The American Football Association of Germany (german: American Football Verband Deutschland; AFVD) is the governing body of the sport of
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
and the
German Football League
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 Foot ...
.
Formed in 1982,Gründung des AFVD AFVD website- Formation of the association, accessed: 20 January 2011 the association oversees the German league system, the various
German Bowl
The German Bowl is the annual national championship game in the sport of American football in Germany. It is contested by the two best teams of the German Football League.
The New Yorker Lions, from Braunschweig, are the record winners of the Ger ...
s and the national selections.
History
The history of American football in Germany, outside the
US Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
bases in the country, began in 1977, when the
Frankfurter Löwen
The Frankfurter Löwen ( en, Frankfurt Lions) were an American football team from Frankfurt, Germany.
The ''Löwen'' were the first American football club to be formed in Germany.
In March 1979, the ''AFBD'', the American Football Federation of Germany (german: American Football Bund Deutschland), was formed, the first of its kind in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
. This organisation, in 1982, was replaced by the ''AFVD'', the American Football Association of Germany.
A national league, originally the '' American Football Bundesliga'', later to be renamed the German Football League,GFL German Football League AFVD website, accessed: 29 December 2010 was formed in 1979, consisting of six clubs, the Frankfurter Löwen,
Ansbach Grizzlies
The Ansbach Grizzlies are an American football team based in Ansbach, Germany. The club, together with the Düsseldorf Panther and the Munich Cowboys, is one of the oldest in Germany. The Grizzlies were a dominating force in the game during the fir ...
,
Düsseldorf Panther
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.Munich Cowboys
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.
, Berlin Bears and Bremerhaven Seahawks.Geschichte AFVD website - Early years, accessed: 20 January 2011 The first-ever league game was held on 4 August 1979, played between the Frankfurter Löwen and the Düsseldorf Panther, and ended in a victory for Frankfurt.Google book review: Turnen and sport: transatlantic transfers author: Annette R. Hofmann, accessed: 12 January 2010 The first ever
German Bowl
The German Bowl is the annual national championship game in the sport of American football in Germany. It is contested by the two best teams of the German Football League.
The New Yorker Lions, from Braunschweig, are the record winners of the Ger ...
was held on 10 November 1979 and also ended in a victory for the Frankfurter Löwen.Football History Historic American football tables from Germany, accessed: 2 January 2010
In 1980 and 1981, the league and American football in Germany saw a split with Düsseldorf and Bremerhaven leaving the competition to take part in a separate, short-lived competition, the '' Nordwestdeutsche Football-Liga - NFL'', but, by 1982, union was restored and the renegade teams returned.
In 1981, the German national team was formed, winning its first-ever international, a game against
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, 12–6.
On 16 October 1982, the ''AFVD'' was officially formed and, in the following year, it was decided to form regional associations as well. The German national team, also from 1983 onwards, started to participate in the European Championships. In 1986, women's American football began to develop, with the first official game held in 1987.
American football started to boom in Germany from the early 1990s onwards, initiated through the Frankfurt Galaxy, which attracted many younger fans to the sport and also provided some media attention.Der Verband etabliert sich AFVD website, accessed: 20 January 2011
As of 1 January 2010, the ''AFVD'' announced a new record membership of 40,051, and increase of 7.31 percent in comparison to the previous year. The associations growth since the year 2000, when it had 18,875 members, is mainly due to the improved youth programs of its clubs. While, in the early years, very few clubs had a youth team, it is now commonplace to have a number of junior teams in every club.
In 2018, the AFVD reached a new peak by counting 63,060 members.https://cdn.dosb.de/user_upload/www.dosb.de/uber_uns/Bestandserhebung/BE-Heft_2018.pdf
With triumphs in the European Championships of American Football 2001, 2010 and again 2014 as well as dominant performances of German club teams in the BIG6 European Football League since its inception in 2014, the AFVD has established itself as one of the premier American Football associations in Europe, if not the world.
League system
The
league system
A league system is a hierarchy of leagues in a sport. They are often called pyramids, due to their tendency to split into an increasing number of regional divisions further down the system. League systems of some sort are used in many sports in ...
in American football in Germany operates as a pyramid, with clubs in every league being able to achieve promotion and relegation, subject to their final standings and the promotion and relegation games.
Men
In 2010, the pyramid consisted of six levels, however, tier six leagues did only exist in some regions.
The top level of the league system, the GFL, is a national league with inter conference games between the two regional divisions. The second level, the GFL2, is divided into two regional divisions without inter conference games. The third level is the ''Regionalliga'' ( en, Regional League), divided into five separate leagues. Below this, the seven ''Oberligas'' ( en, Premier League) are set, followed by the ''Verbandsligas'' ( en, Association League), ''Landesligas'' ( en, State League) and ''Aufbauligas'' ( en, Development League):
Legend
* HH/SH:
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
/
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...
* LS/B:
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...
* HE/RP/SA:
Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...
/
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...
/
Saarland
The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...
American Football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...