Dresden Monarchs

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.

Dresden Monarchs
Founded1992 (1992)
LeagueGerman Football League
Based inDresden, Germany
StadiumHeinz-Steyer-Stadion DDV-Stadion Dresden
ColorsGold and Navy
   
PresidentSören Glöckner
Head coachUlrich Däuber
ManagerJörg Dreßler
Championshipsnone
Division titlesGFL 2 North: 2002
CheerleadersBlue Pearls
MascotKing Louie (Lion)
Websitedresden-monarchs.de

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 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
    • Runners-up: 2013
  • GFL
    • Play-off qualification: (15) 2003–2006, 2008–2010, 2012–2019
    • League membership: (17) 2003–present
  • GFL 2
    • Northern Division champions: 2002

German Bowl appearances

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

Bowl Date Champions Runners-Up Score Location Attendance
XXXVOctober 12, 2013Braunschweig LionsDresden Monarchs35–34Berlin12,157
  • Champions in bold.

Recent seasons

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

YearDivisionFinishPointsPct.GamesWDLPFPAPostseason
2005GFL (North) 3rd14–100.583 12705 306290 Lost QF: Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (27–30)
2006 3rd11–130.458 12516 200318 Lost QF: Stuttgart Scorpions (27–47)
2007 6th02–220.083 121011 169440 Won RR: Hamburg Eagles (28–24 & 19–13)
2008 4th 12–120.500 12606 192272 Lost QF: Marburg Mercenaries (21–32)
2009 3rd 10–100.500 10505 258250 Lost QF: Marburg Mercenaries (63–64)
2010 3rd 12–120.500 12606 248253 Won QF: Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (56–45)
Lost SF: Kiel Baltic Hurricanes (0–14)
2011 5th 12–160.429 14608 405237 —
2012 3rd 20–800.714 141004 481297 Won QF: Rhein-Neckar Bandits (31–19)
Lost SF: Kiel Baltic Hurricanes (14–35)
2013 2nd 22–600.786 141103 513254 Won QF: Munich Cowboys (59–14)
Won SF: Berlin Adler (32–21)
Lost GB: New Yorker Lions (34–35)
2014 2nd 16–800.667 12804 426269 Won QF: Marburg Mercenaries (42–22)
Lost SF: Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (27–33)
2015 2nd 20–400.833 121002 498170 Won QF: Stuttgart Scorpions (55–14)
Lost SF: Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (34–41)
2016 2nd22–600.786 141022 708345 Won QF: Saarland Hurricanes (43–7)
Lost SF: Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (26–35)
2017 3rd20–800.714 141004 585337 Lost QF: Frankfurt Universe (16–26)
2018 2nd23–500.821 141112 507287 Won QF: Allgäu Comets (51–19)
Lost SF: Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (7–23)
2019 2nd20–800.714 141004 418189 Won QF: Marburg Mercenaries (39–22)
Lost SF: Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (13–30)
2020 No season played because of the COVID-19 pandemic
  • RR = Relegation round.
  • QF = Quarter finals.
  • SF = Semi finals.
  • GB = German Bowl

References
  1. Football History (in German) Historic American football tables from Germany, accessed: 18 January 2010
  2. History: 1993 Archived 2011-02-08 at the Wayback Machine (in German) Dresden Monarchs website, accessed: 18 January 2011
  3. 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 Archived 2015-09-29 at the Wayback Machine 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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