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Munich Cowboys

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Munich Cowboys
Founded1979
LeagueGerman Football League
Based inMunich, Germany
StadiumDantestadion
ColorsBlack and Gold
   
PresidentWerner L. Maier
Head coachChristos Lambropoulos
ChampionshipsGerman Bowl: 1993
Ladies Bowl: 2005, 2006
Division titlesGFL South: 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2000, 2001
GFL2 South: 2004, 2007
CheerleadersMunich Cowboys Cheerleader
MascotLucky Muc
Websitemunich-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

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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 2019, 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 GFL2 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 cheerleading 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

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Men

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  • German Bowl
    • Champions: 1993
    • Runners-up: 1992
  • EFL
    • Participations: 1994
  • GFL
    • Southern Division champions: (6) 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2000, 2001
    • Play-off qualification: (24) 1982–85, 1989–2001, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2021, 2022
    • League membership: (40) 1979–2002, 2005–06, 2008–present
  • GFL2
    • Southern Division champions: 2004, 2007

Women

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

Juniors

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German Bowl appearances

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

Bowl Date Champions Runners-Up Score Location Attendance
XIV 3 October 1992 Düsseldorf Panther Munich Cowboys 24–23 Hanover 8,750
XV 25 September 1993 Munich Cowboys Cologne Crocodiles 42–36 (aet) Munich 10,100

Recent seasons

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

Year Division Finish Points Pct. Games W D L PF PA Postseason
2004 2. BL (South) 1st 20–4 0.833 12 10 0 2 387 131 —
2005 GFL (South) 5th 2–18 0.100 10 1 0 9 87 321 —
2006 6th 3–21 0.125 12 1 1 10 154 476 Lost RR: Weinheim Longhorns (0–20 & 14–27)
2007 GFL2 (South) 1st 27–1 0.964 14 13 1 0 379 166 Won PR: Saarland Hurricanes (48–2 & 25–7)
2008 GFL (South) 3rd 14–10 0.583 12 7 0 5 224 164 Lost QF: Braunschweig Lions (10–32)
2009 6th 4–20 0.167 12 2 0 10 151 261 Won RR: Franken Knights (28–24 & 19–7)
2010 5th 6–18 0.250 12 3 0 9 174 411 —
2011 4th 14–14 0.500 14 7 0 7 256 277 Lost QF: Kiel Baltic Hurricanes (6–45)
2012 8th 5–23 0.179 14 2 1 11 297 473 Won RR: Allgäu Comets (59–35 & 33–24)
2013 3rd 19–9 0.679 14 9 1 4 380 275 Lost QF: Dresden Monarchs (14–59)
2014 4th 16–12 0.571 14 8 0 6 454 453 Lost QF: New Yorker Lions (28–69)
2015 5th 14–14 0.500 14 7 0 7 312 380 —
2016 6th 10–18 0.357 14 5 0 9 335 560 —
2017 7th 6–22 0.214 14 3 0 11 278 489 —
2018 4th 12–16 0.429 14 6 0 8 290 373 Lost QF: New Yorker Lions (14–59)
2019 7th 7–21 0.250 14 3 1 10 238 423 —
2020 No season played because of the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 3rd 12–8 0.600 10 6 0 4 289 118 Lost QF: Potsdam Royals (23–36)
2022 2nd 17–3 0.850 10 8 1 1 303 176 Lost QF: Cologne Crocodiles (31–34)
2023 5th 6–18 0.250 12 3 – 9 169 359 —
2024 5th 10–14 0.417 12 5 – 7 254 273 —
  • PR = Promotion round.
  • RR = Relegation round.
  • QF = Quarter finals.

References

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  1. ^ a b Vereinsgeschichte Archived 2011-07-07 at the Wayback Machine (in German) Ansbach Grizzlies website, accessed: 1 January 2011
  2. ^ a b c d e f Vereinsgeschichte (in German) Club history, Munich Cowboys website, accessed: 1 January 2011
  3. ^ a b c d 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 Archived 2011-07-18 at the Wayback Machine (in German) AFVD website, accessed: 1 January 2011
  6. ^ Geschichte Archived 2017-10-28 at the Wayback Machine (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. ^ a b 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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