Munich Cowboys

Munich Cowboys
Founded 1979
League German Football League
Based in Munich, Germany
Stadium Dantestadion
Colors Black and Gold          
President Werner L. Maier
Head coach James Craig
Championships German Bowl: 1993
Ladies Bowl: 2005, 2006
Division titles GFL South: 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2000, 2001
Website www.munich-cowboys.de/

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.[1] The team refers to itself as The Grand Old Team of the South.[2]

The club has one national championship to its name, winning the German Bowl in 1993.[3] 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.[4]

History

The Grand Old Team of the South

American football in Munich dates back to 1975 when local football enthusiasts met with soldiers of the US Army to play the game. In 1979, the Munich Cowboys club was formed.[2]

In 1979, the Cowboys became a founding member of the American Football Bundesliga, renamed the German Football League in 1999,[5] together with the Frankfurter Löwen, Düsseldorf Panther, Ansbach Grizzlies, Berlin Bears and Bremerhaven Seahawks.[1][6]

The Cowboys made their first appearance in the national championship game, the German Bowl, in 1992, but lost the game to the Düsseldorf Panther by a point.[3]

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 2014, only national championship.[2]

After an era of lesser success, 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.[2]

The Munich Cowboys win the German Bowl in 1993.

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 the GFL 2 on first attempt and, from there, to the GFL in 2004. The team was however relegated from the GFL again in 2006.[2]

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.[2]

The team continued to be present in the GFL in 2010, where it 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,[7] is confident that he can take the Cowboys back to championship contention by 2012.[8]

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 the ice hockey team EHC München. Additionally, the ambitious basketball team of the FC Bayern Munich took over the clubs chearleading team in 2009. The Cowboys, who attracted 1,100 spectators per game in 2009 suffered a 30 percent drop in attendance in 2010.[9] 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 the quarter finals.[10] 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 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.[3]

Honours

Men

  • German Bowl
    • Champions: 1993
    • Runners-up: 1992
  • EFL
    • Participations: 1994
  • GFL
    • Southern Division champions: 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2000, 2001
    • Play-off qualification: (21) 1982–85, 1989–2001, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2014
    • League membership: (35) 1979–2002, 2005–06, 2008–present
  • GFL 2
    • Southern Division champions: 2004, 2007

Women

  • Ladies Bowl
    • Champions: 2005, 2006
    • Runners-up: 2001, 2002, 2003

Juniors

German Bowl appearances

The club's appearances in the German Bowl:[3]

Bowl Date Champions Runners-Up Score Location Attendance
XIVOctober 3, 1992Düsseldorf PantherMunich Cowboys24-23Hanover8,750
XVSeptember 25, 1993Munich CowboysCologne Crocodiles42-36 (aet)Munich9,000

Recent seasons

Recent seasons of the Munich Cowboys:[10][11][12][13][14]

YearDivision FinishPointsPct. GamesWDL PFPA Postseason
2005 GFL (South) 5th2–180.100 10109 87321 —
2006 6th3–210.125 121110 154476 Lost RR: Weinheim Longhorns (0–20 & 14–27)
2007 GFL 2 (South) 1st27–10.964 141310 379166 Won RR: Saarland Hurricanes (48–2 & 25–7)
2008 GFL (South) 3rd14–100.583 12705 224164 Lost QF: Braunschweig Lions (10–32)
2009 6th4–200.167 122010 151261 Won RR: Franken Knights (28–24 & 19–7)
2010 5th6–180.250 12309 174411 —
2011 4th14–140.500 14707 256277 Lost QF: Kiel Baltic Hurricanes (6–45)
2012 8th5–230.179 142111 297473 Won RR: Allgäu Comets (59–35 & 33–24)
2013 3rd19–90.679 14914 380275 Lost QF: Dresden Monarchs (14–59)
2014 4th16–120.571 14806 454453 Lost QF: New Yorker Lions (28–69)
2015 5th14–140.500 14707 312380 —
2016 6th10–180.357 14509 335560 —
2017 7th6–220.214 143011 278489 —
2018 4th12–160.429 14608 290373 Lost QF: New Yorker Lions (14–59)
  • RR = Relegation round.
  • QF = Quarter finals.

References

  1. 1 2 Vereinsgeschichte Archived 2011-07-07 at the Wayback Machine. (in German) Ansbach Grizzlies website, accessed: 1 January 2011
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Vereinsgeschichte (in German) Club history, Munich Cowboys website, accessed: 1 January 2011
  3. 1 2 3 4 Bowls Archived 2015-09-29 at the Wayback Machine. GFL website, accessed: 1 January 2011
  4. ↑ Ewige Bundesligatabelle (in German) Historic tables of American football in Germany, accessed: 3 January 2011
  5. ↑ GFL German Football League (in German) AFVD website, accessed: 1 January 2011
  6. ↑ Geschichte (in German) AFVD website, accessed: 1 January 2011
  7. ↑ Phil Hickey (in German) Munich Cowboys website, accessed: 2 January 2011
  8. ↑ Nächste Saison, ganz bestimmt (in German) Sueddeutsche Zeitung, published: 24 August 2010, accessed: 2 January 2011
  9. ↑ Munich Cowboys 2010 – eine Bilanz (in German) www.football-aktuell.de, published: 7 November 2010, accessed: 2 January 2011
  10. 1 2 GFL 2011 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 18 September 2011
  11. ↑ Football History(in German) Historic American football tables from Germany, accessed: 2 January 2010
  12. ↑ Munich Cowboys 2008 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 1 January 2011
  13. ↑ Munich Cowboys 2009 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 1 January 2011
  14. ↑ Munich Cowboys 2010 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 1 January 2011
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