Frankfurt Gamblers

City:

Frankfurt am Main

Founded:

December 9, 1985

Resolved:

1995

Head coach:

Tracy Holland

League (1994):

FLE

Greatest successes

Champion 2nd Bundesliga middle

1993

Hessen Champion Youth

1992, 1994

Junior Bowl Finalist

1994

Stadion

Surname:

Stadium on the Bieberer Berg

Owner:

City of Offenbach

Play surface:

Natural grass

Capacity:

25,000

Data status

March 10, 2009

The Frankfurt Gamblers were a Frankfurt association for American football , which existed from 1985 to 1994.

The club was a direct successor to the Frankfurter Löwen , the first German football club founded in 1977 and twice champions.

The Gamblers played from 1991 to 1993 in the German Football League 2 or 2. Bundesliga Mitte, where they became champions in 1993, but could not advance. Instead, they played in the Football League of Europe in 1994 and went bankrupt .

The staff founded the Frankfurt Knights club in 1995 , which played again across Europe, and shortly thereafter also went bankrupt.

history

The Frankfurt Gamblers were founded on December 9, 1985. Former players and officials of the crumbling Frankfurt Lions decided to found a new club under the leadership of their first president, Ford F. Gregori. The other founding members were Klaus Possinke, Joachim Taubert, Oliver Grün, Thomas Steiding and Sabine and Jochen Pfeiffer.

The year 1986 in the Regionalliga Südwest began with teething problems. Initially there were only 20 players in training, but the team soon grew to 35 players. After a first training camp , the first opponent, the “ Stuttgart Stallions ”, was received. Thomas Steiding scored the first six points in the history of gamblers. The game was lost, however, with 11:18. The first victory in the club's history was then against the " Black Forest Spirits " from Waldshut with 49: 0 quite clear. The Gamblers finished the first season with a balanced score of 8: 8 points as runner-up , a title that could be defended in 1987 and 1988.

1989 was the worst year for the young team, after only two victories against the " Neu Isenburg Jets " they came second to last in the newly organized Association League Hessen. The following year 1990 was much more successful. The Frankfurt champions were unbeaten in the Association League Hessen with 52:16 points. Another reorganization of the national leagues prevented a change of league . However, this succeeded a year later. The team moved from the Regionalliga Mitte to the Second Bundesliga Center. In 1992, the Gamblers achieved second place in the middle of the second Bundesliga straight away. Only the first division relegated Hanau Hawks had to admit defeat.

In the meantime, the US professionals of the Frankfurt Galaxy caused a football boom in 1991 and 1992. In 1993, due to the upcoming downsizing of the 1st and 2nd national leagues, it was hardly possible to plan to stay up in the league, so that some of the eight clubs in each group immediately invested in promotion. With just one narrow defeat against the Stuttgart Scorpions , the Frankfurt Gamblers celebrated the championship of the second Bundesliga center, which gave them the chance of promotion to the first Bundesliga. In the relegation games against the southern champions Erding Bulls , they had the upper hand in sporting terms, but had used a player without a valid license and could not be promoted.

1994-1995 (American) Football League of Europe (A) FLE

The Gamblers did not return to the second division in 1994, however, because some European entrepreneurs and clubs tried to push into the gap left by the NFL-supported world league WLAF after the last season in 1992 and founded the Football League of Europe (FLE). The Gamblers lived up to their name and counted on the international risk, which was associated with high travel costs. The plans for a parallel FLE and second division participation were quickly buried. In the FLE Central Conference under head coach Tracy A. Holland only two wins in nine games, the trip to Helsinki was spared the Hessians. The season was not as successful as hoped and economically necessary, and the risky financial plan dragged the team into bankruptcy .

Players, coaches and management quickly founded a new club, the "Frankfurt Knights", switched to the freshly debt-free club and took the FLE license with them. In 1995 the Frankfurt Knights succeeded the Gamblers in what is now called the American Football League of Europe (AFLE), with only 5 teams left, and shortly afterwards also went bankrupt.

Youth team

In 1990 the youth team of the Frankfurt Gamblers was set up under the direction of Klaus Possinke Zeit. The youth team under head coach Steve Smith won the Hessen Championship in 1992 after a 14:12 win over the Darmstadt Diamonds . 1994 was a black year for the members of the Frankfurt youth team. During the season, one of the team's top performers died unexpectedly. Despite this setback, the young gamblers won the Hessen Championship again. The young team, peppered with some experienced veterans, even made it to the final, the Junior Bowl, unbeaten in the season . There the Gamblers had to admit defeat to the youth of the Berlin Adler with 0:22. In 1995 the team broke up, however, they joined together with various clubs to form a syndicate , 1998 was the last year in which the youth ran again independently before they called themselves "Team Frankfurt" in 1999 and are now known as "Ravens Frankfurt" . The bankruptcy of the main club meant the final end for the youth team.

League placements

League placements
1994	4th FLE Central Conference
1993	1. 2. Bundesliga center
1992	2. 2. Bundesliga center
1991	1. Regionalliga Mitte (North)
1990	1st Association League Hesse
1989	3rd Association League Hesse
1988	2. Association League Middle
1987	2. Regionalliga Middle B
1986	2. Regionalliga Middle B