The Munich Cowboys 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

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

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.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 ...

, is one of the oldest in Germany.Vereinsgeschichte
Ansbach Grizzlies website, accessed: 1 January 2011 The team refers to itself as ''The Grand Old Team of the South''.Vereinsgeschichte
Club history, Munich Cowboys website, accessed: 1 January 2011 The club has one national championship to its name, winning the

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 ...

in 1993.Bowls
GFL website, accessed: 1 January 2011 As of 2015, the club has played more GFL games than any other team, 405, followed by the

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 ...

with 378, one of only three other teams with more than 300 league games. The Cowboys have played 35 out of a possible 38 seasons at the highest level of the game in Germany, more than any other club.

History

American football in Munich dates back to 1975 when local football enthusiasts met with soldiers of 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 ...

to play the game. In 1979, the Munich Cowboys club was formed. 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 Cowboys 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.Bremerhaven Seahawks. The Cowboys made their first appearance in the national championship game, the German Bowl, in 1992, but lost the game to the Düsseldorf Panther by a point. The 1993 season saw the club's greatest success. It reached the German Bowl once more, this time against 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 ...

. Playing at home in Munich, the Cowboys where 7–20 behind at half time but managed to equalise 29–29 at the end of regular time. The team then turned the game around and defeated the Crocodiles 42–36 to win their first, and as of 2019, only national championship. After an era of lesser success, the team came close to reaching the German Bowl once more in 2000 and 2001 when, on both occasions, Munich lost to 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.

in the semi-finals. Munich Cowboys German Bowl Sieger

After 22 consecutive seasons at the highest level of German football, the ''Bundesliga'' and, later, the GFL, the Cowboys withdrew to the tier-three '' Regionalliga Süd'' for the 2003 season. The clubs exile in the lower leagues was short-lived, winning promotion to the GFL 2 on first attempt and, from there, to the GFL in 2004. The team was however relegated from the GFL again in 2006. Munich returned to the GFL in the 2008 season and came third in the southern division, losing once more to the Braunschweig Lions in the play-offs. The year 2009 was less successful and the Cowboys were almost relegated once more. The team continued to be present in the GFL in 2010, where it was once more troubled by relegation fears but survived and will stay in the league for 2011. Phil Hickey, coach of the team and a member of the 1993 championship-winning side, is confident that he can take the Cowboys back to championship contention by 2012. The club suffers from strong competition within the city from other sports, especially the association football clubs

FC Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which play ...

and

TSV 1860 Munich , commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's football team currently plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of German football. 1860 Munich was one of the founding members o ...

as well as the ice hockey team

EHC München EHC may refer to: * Eastern Harbour Crossing, a transport tunnel in Hong Kong * EHC Hoensbroek, a Dutch football club * The Electric Hellfire Club, an American industrial metal band * Encompass Health, an American healthcare provider * Environmenta ...

. Additionally, the ambitious basketball team of the FC Bayern Munich took over the clubs cheerleading team in 2009. The Cowboys, who attracted 1,100 spectators per game in 2009 suffered a 30 percent drop in attendance in 2010. In 2011, the Cowboys finished fourth in their division and qualified for the play-offs once more, where they were knocked out by 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 ...

in the quarter finals. In 2012, the club came eighth in the southern division of the GFL, having to face GFL2 southern champions

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 ...

in the promotion-relegation play-off in which the Cowboys won both games and survived. The 2013 season saw a much improved performance with the team finishing third but being knocked out in the quarter finals of the play-offs by the Dresden Monarchs. In the 2014 season the club finished fourth in the southern division of the GFL but lost 28–69 to the NewYorker Lions in the quarter finals of the play-offs. The following season they missed out on play-off qualification after finishing fifth. The Munich Cowboys Ladies team has been quite successful in its recent past, reaching the Ladies Bowl on five occasions and winning it in 2005 and 2006.

Honours

Men

** Champions: 1993 ** Runners-up: 1992 * EFL ** Participations: 1994 * GFL ** Southern Division champions: (6) 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2000, 2001 ** Play-off qualification: (24) 1982–85, 1989–2001, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2021, 2022 ** League membership: (40) 1979–2002, 2005–06, 2008–present * GFL2 ** Southern Division champions: 2004, 2007

Women

* Ladies Bowl ** Champions: 2005, 2006 ** Runners-up: 2001, 2002, 2003

Juniors

* Junior Bowl ** Runners-up: 1986, 1987, 1996

German Bowl appearances

The club's appearances in the German Bowl:

Recent seasons

Recent seasons of the Munich Cowboys:GFL 2011
www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 18 September 2011Football History
Historic American football tables from Germany, accessed: 2 January 2010Munich Cowboys 2010
www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 1 January 2011 * PR = Promotion round. * RR = Relegation round. * QF = Quarter finals.

References

External links

*
Official website
*
German Football League official website
*
American Football Verband Bayern website
{{German Football League clubs American football teams in Germany American football in Bavaria American football teams established in 1979 Sport in Munich German Football League teams 1979 establishments in West Germany