Australian rules football in Germany
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Australian rules football in Germany is played by five clubs, with the Australian Football League of Germany (AFLG) the governing body.
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[edit] History
The Frankfurt Redbacks and Munich Kangaroos were founded in 1995 and had been playing since 1996. The AFLG was officially created in 1999, but the two clubs only played occasional matches against each other for the first few years until the formation of the Berlin Crocodiles and the Hamburg Dockers made the possibility of a national league a reality. The German home and away season began in 2003 with these four clubs, Munich winning the premiership.
In 2004 the Düsseldorf Lions (formed in 2002) joined the AFLG, the league having a five-club structure for the following two seasons.
In 2006, a new French side from Strasbourg, the Kangaroos, entered the German league to experience regular league play. The Strabourg club played under the nickname the "Black Devils" in the German league to avoid a name clash with Munich. At roughly the same time, the Düsseldorf club rebranded to become the Rheinland Lions to reflect a shared home between Düsseldorf and nearby Köln (Cologne).
In 2007 the French team, Strasbourg Kangaroos withdrew from the league to regain strength leaving five clubs and a 10-game league season plus additional tournaments.
[edit] Premierships
- 2007 Rheinland Lions
- 2006 Munich Kangaroos
- 2005 Munich Kangaroos
- 2004 Frankfurt Redbacks
- 2003 Munich Kangaroos
[edit] National team
The first appearance of an all-German national team was in 2006, with the team competing in a tri-nations series against Denmark and Sweden, losing both of their first "test-level" matches.
The team adopted the moniker Black Eagles, taking the name from the symbol of the Coat of arms of Germany, the black eagle.
It is possible that they may compete in the Australian Football International Cup in 2008, although 2012 may be more likely for financial and squad strength reasons. Scratch German national AFL teams have also at times competed under the names 'the Blitz' and 'the Eagles'.
In 2007 the German National Team competed in the Tri-Nations series for the second year running against Sweden and Denmark.
Berlin hosted the Germany vs Sweden match on July 7, 2007 which Germany won.
The 2007 EU Cup will also be hosted by Germany and will take place on on September 15 in Hamburg.
[edit] Clubs
[edit] Frankfurt Redbacks
Formed in Frankfurt by Malte Schudlich in 1996, the Redbacks are one of the two oldest Aussie Rules clubs in Germany and were a fonuding member club of the AFL Germany. They originally wore black jumpers with a vertical red stripe on the front, this has now been changed to red jumpers with a stylised redback spider logo. Their homeground is the Frankfurt Ostpark.
[edit] Munich Kangaroos
The Munich Kangaroos were founded in Munich by Australian expats in the mid-1990s, the only German club except Frankfurt formed before the year 2000.
The Roos made an early attempt to start a league based around Munich, named the German Australian Rules Football Association, beginning with two teams in Munich - the Bayern Blues and Munich Whites. This league did not eventuate, with the Roos and Redbacks coming together to form the AFLG in 1999. Munich have played in the AFLG premiership season since the true home and away setup began in 2003. The Munich Roos wear blue and white, the traditional colours of both the AFL North Melbourne Kangaroos and the state of Bavaria (Bayern) of which Munich is the capital.
The Roos also host the Oktoberfest Cup, which has been held around Oktoberfest time most years over the past decade.
[edit] Berlin Crocodiles
The Crocodiles were formed in Berlin during 2002 as the third Aussie Rules club in Germany, and have played in the AFLG since its home and away season began in 2003. The Crocodiles wear green jumpers with a gold yoke and a gold crocodile logo. Their home games have been shared between Treptower Park and Schiller Park, where they hosted the 2004 AFLG Grand Final tournament.
[edit] Hamburg Dockers
The Hamburg club formed in 2003 by Fabian Cordts, joining the AFLG in that season. The club considered a number of names, including the Hamburg Foxes, but being located in Germany's largest port city eventually settled on the name Hamburg Dockers. Ironically, they wore the jumpers of the Fremantle Dockers' biggest traditional rivals, the West Coast Eagles, for the first two years of existence, finally receiving a set of Fremantle's all-purple alternative jumpers for the 2005 season.
The Hamburg Football Club went through its first two seasons in the AFLG winless, but started their 2005 campaign in fine fashion with their first-ever win - a 155-23 away drubbing of the Düsseldorf Lions, becoming a strong footballing outfit over the course of their third season.
[edit] Rheinland Lions
The Lions were formally established for AFLG league play in 2004 in Düsseldorf under the name Düsseldorf Lions. Previously, they had competed on an irregular basis, their first appearance being a tournament called the Rhein Cup on the 31st August 2002 against Berlin Crocodiles and Frankfurt Redbacks. They also hosted the 2004 CEAFL Championships.
As of late 2005, the Lions changed their name to the Rheinland Lions - as a large proportion of their playing squad live in the nearby cities of Cologne or Bonn rather than Düsseldorf. They have also for this reason started playing their home games in Cologne. Cologne and Düsseldorf have a traditional rivalry and the name change to a neutral title may help avoid these rivalries in regional recruiting efforts.
For their first match they wore the black rugby jumpers from the Düsseldorf Dragons Rugby union Club. Their current guernseys are red and white, featuring a black, encircled lions head.
[edit] Strasbourg Black Devils
See also: Australian rules football in France Based in the city of Strasbourg on the French-German border, the Kangaroos entered the AFLG for the 2006, changing their name to the 'Black Devils' to avoid a name clash with Munich. In this season they struggled with playing numbers and withdrew from regular season play for 2007, although they have continued to play friendly matches against AFLG clubs.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official AFLG Website
- Frankfurt Redbacks
- Munich Kangaroos
- Berlin Crocodiles
- Hamburg Dockers
- Rheinland Lions
