The Saarland Hurricanes 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

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...

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 ...

. Saarbrücken is the capital of the federal German state of

Saarland The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...

, which the club is named after. The club was formed in 1996 in a merger of the two local sides Saarbrücken Wölfe and Dillingen Steelhawks.Team History
Saarland Hurricanes website, retrieved 20 January 2011 As its greatest success, the team has won promotion to 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 ...

twice, in 2000 and 2010. In this league, it qualified for the play-offs once, in 2005. On junior level the club earned its greatest success in 2013 when it won the

German Junior Bowl The German Junior Bowl, usually only referred to as ''Junior Bowl'', is the annual national championship game for junior teams in the sport of American football in Germany. It is contested by the two best teams of the GFL Juniors. It is the seco ...

for the first time.

History

Predecessor clubs

The earliest club the current ''Hurricanes'' link their past to are the Saarlouis Hurrikans, a team from

Saarlouis Saarlouis (; french: link=no, Sarrelouis, ; formerly Sarre-Libre and Saarlautern) is a town in Saarland, Germany, capital of the district of Saarlouis. In 2020, the town had a population of 34,409. Saarlouis, as the name implies, is located on t ...

, which was formed in 1982. This team played in the ''2nd Bundesliga'' from 1983 onwards, but relocated to Dillingen in 1984 and became the Dillingen Hurrikanes. In between, in 1983, another American football club was formed, the Saarlouis Wölfe, but never reached above local league level and folded in 1989, with its players joining the Dillingen Hurrikanes. Meanwhile, the Dillingen Hurrikanes continued playing in the ''2nd Bundesliga'' until 1986, when its division folded and the club had to step a level down. In 1989, after the ''Wölfe'' had folded, the club was renamed Dillingen Steelhawks. Also in 1989, the Saarbrücken Ghostbusters were formed as another American football club in the Saarland. The Dillingen Steelhawks continued competitive league football in the tier-three ''Regionalliga'', at times alongside the ''Ghostbusters''. The team remained at local level until 1993, when it won promotion to the central division of the ''2nd Bundesliga''. At this level, it lasted for only one season, but bounced back in 1995 and returned to the second level for 1996. The Saarbrücken Ghostbusters were renamed Saarbrücken Wölfe in 1991 but were unable to rise above the third tier of the league system. By the end of 1996, both the Saarbrücken and the Dillingen club had come to the conclusion that, as individual clubs, no further improvement was possible and agreed on a merger.

Saarland Hurricanes

The team, now as the Saarland Hurricanes and still playing in the ''2nd Bundesliga'', had some instant success, winning its division in 1997 and 2000. In 1997, the Stuttgart Scorpions proved too strong, winning both promotion/relegation matches and barring the ''Hurricanes'' from the elite league. In its second attempt, in 2000, the side overcame the Landsberg Express in the first game of the promotion round 40–22. Landsberg did not field in the second game and the ''Hurricanes'' were qualified for the

for the 2001 season. The Saarland Hurricanes were not a strong side in their following time in the GFL, only winning a game each in three of their first four seasons. However, they still managed to finish fifth and away from the relegation rank. The 2005 season was to be the club's best, finishing with a balanced win–loss record and qualifying for the post season for the first time. It then 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.

17–32 in the quarter finals and was eliminated. After this one-off success, the club quickly declined again and finished last in its division in 2007. Having to enter the relegation round, the team lost both games to 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.

and found itself back in the ''2nd Bundesliga''. In this league, soon to be renamed

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 ...

, the Saarland Hurricanes took two seasons to rebuild before another division title in 2010 meant direct promotion back to the GFL, courtesy to a league expansion. The club was only able to win two of their regular season games in 2011 and finished second-last in the GFL South, avoiding relegation because of an even worse performance by the Plattling Black Hawks. In 2012, the club came seventh in the southern division of the GFL and thereby failed to qualify for the play-off. It improved to fifth place in 2013 but again did not qualify for the play-offs. The 2014 season saw another sixth-place finish and the club once again missed out on the play-offs. It finished fourth in the GFL south in 2015 and qualified for the play-offs for the second time in the club's history, losing to the

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 quarter finals.

Honours

** Champions: 2013 * GFL ** Play-off qualification: (3) 2005, 2015, 2016 ** League membership: (15) 2001–2007, 2011–2017, 2021 * GFL2 ** Southern Division champions: 1997, 2000, 2010

Recent seasons

Recent seasons of the club:Football History
Historic American football tables from Germany, retrieved 19 January 2010GFL 2011
www.football-aktuell.de, retrieved 18 September 2011GFL 2010
www.football-aktuell.de, retrieved 2 January 2011 * RR = Relegation round * QF = Quarter finals * SF = Semi finals * In the 2011 season, the game against Plattling Black Hawks was not played.

References

External links

*
Official website
*
German Football League official website
*
Football History
Historic American football tables from Germany {{German Football League clubs American football teams in Germany German Football League teams American football teams established in 1982 Sport in Saarbrücken 1982 establishments in West Germany