Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns

Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns
Founded 1983
League German Football League
Based in Schwäbisch Hall, Germany
Stadium Optima Sportpark
Colors

Green and White

         

President Jürgen Gehrke
Head coach Siegfried Gehrke
Championships German Bowl: 2011, 2012
Division titles GFL South: 2009, 2011–2016
Cheerleaders UNIXX
Mascot Corny
Website www.unicorns.de/cms/index.php

The Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns are an American football team from Schwäbisch Hall, Germany.

The club's greatest successes were winning the southern division title in the German Football League in 2009, and every year from 2011 to 2016, followed up by winning the German Bowl in 2011 and 2012. The club also made two losing appearances in the German Bowl, suffering defeat by record champion Braunschweig Lions in 2014 and 2015.[1]

Previously, the only appearance in a national championship game the club has made was in 1997, when it lost the Junior Bowl to the youth team of the Berlin Adler.[2]

History

Early years

The club was founded on 9 November 1983, as the American football department of the TSG Schwäbisch Hall, which is still, as of 2014, the mother club of the Unicorns.[3]

In the following year, the team entered in the central division of the 2nd Bundesliga, the second tier of American football in Germany, now the German Football League 2. At this level, the club quickly acclimatised, winning its division in 1986 and 1987. In 1986, the Stuttgart Scorpions were still the stronger side in the promotion round, winning both games and baring the Unicorns from moving one level up, but the year after the club managed to take up the Scorpions place in the American Football Bundesliga.[1]

The team played at this level for the next three seasons, without ever qualifying for the postseason, before losing its league place in 1990 when the league was reduced from 26 to 16 clubs. The Unicorns found themselves back in the 2nd Bundesliga for the next three seasons, before suffering further relegation.[1]

The side's absolute low came in 1995, when it had dropped to the tier-four Oberliga Baden Württemberg, but it quickly recovered, winning the league that season and earning promotion to the third tier. After another title, now in the Regionalliga Mitte, the team returned to the 2nd Bundesliga once more for the 1997 season.[1]

Back to the first tier

In four seasons at this level, the team finished in the top four each year, culminating in a second place in 2000, which allowed the side to move up again because of two clubs withdrawing from the GFL. For the next seven seasons, the Unicorns reached the play-offs each year, with a semi final appearance in 2005, where it lost to the Braunschweig Lions, as its best result.[1]

The 2008 season was a disappointment to the club, finishing fifth in its division and missing the postseason, but also staying well clear of relegation trouble. In 2009, the Unicorns were much improved, winning the southern division for the first time and missing out on a first-ever German Bowl appearance by a point, losing 21-22 to the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes. In 2010, the club came second in its division but lost to the Dresden Monarchs in the quarterfinals of the play-offs.[1]

Championships and continued success

The team played a flawless regular season in 2011, winning every game, followed by beating the Berlin Adler in the quarter finals and the Mönchengladbach Mavericks in the semifinals of the play-offs and advancing to the German Bowl for the first time, where they met the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes.[4] The 33rd edition was the highest scoring German Bowl of all time, ending with a 48-44 victory for the Unicorns, which thereby ended an 18 year title drought for the south.[5][6]

In 2012 the club once more won its division, reaching the German Bowl after victories over the Düsseldorf Panther and Berlin Adler in the quarter and semi finals of the play-offs. In a repeat of 2011 the club once more defeated the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes in the German Bowl. The 2013 season saw the club win a third consecutive division title but the team was unable to defend their national championship, being knocked out in the quarter finals by the Berlin Adler.

The club took out the southern division title of the GFL once more in 2014 and defeated the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes 50–24 in the quarter finals and the Dresden Monarchs 33–27 in the semi finals of the play-offs to reach the 2014 German Bowl where it lost to the New Yorker Lions in a lopsided 47–9 where they only managed to score a field goal until well into the fourth quarter. The team won the southern division for a fifth consecutive time in 2015 and defeated the Hamburg Huskies in the quarter finals and the Dresden Monarchs in the semi-finals of the play-offs, facing the New Yorker Lions once more in the German Bowl, which the Unicorns lost 31–41 in a much more closely fought contest than the previous year. 2015 also saw their first appearance in the BIG6 European Football League, where they advanced to the final before losing 24-14 in Eurobowl XXIX to host New Yorker Lions.

The 2016 season saw an unthreatened defense of the division championship with the Unicorns compiling a perfect season in the process. However, the division title and home field advantages throughout the playoffs could only be clinched in the last game with a 35-28 win at Frankfurt against Universe. On the European stage, Hall saw their BIG6 campaign stopped at the hands of the Tirol Raiders that beat them in the group phase after an easy win over the Berlin Adler. The post season began with an easy win over the Berlin Rebels (24-14) and continued - as the two years before - with a close fought match against the Dresden Monarchs. Despite a 21-7 lead going into halftime, the Unicorns only managed to put the game out of reach near the end ultimately prevailing 35-26 on a 100 yard kickoff return immediately following the Dresden field goal that had made it a close contest at 28-26. Thus Hall achieved the fifth bowl appearance in six years.

As of 2016, former Unicorn wide receiver Moritz Böhringer is the first and only European player to be drafted into the National Football League directly out of a European league.[7]

Honours

German Bowl appearances

The club's appearances in the German Bowl:[2]

Bowl Date Champions Runners-Up Score Location Attendance
XXXIII October 8, 2011 Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns Kiel Baltic Hurricanes 48-44 Magdeburg 11,711
XXXIV October 13, 2012 Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns Kiel Baltic Hurricanes 56-53 Berlin 11,242
XXXVI October 11, 2014 New Yorker Lions Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns 47-9 Berlin 12,531
XXXVII October 10, 2015 New Yorker Lions Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns 41–31 Berlin 12,051
XXXVIII October 8, 2016 New Yorker Lions Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns 31–20 Berlin 13,047

Recent seasons

Recent seasons of the club:[1][4][8][9][10]

Year Division Finish Points Pct. Games W D L PF PA Postseason
2005 GFL (South) 2nd 13–7 0.650 10 6 1 3 292 256 Won QF: Dresden Monarchs (30–27)
Lost SF: Braunschweig Lions (8–33)
2006 3rd 15–9 0.625 12 7 1 4 383 271 Lost QF: Hamburg Blue Devils (13–34)
2007 3rd 17–7 0.708 12 8 1 3 398 218 Lost QF: Berlin Adler (3–23)
2008 5th 8–16 0.333 12 4 0 8 207 331 —
2009 1st 17–3 0.850 10 8 1 1 326 205 Won QF: Assindia Cardinals (46–25)
Lost SF: Kiel Baltic Hurricanes (21–22)
2010 2nd 18–6 0.750 12 9 0 3 444 198 Lost QF: Dresden Monarchs (45–56)
2011 1st 26–0 1.000 13† 13 0 0 617 256 Won QF: Berlin Adler (53–27)
Won SF: Mönchengladbach Mavericks (47–21)
Won GB: Kiel Baltic Hurricanes (48–44)
2012 1st 24–4 0.857 14 12 0 2 654 302 Won QF: Düsseldorf Panther (41–25)
Won SF: Berlin Adler (38–21)
Won GB: Kiel Baltic Hurricanes (56–53)
2013 1st 23–5 0.821 14 11 1 2 548 223 Lost QF: Berlin Adler (13–42)
2014 1st 24–4 0.857 14 12 0 2 653 357 Won QF: Kiel Baltic Hurricanes (50–24)
Won SF: Dresden Monarchs (33–27)
Lost GB: New Yorker Lions (9–47)
2015 1st 26–2 0.929 14 13 0 1 685 234 Won QF: Hamburg Huskies (61–13)
Won SF: Dresden Monarchs (41–34)
Lost GB: New Yorker Lions (31–41)
2016 1st 28–0 1.000 14 14 0 0 694 282 Won QF Berlin Rebels (24–14)
Won SF: Dresden Monarchs (35–26)
Lost GB: New Yorker Lions (20–31)

Notable players

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Football History (German) Historic American football tables from Germany, accessed: 2 January 2010
  2. 1 2 Bowls GFL website, accessed: 1 January 2011
  3. ↑ VEREIN (German) Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns - Club info, accessed: 17 January 2011
  4. 1 2 GFL 2011 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 18 September 2011
  5. ↑ Unicorns gewinnen German Bowl XXXIII (German) GFL website, published: 8 October 2011, accessed: 12 October 2011
  6. ↑ Erfolg dank Goethe (German) Sueddeutsche Zeitung, published: 10 October 2011, accessed: 12 October 2011
  7. ↑ "Moritz Boehringer Going from Unicorn to Vikings Gjallarhorn". Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  8. ↑ GFL 2008 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 2 January 2011
  9. ↑ GFL 2009 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 2 January 2011
  10. ↑ GFL 2010 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 2 January 2011
  11. ↑ Heimspiel fällt den Fluten zum Opfer (German) Marburg Mercenaries website, published: 11 September 2011, accessed: 16 September 2011
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