Marburg Mercenaries

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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
2024 Regionalliga (Central)2nd18–20.9001090137193

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