Plattling Black Hawks

Plattling Black Hawks
Founded	1986
League	German Football League
Arena	Deggendorf Black Hawks (1986–2004) Plattling Black Hawks (2004–present)
Stadium	Karl Weinberger Stadion
Based in	Plattling, Germany
Team colors	Beige and Black
Head coach	James Fayed
Championships	none
Division titles	none
Cheerleaders	Black Merlins
Website	www.black-hawks-football.de/

The Plattling Black Hawks are an American football team from Plattling, Germany. The club was, until 2004, known as the Deggendorf Black Hawks.^[1]

The clubs greatest success was earning promotion to the German Football League in 2008 and qualifying for the play-offs for the first time in 2010.

History

The Black Hawks entered league football in 1987, when they joined the southern division of the Regionalliga Bayern. The following 19 seasons, the club remained playing in local Bavarian and Southern German leagues, becoming a fixture in the tier-three Regionalliga Süd from 2001 onwards.^[1]

In 2004, the Deggendorf Black Hawks moved nine kilometres southwest, becoming the Plattling Black Hawks instead.^[1]

Under the new name, the club quickly experienced unprecedented success, winning its league and defeating the Obertshausen Blizzards to earn promotion to the southern division of the 2nd Bundesliga. Plattling spend the next three seasons at this level, successfully competing with the top teams and eventually winning the league in 2008. The team defeated the Darmstadt Diamonds in the following two promotion games and earned a spot in the German Football League for 2009.^[1]

In the GFL in 2009, the Black Hawks managed to finish in fifth place, one above the relegation rank and Bavarian rival, the Munich Cowboys. The following season saw the team come third despite a losing record and qualify for the play-offs. In the quarter finals, the Berlin Adler were however to strong and the club was knock out courtesy to a 3-17 defeat.^[1]

Plattling was unable to fullfil all its fixtures in the 2011 season, suffering from a large number of injuries, losing all games except for the last three, which it cancelled.^[2][3] The club decided on 1 September 2011 not to apply for a GFL 2 licence for the following season but instead to compete in the third tier Regionalliga.^[4]

Honours

• GFL
  • Play-off qualification : 2010
  • League membership : (3) 2009–2011

• GFL 2
  • Southern Division champions: 2008

Recent seasons

Recent seasons of the club:^{[1][5][6][7][8]}

Year	Division	Finish	Points	Pct.	Games	W	D	L	PF	PA	Postseason
2005	Regionalliga Süd	1st	24–0	1.000	12	12	0	0	527	117	Won PR: Obertshausen Blizzards (26–14 & 40–14)
2006	GFL 2 (South)	3rd	18–10	0.643	14	9	0	5	363	296	—
2007		3rd	16–12	0.571	14	8	0	6	412	317	—
2008		1st	25–3	0.893	14	12	1	1	556	180	Won PR: Darmstadt Diamonds (43–33 & 44–36)
2009	GFL (South)	5th	6–18	0.250	12	3	0	9	369	491	—
2010		3rd	11–13	0.458	12	5	1	6	294	242	Lost QF: Berlin Adler (3–17)
2011		7th	0–22	0.000	11	0	0	11	157	521	—

• RR = Relegation round
• PR = Promotion round
• QF = Quarter finals
• SF = Semi finals
• GB = German Bowl
• Final three games of the 2011 season not played.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Football History (German) Historic American football tables from Germany, accessed: 19 January 2010
2. ^ Information Status Plattling Black Hawks (German) AFVD website, published: 25 August 2011, accessed: 3 September 2011
3. ^ Letztes Heimspiel der Saison fällt aus (German) Stuttgarter Zeitung, published: 2 September 2011, accessed: 3 September 2011
4. ^ Situation Plattling Black Hawks (German) GFL website, published: 5 September 2011, accessed: 6 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. ^ GFL 2011 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 18 September 2011

External links

• (German) Official website
• (German) German Football League official website
• (German) Football History Historic American football tables from Germany