Munich Cowboys

Munich Cowboys
Founded	1979
League	German Football League
Stadium	Dantestadion
Based in	Munich, Germany
Team colors	Black and Gold
President	Werner L. Maier
Head coach	Phil Hickey
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 2010, the club has played more GFL games then any other team, 335, followed by the Berlin Adler with 312, the only other team with more than 300 league games. The Cowboys have played 29 out of a possible 32 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 und 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 clubs 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 of 2011, 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]

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: (19) 1982–85, 1989–2001, 2008, 2011
  • League membership: (30) 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

• Junior Bowl
  • Runners-up: 1986, 1987, 1996

German Bowl appearances

The clubs appearances in the German Bowl:^[3]

Bowl	Date	Champions	Runners-Up	Score	Location	Attendance
XIV	October 3, 1992	Düsseldorf Panther	Munich Cowboys	24-23	Hanover	8,750
XV	September 25, 1993	Munich Cowboys	Cologne Crocodiles	42-36 (aet)	Munich	9,000

Recent seasons

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

Year	Division	Finish	Points	Pct.	Games	W	D	L	PF	PA	Postseason
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	GFL 2 (South)	1st	27–1	0.964	14	13	1	0	379	166	Won RR: 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)

• RR = Relegation round.
• QF = Quarter finals.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Vereinsgeschichte (German) Ansbach Grizzlies website, accessed: 1 January 2011
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Vereinsgeschichte (German) Club history, Munich Cowboys website, accessed: 1 January 2011
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Bowls GFL website, accessed: 1 January 2011
4. ^ Ewige Bundesligatabelle (German) Historic tables of American football in Germany, accessed: 3 January 2011
5. ^ GFL German Football League (German) AFVD website, accessed: 1 January 2011
6. ^ Geschichte (German) AFVD website, accessed: 1 January 2011
7. ^ Phil Hickey (German) Munich Cowboys website, accessed: 2 January 2011
8. ^ Nächste Saison, ganz bestimmt (German) Sueddeutsche Zeitung, published: 24 August 2010, accessed: 2 January 2011
9. ^ Munich Cowboys 2010 – eine Bilanz (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(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

External links

• Official website
• German Football League official website
• American Football Verband Bayern website