Düsseldorf bulldozer
Düsseldorf bulldozer 
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| City: | Dusseldorf | ||
| Founded: | 1979 | ||
| Head coach: | Wolfgang Best | ||
| League (2020): | Regionalliga NRW | ||
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| Greatest successes | |||
| Quarter-finals of the German championship, German youth champion |
1984 | ||
| Stadion | |||
| Surname: |
Sports park Düsseldorf-Niederheid |
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| Address: | Paul-Thomas-Strasse 35, 40589 Düsseldorf |
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| Contact | |||
| Internet: | duesseldorf-bulldozer.de | ||
| Data status | |||
| April 1, 2017 | |||
The Düsseldorf Bulldozer are an American football club and a former Bundesliga club from Düsseldorf in North Rhine-Westphalia .
The association was founded in 1979 and (as of 2019) has almost 170 members. It is thus one of the oldest still existing football clubs in Europe. In the 1980s they were successful in Germany's top division and have been represented in the country's third to fifth divisions since the 1990s. The promotion to the third division regional league failed in the 2005 season with two defeats against the Paderborn Dolphins in the relegation .
The men's team played in the Oberliga NRW from 2004 to 2008, but was relegated this season, so that in 2009 they had to compete in the fifth-class association league. The direct resurgence was missed; However, due to a decision by the league management and due to the withdrawal of the actual climber, the Aachen-Düren Demons, the Düsseldorf Bulldozers were again placed one class higher. The season of 2010 was again contested in the fourth-highest German league. The team reached fifth place and thus relegation, the previous head coach Jim Yahrling ended his successful cooperation and switched to the youth division of the NRW Association. Matthias Klahr was hired as his successor. In the following 2011 season, they lost the shortlist in a direct comparison against relegation competitor Cologne Falcons II and, as in 2008, had to go to the fifth-rate association league of NRW. For the 2012 season, the aim was actually to get back up there. But there was no success: the Bulldozers ended the season with only one win out of nine - albeit narrowly - defeats and suffered bitter relegation to the state league and thus the lowest NRW division. After numerous departures, the 2013 season was initially viewed as a year of consolidation. But after a narrow opening defeat, the Düsseldorf Bulldozer won the remaining nine games of the season and thus achieved direct promotion to the Association League NRW. In the 2014 season one could not build on the performance of the previous year and ended the season again with sixth place in the association league and direct relegation. The return to the national league resulted in the departure of numerous top performers, so that the Bulldozer started in 2015 with an almost completely reformed and very young team without a permanent head coach. In the national league season they could only book one win and ended the season bottom of the table - but they continued playing again, and are one of the few teams that has succeeded in this since its foundation. In autumn 2015, the former head coach of the Düsseldorf Panthers, Wolfgang Best, was hired. A clear sporting and economic consolidation has been achieved since 2015. Between 2017 and 2018, there were two consecutive promotions, so that in 2019, after an eight-year absence, the Bulldozers are again represented in the fourth-class Oberliga NRW.
Teams in the AFC Düsseldorf bulldozer
In addition to the senior team, the association had a women's department from 2009 to 2014, the Düsseldorf Blades . In 2010 she fought her way unbeaten to the final of the women's first division and had to admit defeat to the Berlin Kobras there. The finals were also reached in 2011 and 2012, but were again defeated by the Berlin Kobra Ladies. That makes you three times German runner-up. However, the game was stopped in 2014 after one game and the entire women's department was dissolved on December 31, 2014. The former players and coaches were mostly divided between the Mülheim Shamrocks and the Düsseldorf Panther women's football team, which was founded in September 2014.
Since 2012 there has been a mixed senior flag football team (aged 16+) that competes in the NRW Flag Football League and the German Flag Football League (DFFL).
In addition, the Bulldozers maintain a youth department that will take part in the games of the American Football Association NRW in 2019 with an U16 team and an U19 team (in a syndicate with the Neuss Gladiators).
Previous successes
From 1984 to 1990, the Düsseldorf Bulldozer played in the 1st Bundesliga, today's GFL . In 1984 they reached the quarter-finals of the German championship , in 1988 and 1989 the second round.
The youth team became German youth champions in 1984.