The Bratislava Monarchs 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 wi ...

team from Bratislava,

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

, established in 1996. Today, the Monarchs are competing in the

Austrian Football League The Austrian Football League (AFL) is the highest level of American football in Austria founded in 1984. The Austrian Football League (AFL) has always been considered among the best and strongest leagues in Europe. The league plays by rules based ...

History

Establishment

The interest in American football in Slovakia grew rapidly after the first television broadcasts of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

season in 1993. The first meetings of several people who threw football began in the summer of 1994 in Bratislava. The number of new players each week increased, and at the end of the year was over 30 people. The club was officially founded on April 1, 1996, and was the very first American football club in Slovakia. Shortly thereafter, all major cities in Slovakia started with the establishment of new clubs. The first game of the Monarchs was played in the spring of 2004 with helmets and shoulder pads, against the

Kragujevac Wild Boars The Kragujevac Wild Boars are an American football team from Kragujevac, Serbia. As a team, Wild Boars arose from friendly tossing on the field. Organized play began in the winter of 2002–03 and culminated with first ever game in Serbia in s ...

, which they won. During 2008, the Monarchs played in the Central European Football League, where they competed against the CNC Gladiators from Austria, Budapest Wolves and Budapest Cowboys from Hungary,

Ljubljana Silverhawks The Ljubljana Silverhawks are an American football team based in Ljubljana, Slovenia, founded in 2002 by a group of football fans from the Slovenian capital. It is the first team to have brought the sport in Slovenia. The team has achieved the fir ...

from Slovenia,

Belgrade Vukovi SBB Vukovi Beograd are an American football team from Belgrade, Serbia. After establishing in 2003, in just few years SBB Vukovi have become one of the best-organized and most successful American football teams in Eastern Europe. Today SBB Vukovi ...

and Novi Sad Dukes from Serbia, and Zagreb Thunder from Croatia.

2011: Bratislava's first major title

The First league game in Slovakia was played in 2011 and 5 teams competed that year. This league was played with necessary equipment, pads and helmets. The Final game of the Slovak Football League was played on August 6th, 2011 at the ŠKP Štadión, where they defeated the Nitra Knights, 21-6.

2012: Bratislava's second major title

The 2012 season is well started for the Monarchs, where the opponents have been falling in the order in the Slovak Football League. The Monarchs won again in the Slovak Football League finals against the Trnava Bulldogs, 38-31. Their previous opponents, the Nitra Knights, finished third.

2013–2014: Bratislava's Bronze Medal and Fourth Place Finish

The Monarchs have started the season with a preseason game (with future

champions) Danube Dragons, and lost in an exciting finish 30-27. The Season continues with games in the Slovak Football League, where they finished 3rd, in which the Smolenice Eagles beat the Nitra Knights. Despite a successful start of the 2014 Slovak Football League season, the Monarchs failed to make to the Slovak Football League finals, where the Smolenice Eagles beat the Žilina Warriors, and the Zvolen Patriots, the team that the Monarchs defeated them, emerged as the bronze medalists.

2015: The Cinderella year of the Monarchs

The Monarchs entered the 2015 Slovak Football League season with their new head coach, Christoph Dreyer. The Monarchs finally fulfilled their Cinderella story when they won their third Slovak Football League title after defeating the Trnava Bulldogs, 48-26. The Monarchs also became the first team outside

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

to win the Hungarian Football League by beating the Budapest Wolves.HFL: Garzával nem bírtak a Farkasok, a pozsonyiak a bajnokok!
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Season Stats

Slovak Bowl Results

Hungarian Bowl Results

Honours

* Slovak Bowl ** Champions: (3) 2015, 2017, 2019 * Hungarian Bowl ** Champions: (1) 2015 * Silver Bowl ** Champions: (1) 2017

References

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External links

*{{Official website, monarchs.sk American football teams in Europe American football teams established in 1996 Sport in Bratislava 1996 establishments in Slovakia