The Bergamo Lions 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

Bergamo Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Como ...

, Italy established in 1983 and playing in the

Italian Football League Italian Football League (IFL) is the top level American football league in Italy established in 1980. History In the 1970's teams formed and played in Italy. In 1980 the first official American football league in Italy was established and crow ...

. They won the

Eurobowl The Eurobowl was the championship final game of a tournament style playoff to determine the champion of all of the American football leagues in Europe. The tournament featured the top or champion clubs from each countries top league that was cal ...

in 2000, 2001 and 2002, while losing to the

Vienna Vikings The Vienna Vikings is an American football club based in Vienna, Austria. Founded in 1983, the Vikings are known as one of Europe's most dominant clubs, having won the Eurobowl title five times (2004–2007 and 2013), as well being the runner ...

in the finals of 2004 and 2005 Eurobowl. In Italy, the Lions have won the Italian league championship more than any other team 12 times. The Lions sign and pay American and Canadian professional import players to play for the team alongside Italian and European import teammates. Examples are former

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

and

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

wide receiver

Jeris McIntyre Jeris McIntyre (born July 4, 1981 in Tampa, Florida) is a former American football wide receiver who was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 6th round of the 2004 NFL Draft. McIntyre played college football for the Auburn Tigers football, A ...

and

Tyrone Rush Tyrone Antonio Rush (born February 5, 1971) is a former professional American football running back in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins, having played in 5 games in the 1994 NFL season. He also played several seasons in th ...

. The Lions have also recruited and signed American coaches, including former NFL offensive lineman

Brian Baldinger Brian David Baldinger (born January 7, 1959) is a former professional American football offensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts and Philadelphia Eagles. He covered Philadelphia Eagles pr ...

as their offensive line coach.

Championships

* 12 Italiano ( Italian championship): 1993, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008.In the

* 3

( European championship): 2000, 2001, 2002. * 1 Champions League: 2000.

References

External links

Baldi in Bergamo, Italy Blog
American football teams in Italy Sport in Bergamo 1983 establishments in Italy American football teams established in 1983 {{Italy-sport-team-stub