The Allgäu Comets are an

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 with ...

team from

Kempten Kempten (, (Swabian German: )) is the largest Town#Germany, town of Allgäu, in Swabia (Bavaria), Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. The population was about 68,000 in 2016. The area was possibly settled originally by Celts, but was later taken over by th ...

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 ...

. The club is named after the

Allgäu The Allgäu (Standard German: , also Allgovia) is a region in Swabia in southern Germany. It covers the south of Bavarian Swabia, southeastern Baden-Württemberg, and parts of Austria. The region stretches from the pre-alpine lands up to the A ...

region of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, of which Kempten is the largest town. The club was originally formed as the Kempten Comets and renamed Allgäu Comets in 1993. It has played in Germany's highest football league, the American Football Bundesliga, now 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 National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA. In 1999, the league switched its name from ''Ameri ...

, from 1985 to 1994. In 2013, it won the southern division of the

German Football League 2 The German Football League 2 (GFL2) is the second tier of American football in Germany, below the German Football League. Until 2007, the league was known as the ''2. Bundesliga''. League structure The ''GFL2'', formerly the ''2. Bundesliga'', wh ...

and earned the right to compete in the GFL once more in 2014,Success
Allgäu Comets website, accessed: 26 November 2013 achieving its greatest success in 2015 when it reached the semi-finals of the play-offs.

History

The club was formed in 1982 as the Kempten Comets.History
Allgäu Comets website, accessed: 26 November 2013 The club entered competitive football in 1983 in the tier two 2nd American Football Bundesliga. It won its division in its second year there and earned the right to play in the Bundesliga from 1985, a spell that would last for ten seasons, until 1994. In the Bundesliga the Comets most successful era came from 1986 to 1988, when it finished in the top three of the southern division of the league on each occasion and qualified for the play-offs. The club reached the quarter finals in each of these three years, going out to the

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.Berlin Adler The Berlin Adler ( en, Berlin Eagles) is an American football club based in Berlin, Germany. The club is one of the most successful clubs in the sport in Germany, having won six German Bowls as well as a ten ''Ladies Bowls'' and five ''Junior Bow ...

in 1987. After this the Comets would not reach the play-offs again but remained a competitive side up until the 1994 season. The club's last season in the Bundesliga in 1994, now as the Allgäu Comets, proved disastrous, with the team winning only one out of the first five-season games. The team was withdrawn in mid-season and did not play its final nine games of the 1994 regular season. The Comets withdrew to the sixth tier Landesliga, a local Bavarian league, for the 1995 season and began their climb back up the league pyramide by winning three consecutive league championships from 1995 to 1997. The club returned to national league level when it re-entered the 2nd Football Bundesliga in 1998 but, after only two seasons, was relegated again in 1999. It returned to the 2nd Bundesliga from 2001 to 2004, achieving good results in its first three seasons there but suffering another relegation in 2004. The Comets once more withdrew to local Bavarian Level for the 2005 season, where they played as a strong side until 2007. The club was promoted to the third tier

Regionalliga The Regionalliga () is the fourth tier in the German football league system. Until 1974, it was the second tier in Germany. In 1994, it was introduced as the third tier. Upon the creation of the new nationwide 3. Liga in 2008, it became the four ...

in 2007 and, after four strong seasons there, to the 2nd Bundesliga, now renamed GFL 2, in 2011. The Allgäu Comets won the southern division of the GFL 2 in 2012 and earned the right to play-off with the

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.

for a place in the GFL in 2013, but lost both games. The club once more won its division in 2013 and, once more, qualified for the promotion round. This time, facing the

Wiesbaden Phantoms The Wiesbaden Phantoms are an American football team from Wiesbaden, Germany. The team experienced its greatest success in 2010, earning promotion to the German Football League. History The club was formed in 1984, originally as a department of ...

, the Comets were successful and will return to the highest level of football in Germany, the GFL, for 2014, after a twenty-year absence. The club came fifth in the southern division of the GFL in 2014 and thereby missed out on play-off qualification. The 2015 season was more successful with the team reaching the EFL Bowl where it lost to the

Kiel Baltic Hurricanes The Kiel Baltic Hurricanes are an American football team based in Kiel, Germany. The club has been, of recent, a strong force in the sport in Germany, playing in five consecutive German Bowls from 2008 to 2012, losing the first two, winning the t ...

and finishing second in the southern division of the GFL. It thereby qualified for the play-offs where it defeated the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes in the quarter finals but lost to the eventual champion

New Yorker Lions The New Yorker Lions are an American Football team from Braunschweig, Germany. Until late 2010, the team was known as the Braunschweig Lions.

in the semi-finals.

Honours

* EFL Bowl ** Runners-up: 2015 * GFL ** League membership: (16) 1985–1994, 2014–present ** Play-off qualification: (8) 1986–1988, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2021, 2022 *

GFL 2 The German Football League 2 (GFL2) is the second tier of American football in Germany, below 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 ...

** Southern Division champions: (4) 1983, 1984, 2012, 2013

Recent seasons

Recent seasons of the club:Football History
Historic American football tables from Germany, accessed: 26 November 2013 * PR = Promotion round * QF = Quarter finals * SF = Semi finals

References

External links

*
Official website
*
German Football League official website
*
Football History
Historic American football tables from Germany {{DEFAULTSORT:Allgau Comets American football teams in Germany German Football League teams American football teams established in 1982 American football in Bavaria 1982 establishments in West Germany Kempten