–22 to the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes . In 2010, the club came second in its division but lost to
3306-432: Was formed, consisting of six clubs, the Frankfurter Löwen, Ansbach Grizzlies , Düsseldorf Panther , Munich Cowboys , Berlin Bears and Bremerhaven Seahawks . Of those six, 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
3364-446: Was knocked out of the game with a broken clavicle early in the second quarter, requiring Reilly Hennessey, who had just led Parma Panthers to an Italian Bowl win that July, to step in under center in his first ever game in the German Football League. While the Unicorns led at the half 12–7 and once again had the turnover differential in their favor 2–1 their score early in the third quarter to make it 19–7 should prove their last and in
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