The Ansbach Grizzlies 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 based in

Ansbach Ansbach (; ; East Franconian: ''Anschba'') is a city in the German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Ansbach is southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the river Fränkische Rezat, a ...

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, together with 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.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.

, is one of the oldest in Germany. The Grizzlies were a dominating force in the game during the first decade of American football in Germany, reaching all of the first eight

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.Vereinsgeschichte
Ansbach Grizzlies website, accessed: 26 December 2010Bowls
GFL website, accessed: 26 December 2010

History

The Ansbach Grizzlies date back to the 3 April 1979, when an information session on the sport was held by Erich Grau and Uli Sorge, after which fifteen players ordered their football gear and formed a team. Initially, this team was part of the multi-sports club

SpVgg Ansbach SpVgg Ansbach is a German football club from the city of Ansbach, Bavaria. The club's greatest league success came in 2001, when it earned promotion to the tier-three Regionalliga Süd, where it lasted for only one season. They returned to th ...

. In

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, the Grizzlies became a founding member of the ''American Football Bundesliga'', renamed 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 ...

in 1999, together with 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.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 ''Buddy Bears'' are painted, life-size fiberglass bear sculptures developed by German businesspeople Klaus and Eva Herlitz, in cooperation with sculptor Roman Strobl. They have become a landmark of Berlin and are considered unofficial ambassa ...

und Bremerhaven Seahawks. The first three league seasons were dominated by Ansbach and Frankfurt, who met each other in the German Bowl on each occasion. In 1979 and 1980, Frankfurt, playing at home, proved the stronger, defeating the Grizzlies. In 1981, the year the club split from the SpVgg Ansbach and became independent as the Ansbach Grizzlies 1981 e.V., the Grizzlies finally triumphed and won their first German Bowl. For Frankfurt, it was the last-ever Bowl appearance, while Ansbach also won the one and only edition of the German Cup that year. After defeating the

Cologne Crocodiles The Cologne Crocodiles are an American football team from Cologne, Germany. The club's greatest success came in 2000, when it won the German Bowl for the first and, so far, only time. Prior to this, the club had made five losing appearances in t ...

in the 1982 edition of the German Bowl, Ansbach had to face a new opposition in the following four finals, the Düsseldorf Panther. The two teams stood for opposing styles of football, the Panthers favouring a long-ranging passing game while the Grizzlies relied on their strong defence. Of the four encounters, three went for the team from

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

, with Ansbach only able to win the 1985 final. It was not until the mid-2000s that the

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

surpassed the Grizzlies record of eight consecutive finals, the Lions eventually playing in twelve from 1997 to 2008. The Grizzlies participated in the first-ever edition of the

European Football League The European Football League (EFL) established in 1986, was a tournament for the best European American football teams affiliated to IFAF (International Federation of American Football - Europe), which replaced the European Federation of American ...

in 1986, losing to the Birmingham Bulls in the quarter finals. With the lost 1986 Bowl, the golden area of the team came to an end. Its domination of football in Southern Germany was halted by the

Badener Greifs The Badener Greifs ( en, Baden Griffins) are an American football club from Karlsruhe, Germany. The club's greatest success came in 1987, when it reached the German Bowl but lost to the Berlin Adler.

in 1987, and the Grizzlies were knocked out in the semi-finals. The move to semi-professional players lead to the demise of the team as a powerhouse and, by 1991, it was relegated from the ''Bundesliga''. It suffered four relegations in a row in the following years and carried out a generation change in the process. By 1995, the club managed to stabilise itself, now playing in the ''Bayernliga'', the Bavarian league. It played a couple of successful seasons until 1999, when a substantial loss of players forced it to withdraw from competition for a year. The team had to restart at the lowest level of football in

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 ...

, but managed to work its way up again to the Bavarian league by going undefeated in the state league all season in 2001. The team continued as a dominant force in Bavaria in 2002 and narrowly missed out on another promotion to the college-player reinforced Burghausen Crusaders. Since then, the club's fortunes have once more declined and, lacking players, has been unable to field a team for a number of years.Herren
Ansbach Grizzlies website, accessed: 26 December 2010 For the 2015 season the club returned to league football, entering the tier five Landesliga Bayern Nord. It finished second in its division but lost the semi final for the Landesliga championship to the reserve team of the

Allgäu Comets The Allgäu Comets are an American football team from Kempten, Germany. The club is named after the Allgäu region of Bavaria, of which Kempten is the largest town. The club was originally formed as the Kempten Comets and renamed Allgäu Comets i ...

Honours

** Champions: 1981, 1982, 1985 ** Runners-up: 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1986 * German Cup ** Champions: 1981 * Junior Bowl ** Runners-up: 1990 * EFL ** Participations: 1986 *

American Football Bundesliga 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 ...

** Southern Division champions: 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988 ** Play-off qualification: (11) 1979–1989 ** League membership: (12) 1979–1990

German Bowl appearances

The club's appearances in the German Bowl:

History

Honours

German Bowl appearances

See also