Frankfurt Lions
Frankfurt Lions 
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| City: | Frankfurt am Main | ||
| Founded: | 1977 | ||
| Resolved: | 1985 | ||
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| Greatest successes | |||
| German champions | 1979, 1980 | ||
| German runner-up | 1981 | ||
| Quarter-finals 1st Bundesliga | 1982, 1983, 1984 | ||
| Data status | |||
| October 24, 2008 | |||
The Frankfurter Löwen are a former American football club from Frankfurt am Main , the first German football team and co-founder of the Football Bundesliga, today's GFL .
history
The history of the Frankfurt Lions is closely linked to the history of the origins of German football. It has been played on German soil since World War II , but initially only by teams from US barracks.
In 1977 Alexander Sperber and Wolfgang Lehneis founded the first German football club, the Frankfurt Lions. Many of the US Army barracks in Frankfurt also played in the club . At first, games were played exclusively against teams from the barracks, until the second German football team was founded in 1978 with the Düsseldorf Panthers, which still exist today .
In 1979 the American Football Bund Deutschland , one of the predecessors of today's AFVD , was founded and the first Bundesliga season was played. Participants were: Frankfurter Löwen, Düsseldorf Panther , Munich Cowboys , Ansbach Grizzlies , Bremerhaven Seahawks and Berlin Bären .
In the first final (now called the German Bowl ) in German football history, the Lions won on November 10, 1979 14: 8 against the Ansbach Grizzlies. In the 1980 final, the lions were also German champions with 21:12 against the Grizzlies and vice- champions in 1981 with a 6:27 against the Ansbach Grizzlies. When the number of Americans who were allowed to be on the field at the same time per team was gradually reduced from 6 to 2, the other German teams were able to catch up.
In 1982 and 1983 the Frankfurt Lions only reached the quarter-finals.
In 1984 the Frankfurt Lions made their official appearance for the last time. They reached the quarter-finals for the German championship and did not appear on any list after the defeat. For the next three decades, until the rise of the Frankfurt Universe in 2015, they should be the last team from Frankfurt in the top German division for the time being.
After the sporting and organizational decline of the Lions, some motivated players and officials didn't want to check off football in Frankfurt and tried to get the Lions going again. In the course of 1985, however, it became clear that there were too many entrenched opinions and it was impossible to continue the association based on the ideas of the new generation.
In December, former players and officials of the Löwen met and decided to found a new club, the Frankfurt Gamblers .
successes
- German champion : 1979 and 1980
- German runner-up: 1981
- Participation in the quarter-finals: 1982, 1983 and 1984