Marburg Mercenaries

Last updated
Marburg Mercenaries
Marburg Mercenaries Logo.svg
Founded1991
League German Football League
Based in Marburg, Germany
Stadium Georg-Gaßmann-Stadion
ColorsRed, White and Black
   
Championships EFAF Cup : 2005
Division titlesGFL South: 20042006, 2008, 2010
GFL2 South: 2001, 2002
Website mercenaries.de

The Marburg Mercenaries are an American football team from Marburg, Germany.

Contents

Internationally, the club's greatest success came in 2005, when it won the EFAF Cup, followed by a losing appearance in the Eurobowl in 2007. [1] Domestically, the team's greatest achievement was to reach the 2006 German Bowl, where the team lost to the Braunschweig Lions. [2]

History

The Marburg Mercenaries were formed in 1991 under the official name of AFV Marburg Mercenaries e.V.. [1]

The club entered competitive league football in the following year, playing in the tier-five Verbandsliga Hessen, a regional league in its home state of Hesse. The Mercenaries gradually worked their way up through the local league system, culminating in a title in the tier-three Regionalliga Mitte in 1997, which allowed the club to take up promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga. [1]

For the next five years, the team played in the southern division of this league, once more gradually improving its performances, to a point where they won their division in 2001 and 2002. In its first attempt at promotion to the German Football League, the team failed however, losing to the Franken Knights in both promotion games. It performed much better the following year, defeating the Munich Cowboys in both promotion games and moving up into the GFL. [3]

The Mercenaries first season at this level became a struggle, winning only one out of twelve league games, and having to defend their league place against the Simbach Wildcats in the relegation round. With this successfully achieved, the team moved on to much better performances from now on. [3]

The club became a constant contender for the division title from now on, winning it in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2010 and reaching, as a minimum, the play-off semi finals on each occasion. The team's best season domestically however was 2006, when it reached the German Bowl, where it lost 13–31 to the Braunschweig Lions. [1] Apart from the significances of this achievement to the club, it also broke a thirteen-year drought for the clubs from the southern division, as no southern club had reached the German Bowl since the Munich Cowboys won it in 1993. [3]

Internationally, the Mercenaries won their first title in 2005, when they won the second-tier EFAF Cup. In 2007, the team also participated in the European Football League, where it reached the final, the Eurobowl, but lost quite clearly to the Vikings Vienna. [3]

Marburg has since failed to reach another final, but remains a strong team in the southern division of the GFL. The team came second in its division in 2011, qualifying for the play-offs where they were knocked out by the Düsseldorf Panther in the quarter finals. [4]

In 2012, the club came third in the southern division of the GFL and qualified for the play-off where it was knocked out by Berlin Adler in the quarter finals. The club finished second in 2013 but was again knocked out in the quarter finals of the play-off, this time by the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes.

In the 2014 season the team came third in the southern division of the GFL but lost 22–42 to the Dresden Monarchs in the quarter finals of the play-offs. In 2015, the club came only sixth and missed out on play-off qualification for the first time since 2003.

Honours

German Bowl appearances

The club has only appeared once in the German Bowl: [2]

BowlDateChampionsRunners-UpScoreLocationAttendance
XXVIII October 7, 2006Braunschweig LionsMarburg Mercenaries31–13 Braunschweig 15,897

Recent seasons

Recent seasons of the club: [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

YearDivisionFinishPointsPct.GamesWDLPFPAPostseason
2003 GFL (South)6th2–220.083121011276425
20041st17–30.85010811433206Won QF: Hamburg Blue Devils (24–21)
Lost SF: Berlin Adler (30–31)
20051st17–30.85010811350174Won QF: Berlin Adler (40–21)
Lost SF: Hamburg Blue Devils (41–42 aet)
20061st20–40.833121002471214Won QF: Cologne Falcons (62–0)
Won SF: Hamburg Blue Devils (33–20)
Lost GB: Braunschweig Lions (13–31)
20072nd19–50.79212912363191Won QF: Kiel Baltic Hurricanes (21–16)
Lost SF: Braunschweig Lions (21–26)
20081st18–60.75012903356206Won QF: Dresden Monarchs (33–21)
Lost SF: Braunschweig Lions (21–49)
20092nd14–100.58312705422328Won QF: Dresden Monarchs (64–63)
Lost SF: Berlin Adler (21–36)
2010 1st20–40.833121002437216Won QF: Braunschweig Lions (31–21)
Lost SF: Berlin Adler (6–17)
2011 2nd22–40.846131102392240Lost QF: Düsseldorf Panther (10–14)
2012 3rd18–100.64314905473339Lost QF: Berlin Adler (21–35)
2013 2nd21–70.750141013488353Lost QF: Kiel Baltic Hurricanes (9–47)
2014 3rd18–100.64314905476431Lost QF: Dresden Monarchs (22–42)
2015 6th6–220.214143011286484
2016 7th4–240.143142012284591
2017 3rd16–120.57114806344320Lost QF: Kiel Baltic Hurricanes (14–28)
2018 5th12–160.42914608366438
2019 3rd18–100.64314905493378Lost QF: Dresden Monarchs (22–39)
2020 No season played because of the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 6th4–160.20010208189350
2022 6th8–120.40010406225255
2023 7th6–180.25012309251383withdrew after season

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">German Football League</span> German league of American football

The German Football League (GFL) is an American football league in Germany and was formed in 1979. Playing rules are based on those of the American NCAA. In 1999, the league switched its name from American-Football-Bundesliga to German Football League. In terms of attendance figures, cumulative salaries paid by teams, performance in international exhibition games and competitions and ability to draw foreign talent, the GFL is arguably the strongest national league in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Düsseldorf Panther</span> German American football team

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.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stuttgart Scorpions</span> American football team in Germany

The Stuttgart Scorpions are an American football team from Stuttgart, Germany. The club's greatest success came in 2007, when it reached the German Bowl but lost to the Braunschweig Lions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berlin Adler</span>

The Berlin Adler is an American football club based in Berlin, Germany. The club is one of the most successful clubs in the sport in Germany, having won six German Bowls as well as ten Ladies Bowls and five Junior Bowls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Yorker Lions</span> American Football team from Germany

The New Yorker Lions are an American Football team from Braunschweig, Germany. Until late 2010, the team was known as the Braunschweig Lions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Football League</span>

The European Football League (EFL) established in 1986, was a tournament for the best European American football teams affiliated to IFAF, which replaced the European Federation of American Football (EFAF) in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiel Baltic Hurricanes</span>

The Kiel Baltic Hurricanes are an American football team based in Kiel, Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Munich Cowboys</span> American football team based in Munich, Germany

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 the South.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns</span>

The Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns are an American football team from Schwäbisch Hall, Germany founded in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dresden Monarchs</span>

The Dresden Monarchs are an American football team from Dresden, Germany. They have been a member of the first tier German Football League since 2002 and play in its Northern Division. In 2021 they were GFL champions after having won German Bowl XLII. In January 2023 the Monarchs named longtime NFL Coach Paul Alexander as their Head Coach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plattling Black Hawks</span>

The Plattling Black Hawks are an American football team from Plattling, Germany. The club was, until 2004, known as the Deggendorf Black Hawks.

The Saarland Hurricanes are an American football team from Saarbrücken, Germany. Saarbrücken is the capital of the federal German state of Saarland, which the club is named after. The club was formed in 1996 in a merger of the two local sides Saarbrücken Wölfe and Dillingen Steelhawks.

The Franken Knights are an American football team from Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany. Between 1995 and 1996 the club played in Würzburg for two seasons but returned to Rothenburg again the following year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhein-Neckar Bandits</span>

The Rhein-Neckar Bandits are an American football team from Mannheim, Germany. The club's greatest success came in 2011, when it earned promotion to the German Football League, followed by a second-place finish in the southern division of the GFL in 2012. The current name is since end of 2017 Mannheim Bandits.

The Cologne Falcons are an American football team from Cologne, Germany. The Falcons currently play most of their home games at Müngersdorf Sportpark, Ostkampfbahn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frankfurt Universe</span>

The Frankfurt Universe are a German American football team from Frankfurt, Hesse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 German Football League</span> Sports season

The 2015 German Football League season was the thirty seventh edition of the top-level American football competition in Germany and sixteenth since the renaming of the American football Bundesliga to German Football league.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 German Football League</span> Sports season

The 2014 German Football League season was the thirty sixth edition of the top-level American football competition in Germany and fifteenth since the renaming of the American football Bundesliga to German Football league.

The 2017 German Football League season was the 39th edition of the top-level American football competition in Germany and 18th since the renaming of the American Football Bundesliga to German Football league.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Geschichte (in German) Marburg Mercenaries website - Club history, accessed: 16 January 2011
  2. 1 2 Bowls Archived 2015-09-29 at the Wayback Machine GFL website, accessed: 1 January 2011
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Football History (in German) Historic American football tables from Germany, accessed: 2 January 2010
  4. 1 2 GFL 2011 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 18 September 2011
  5. GFL 2008 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 2 January 2011
  6. GFL 2009 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 2 January 2011
  7. GFL 2010 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 2 January 2011
  8. Heimspiel fällt den Fluten zum Opfer (in German) Marburg Mercenaries website, published: 11 September 2011, accessed: 16 September 2011