Dresden Monarchs

Dresden Monarchs
Founded 1992 (1992)
League German Football League
Based in Dresden, Germany
Stadium Heinz-Steyer-Stadion DDV-Stadion Dresden (also known as Rudolf Harbig Stadion)
Colors

Gold and Navy

         

President Sören Glöckner
Head coach John Leijten
Manager Jörg Dreßler
Championships none
Division titles none
Cheerleaders Blue Pearls
Mascot King Louie (Lion)
Website www.dresden-monarchs.de

The Dresden Monarchs are an American football team from Dresden, Germany. They have been a member of the first tier German Football League since 2002 and play in its Northern Division.

As its greatest success, the club reached the German Bowl for the first time in 2013, where it lost to the Braunschweig Lions by a point.[1]

History

The Dresden Monarchs were formed in January 1992 and entered in the Aufbauliga Ost the following year, the lowest possible league in the region.[2]

The Monarchs, in the following years, gradually worked their way up through the league system, winning the league they played in in every season from 1996 to 1999. In 1999, a second title in the tier-three Regionalliga Nordost allowed the club promotion to the northern division of the 2nd Bundesliga, now the GFL 2.[1]

After three seasons at this level, Dresden won its division in 2002, winning all ten games, and went on to defeat the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes in two games in the promotion round by a combined score of 100–0.[1]

Promoted to the German Football League, the GFL, the club became an instant play-off contender, reaching the semifinals in 2004, where it lost to the Braunschweig Lions. After four consecutive play-off qualifications, the club had a difficult 2007 season. With only one win and eleven defeats in the regular season, the Monarchs had to enter the relegation round, but were able to overcome the Hamburg Eagles and thereby defended their place in the GFL.[1]

The club returned to its better performances after 2007, reaching the play-offs once more every year. A second semifinal qualification, in 2010, ended in defeat to eventual German Bowl winners Kiel Baltic Hurricanes.[1]

In 2011, the club narrowly missed out on play-off qualification, finishing fifth in the league.[3] In 2012 the club came third in the northern division of the GFL and qualified for the play-off where they were knocked out by the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes in the semi finals. The 2013 season became the club's best ever, finishing second in its division and reaching the German Bowl after play-off victories at home over the Munich Cowboys and Berlin Adler.

In 2014 the club took part in a new European competition, the BIG6 European Football League, which consisted of three teams from Germany, two from Austria and one from Switzerland, the clubs being Berlin Adler, New Yorker Lions, Dresden Monarchs, Raiffeisen Vikings Vienna, Swarco Raiders Tirol and the Calanda Broncos. The two best teams of this competition advanced to the Eurobowl XXVIII, with Dresden knocked out in the group stage.[4] In the GFL the club finished once more in second place in 2014 and defeated the Marburg Mercenaries 42–22 in the quarter finals of the play-offs but lost in the semi finals to the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns.

The team finished second in the northern division of the GFL in 2015 and defeated the Stuttgart Scorpions in the quarter finals of the play-offs but again lost to the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns in the semi-finals of the play-offs. Schwäbisch Hall would go on to lose the German Bowl against the New Yorker Lions as they had already done the previous year. Prior to the 2016 season many players left the team or announced their retirement from Football and the first game of the Dresden Monarchs 2016 season was a 21:21 draw against the Berlin Rebels in Berlin. However, the team led by Quarterback Brandon Connette ultimately recovered and proved one of the most statistically efficient passing offenses in the league, losing only two games (on the road in Kiel and Braunschweig) and tying their home game against Braunschweig before defeating an overmatched Saarland Hurricanes squad in the Quarterfinals before once more going on the road to the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns. Like the two previous seasons, the Southern champions proved too tough a nut to crack for the Monarchs and the 35-26 defeat ended the season that ultimately had very similar results to the two previous seasons, all ending as the second placed team in the North falling in the Semifinals to Hall.

Honours

German Bowl appearances

The club appeared in the German Bowl just once:[5]

Bowl Date Champions Runners-Up Score Location Attendance
XXXV October 12, 2013 Braunschweig Lions Dresden Monarchs 35-34 Berlin 12,157

Recent seasons

Recent seasons of the club:[1][3][6][7][8]

Year Division Finish Points Pct. Games W D L PF PA Postseason
2005 GFL (North) 3rd 14–10 0.583 12 7 0 5 306 290 Lost QF: Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (27–30)
2006 3rd 11–13 0.458 12 5 1 6 200 318 Lost QF: Stuttgart Scorpions (27–47)
2007 6th 2–22 0.083 12 1 0 11 169 440 Won RR: Hamburg Eagles (28–24 & 19–13)
2008 4th 12–12 0.500 12 6 0 6 192 272 Lost QF: Marburg Mercenaries (21–32)
2009 3rd 10–10 0.500 10 5 0 5 258 250 Lost QF: Marburg Mercenaries (63–64)
2010 3rd 12–12 0.500 12 6 0 6 248 253 Won QF: Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (56–45)
Lost SF: Kiel Baltic Hurricanes (0–14)
2011 5th 12–16 0.429 14 6 0 8 405 237 —
2012 3rd 20–8 0.714 14 10 0 4 481 297 Won QF: Rhein-Neckar Bandits (31–19)
Lost SF: Kiel Baltic Hurricanes (14–35)
2013 2nd 22–6 0.786 14 11 0 3 513 254 Won QF: Munich Cowboys (59–14)
Won SF: Berlin Adler (32–21)
Lost GB: New Yorker Lions (34–35)
2014 2nd 16–8 0.666 12 8 0 4 426 269 Won QF: Marburg Mercenaries (42–22)
Lost SF: Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (27–33)
2015 2nd 20–4 0.833 12 10 0 2 498 170 Won QF: Stuttgart Scorpions (55–14)
Lost SF: Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (34–42)
2016 2nd 22–6 .786 14 10 2 2 708 345 Won QF: Saarland Hurricanes
Lost SF: Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (35-26)

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Football History (German) Historic American football tables from Germany, accessed: 18 January 2010
  2. ↑ History: 1993 (German) Dresden Monarchs website, accessed: 18 January 2011
  3. 1 2 GFL 2011 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 18 September 2011
  4. ↑ BIG6 European Football League starts 2014 www.eurobowl.com, published: 20 November 2013, accessed: 5 December 2013
  5. ↑ Bowls GFL website, accessed: 9 October 2013
  6. ↑ GFL 2008 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 18 January 2011
  7. ↑ GFL 2009 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 18 January 2011
  8. ↑ GFL 2010 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 18 January 2011
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