The Hamburg Blue Devils are an American football team in Hamburg , Germany. It was founded in 1992. The Blue Devils are one of the most successful American football clubs in Germany, having won four German Bowls as well as three Eurobowls . During the late 1990s and early 2000s, the clubs rivalry with the Braunschweig Lions dominated the game in the German Football League , with the two sides meeting in six German Bowls between 1998 and 2005 as well as the 1999 Eurobowl.
30-640: In the late 1990s, the club had become the most financially successful American football club in Europe, but by 2003, the club had to declare insolvency. The Hamburg Blue Devils were formed in 1992 and began playing non-league football in September 1992. It continued to take part in tournaments in 1993, defeating a number of European top clubs, including the German champions, the Munich Cowboys . In 1994,
60-847: A US college team was in 1991. The Graz Giants of the Austrian Football League winning a game 32–23 against Albany University ]. The game was played in the United States on August 31, 1991. Munich Cowboys The Munich Cowboys are an American football team based in Munich , Germany. The club, together with the Düsseldorf Panther and the Ansbach Grizzlies , is one of the oldest in Germany. The team refers to itself as The Grand Old Team of
90-1027: A member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) in most of its sports since the 1973–74 academic year; while its football team competes in the Midwest League of the Mid-States Football Association (MSFA). SXU competes in 20 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, esports, football, golf, soccer, track & field and volleyball; women's sports include basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, track & field and volleyball; and co-ed sports include cheerleading and dance. Athletic facilities on campus include
120-573: A narrow 37–36 victory. The club somewhat declined from 2004 onwards, only reaching the quarter-finals that year. In 2005, a last appearance in the German Bowl was made, but this time the Lions came out as the winners. Additionally, the clubs marketing agency had to declare insolvency, too, but the Blue Devils survived theirs and moved into their own stadium, the eVendi Arena. From 2005 to 2007,
150-547: The Düsseldorf Panthers proved too strong and Hamburg lost 10–17. The club's second season in the league brought triumphs and sadness. The team won both the German Bowl and the Eurobowl , however, the team's head coach since 1992, George White, died two days before the play-off semi finals. In 1997, the Blue Devils were able to defend their European Football League title by winning the Eurobowl , but lost in
180-698: The Hamburg Blue Devilyns and a flag team, the Hamburg Flag Devils . The club's appearances in the German Bowl: Recent seasons of the Blue Devils: The Blue Devils victory against St. Xavier University in 1995 was one of the first success for a European team against a US college team. The Devils also won against US college teams in 1997 and 1998. The first known European victory against
210-602: The Hamburger SV with the aim of becoming a department of the club and, eventually, from 1 January 2012, all teams of the Blue Devils would become part of the multi-sports club HSV. The idea was floated as early as 1992 and the club will, in future, be known as the HSV Hamburg Blue Devils. In 2012, the club came seventh in the northern division of the GFL and failed to qualify for the play-off. In January 2014
240-610: The Millerntor-Stadion , the club began a new era of success in 2001. Three German Bowl victories were to follow, all against the Braunschweig Lions. However, not all went well for the club. Midway through the 2002 season, the coach left but the Blue Devils remained successful. In 2003, the club experienced financial trouble, having to declare insolvency. Despite this, the German Bowl was won in extra time in
270-598: The Mt. Greenwood neighborhood on the corner of 103rd Street and Central Park Avenue. It is in close proximity to the suburb of Evergreen Park, Illinois . The university's main campus is made up of several buildings, including the Warde Academic Center, which is the oldest building on campus and houses administrative offices and the library; the Shannon Center; McDonough Chapel, a small Catholic chapel ;
300-859: The US Army to play the game. In 1979, the Munich Cowboys club was formed. In 1979 , the Cowboys became a founding member of the American Football Bundesliga , renamed the German Football League in 1999, together with the Frankfurter Löwen , Düsseldorf Panther, Ansbach Grizzlies, Berlin Bears and Bremerhaven Seahawks . The Cowboys made their first appearance in the national championship game,
330-540: The 30,000 that turned out to see the German Bowl at Hamburgs Volksparkstadion were a new record for the game in Germany. The following season 2000 was a disaster for the club. With new coach and quarter back, the club played its first losing season in its short history and missed the play-offs. It did reach the Eurobowl playoffs once more but this time lost to the Bergamo Lions . With a new coach and playing at
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#1732775514153360-601: The Blue Devils took part in the Football League of Europe , where they lost the final to the Stockholm Nordic Vikings , played in front of 18,000 in Hamburg. Unusually, the club was admitted to the American Football Bundesliga , the later German Football League , without having worked its way up through the league system in 1995 and reached the German Bowl in its first attempt. There however,
390-490: The City of Chicago less than 10 years old, the religious sisters , under the guidance of Mother Mary Francis Xavier Warde, R.S.M., established Saint Francis Xavier Female Academy . The Academy, which would later become Saint Xavier College , and finally Saint Xavier University, was the first Mercy College in the world and is the oldest chartered college in the city of Chicago. In the year 1846, five sisters of Mercy were sent to
420-471: The GFL2 on first attempt and, from there, to the GFL in 2004. The team was however relegated from the GFL again in 2006. Munich returned to the GFL in the 2008 season and came third in the southern division, losing once more to the Braunschweig Lions in the play-offs. The year 2009 was less successful and the Cowboys were almost relegated once more. The team continued to be present in the GFL in 2010, where it
450-762: The German Bowl, in 1992, but lost the game to the Düsseldorf Panther by a point. The 1993 season saw the club's greatest success. It reached the German Bowl once more, this time against the Cologne Crocodiles . Playing at home in Munich, the Cowboys where 7–20 behind at half time but managed to equalise 29–29 at the end of regular time. The team then turned the game around and defeated the Crocodiles 42–36 to win their first, and as of 2019, only national championship. After an era of lesser success,
480-674: The German Bowl: Recent seasons of the Munich Cowboys: St. Xavier University Saint Xavier University (or SXU ) is a private Roman Catholic university in Chicago, Illinois . Founded in 1846 by the Sisters of Mercy , the university enrolls 3,749 students. Saint Xavier University was founded as a women's college by the Sisters of Mercy in 1846 at the request of Bishop William Quarter . With
510-694: The Graham School of Management Building; Andrew Conference Center and Driehaus Center. Within a mile of the main campus are the Visual Arts Center and O'Grady Center, which houses the departments of University Relations and University Advancement. In 2001, an influx of students to the University led to the opening of four new dormitories on campus. Residence halls listed below; In 2009, former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley recognized Saint Xavier University for its eco-friendly efforts with
540-621: The South . The club has one national championship to its name, winning the German Bowl in 1993. As of 2015, the club has played more GFL games than any other team, 405, followed by the Berlin Adler with 378, one of only three other teams with more than 300 league games. The Cowboys have played 35 out of a possible 38 seasons at the highest level of the game in Germany, more than any other club. American football in Munich dates back to 1975 when local football enthusiasts met with soldiers of
570-502: The city of Chicago from Pittsburgh to start Catholic work in the new city. The original campus (then referred to as an academy), soon gained, in 1847, a state charter which allowed for the granting of degrees from the academy. After this location (Wabash Avenue between Madison and Monroe in downtown Chicago) burned down in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the campus was rebuilt on the southern boundary of Chicago. In 1915,
600-422: The club also faced some local competition in the form of NFL Europe team Hamburg Sea Devils . From 2006 onwards, the performances of the Blue Devils dropped off. In 2006, the play-off semi finals could still be reached, in 2007 it was only the quarter-finals and, in 2008, a fifth place meant the club did not play a post season at all. What followed was the withdrawal to the tier-three Regionalliga Nord , where
630-486: The club announced that it would withdraw its team from the GFL because of a loss of players and would restart in 2015. After not fielding a senior team in 2014 the club returned to league football for 2015, entering the tier five Verbandsliga Nord, where they finished third. Apart from the senior men's team, the Blue Devils also operate a reserve side, a junior team, the Hamburg Junior Devils , ladies team,
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#1732775514153660-533: The club finished fourth in the southern division of the GFL but lost 28–69 to the NewYorker Lions in the quarter finals of the play-offs. The following season they missed out on play-off qualification after finishing fifth. The Munich Cowboys Ladies team has been quite successful in its recent past, reaching the Ladies Bowl on five occasions and winning it in 2005 and 2006. The club's appearances in
690-411: The club played the 2009 and 2010 season without ever suffering a league defeat. However, in the promotion round, things were not as easy and the Blue Devils missed out on promotion in 2009 but were successful in 2010. In 2011, the club has risen to the second tier of German football, the GFL 2, a league it never played in before. On 5 January 2011, the club announced that it would start a cooperation with
720-563: The ice hockey team EHC München . Additionally, the ambitious basketball team of the FC Bayern Munich took over the clubs cheerleading team in 2009. The Cowboys, who attracted 1,100 spectators per game in 2009 suffered a 30 percent drop in attendance in 2010. In 2011, the Cowboys finished fourth in their division and qualified for the play-offs once more, where they were knocked out by the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes in
750-581: The opening of the Arthur Rubloff Hall and O'Brien Halls on campus. These residence halls are environmentally friendly, featuring rooftop gardens and clean-source alternative energy. In 2021, Saint Xavier celebrated its 175th anniversary and received an official state resolution honoring its legacy in Chicago. The Saint Xavier (SXU) athletic teams are called the Cougars. The university is
780-481: The quarter finals. In 2012, the club came eighth in the southern division of the GFL, having to face GFL2 southern champions Allgäu Comets in the promotion-relegation play-off in which the Cowboys won both games and survived. The 2013 season saw a much improved performance with the team finishing third but being knocked out in the quarter finals of the play-offs by the Dresden Monarchs. In the 2014 season
810-427: The school became an official college, teaching "all branches of higher learning". Saint Xavier University offers undergraduate majors and graduate programs through its two colleges: Saint Xavier University has one of the most diverse undergraduate student bodies in Chicago and is a federally designated Hispanic-serving institution. Saint Xavier's 109 acres (44.1 ha) main campus is located in City of Chicago in
840-407: The semi-finals of the national championships. Finally, in 1998, the club won the Eurobowl for a third consecutive time, as the first club ever, but once more lost the German Bowl, to future bitter rival Braunschweig Lions. The 1999 season was all about the Blue Devils versus the Lions, the two teams meeting both in the Eurobowl and the German Bowl. On both occasions, the Lions kept the upper hand, but
870-552: The team came close to reaching the German Bowl once more in 2000 and 2001 when, on both occasions, Munich lost to the Braunschweig Lions in the semi-finals. After 22 consecutive seasons at the highest level of German football, the Bundesliga and, later, the GFL, the Cowboys withdrew to the tier-three Regionalliga Süd for the 2003 season. The clubs exile in the lower leagues was short-lived, winning promotion to
900-433: Was once more troubled by relegation fears but survived and will stay in the league for 2011. Phil Hickey, coach of the team and a member of the 1993 championship-winning side, is confident that he can take the Cowboys back to championship contention by 2012. The club suffers from strong competition within the city from other sports, especially the association football clubs FC Bayern Munich and TSV 1860 Munich as well as
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