The Hamburg Blue Devils are an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

team in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Germany. It was founded in 1992. The Blue Devils are one of the most successful American football clubs in Germany, having won four

German Bowl The German Bowl is the annual national championship game in the sport of American football in Germany. It is contested by the two best teams of the German Football League. The New Yorker Lions, from Braunschweig, are the record winners of the Ger ...

s as well as three

Eurobowl The Eurobowl was the championship final game of a tournament style playoff to determine the champion of all of the American football leagues in Europe. The tournament featured the top or champion clubs from each countries top league that was cal ...

s. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, the clubs rivalry with the

Braunschweig Lions The New Yorker Lions are an American Football team from Braunschweig, Germany. Until late 2010, the team was known as the Braunschweig Lions.

dominated the game in the

German Football League The German Football League (GFL) is an American football league in Germany and was formed in 1979. Playing rules are based on those of the American NCAA. In 1999, the league switched its name from ''American-Football-Bundesliga'' to ''German Foot ...

, with the two sides meeting in six German Bowls between 1998 and 2005 as well as the 1999 Eurobowl. In the late 1990s, the club had become the most financially successful American football club in Europe, but by 2003, the club had to declare insolvency.

History

The Hamburg Blue Devils were formed in 1992 and began playing non-league football in September 1992. It continued to take part in tournaments in 1993, defeating a number of European top clubs, including the German champions, the

Munich Cowboys The Munich Cowboys are an American football team based in Munich, Germany. The club, together with the Düsseldorf Panther and the Ansbach Grizzlies, is one of the oldest in Germany.

.History der Hamburg Blue Devils
Hamburg Blue Devils website - Club history, accessed: 9 January 2011 In 1994, the Blue Devils took part in the Football League of Europe, where they lost the final to the Stockholm Nordic Vikings, played in front of 18,000 in Hamburg. Unusually, the club was admitted to the ''American Football Bundesliga'', the later

, without having worked its way up through the league system in 1995 and reached the

in its first attempt. There however, the

Düsseldorf Panther The Düsseldorf Panther are an American football team from Düsseldorf, Germany. The club is the oldest extant American football club in Europe, having been formed on 1 May 1978. Helm

The club's second season in the league brought triumphs and sadness. The team won both the

and the

, however, the team's head coach since 1992, George White, died two days before the play-off semi finals. In 1997, the Blue Devils were able to defend their European Football League title by winning the

, but lost in the semi finals of the national championships. Finally, in 1998, the club won the Eurobowl for a third consecutive time, as the first club ever, but once more lost the German Bowl, to future bitter rival Braunschweig Lions. The 1999 season was all about the Blue Devils versus the Lions, the two teams meeting both in the Eurobowl and the German Bowl. On both occasions, the Lions kept the upper hand, but the 30,000 that turned out to see the German Bowl at Hamburgs

Volksparkstadion Volksparkstadion () is a football stadium in Hamburg, Germany, and is the home of Hamburger SV. History HSV actually have nothing to do with the origins of the stadium, even though they own the current arena. Before the club moved to the cur ...

were a new record for the game in Germany. The following season 2000 was a disaster for the club. With new coach and quarter back, the club played its first losing season in its short history and missed the play-offs. It did reach the Eurobowl playoffs once more but this time lost to the Bergamo Lions. With a new coach and playing at the

Millerntor-Stadion Millerntor-Stadion () is a multi-purpose stadium in the St. Pauli area of Hamburg, Germany. Best known as the home ground of football club FC St. Pauli, it is on the Heiligengeistfeld near the Reeperbahn, the red light district of Hamburg. The s ...

, the club began a new era of success in 2001. Three German Bowl victories were to follow, all against the Braunschweig Lions. However, not all went well for the club. Midway through the 2002 season, the coach left but the Blue Devils remained successful. In 2003, the club experienced financial trouble, having to declare insolvency. Despite this, the German Bowl was won in extra time in a narrow 37–36 victory. The club somewhat declined from 2004 onwards, only reaching the quarter finals that year. In 2005, a last appearance in the

was made, but this time the Lions came out as the winners. Additionally, the clubs marketing agency had to declare insolvency, too, but the Blue Devils survived theirs and moved into their own stadium, the eVendi Arena. From 2005 to 2007, the club also faced some local competition in the form of NFL Europe team Hamburg Sea Devils. From 2006 onwards, the performances of the Blue Devils dropped off. In 2006, the play-off semi finals could still be reached, in 2007 it was only the quarter finals and, in 2008, a fifth place meant the club did not play a post season at all. What followed was the withdrawal to the tier-three ''

Regionalliga Nord The Regionalliga Nord ( en, Regional League North) is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen and Hamburg. It is one of five leagues at this level, together with the Regional ...

'', where the club played the 2009 and 2010 season without ever suffering a league defeat. However, in the promotion round, things were not as easy and the Blue Devils missed out on promotion in 2009 but were successful in 2010. In 2011, the club has risen to the second tier of German football, the GFL 2, a league it never played in before. On 5 January 2011, the club announced that it would start a cooperation with the

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

with the aim of becoming a department of the club and, eventually, from 1 January 2012, all teams of the Blue Devils would become part of the multi-sports club HSV. The idea was floated as early as 1992 and the club will, in future, be known as the HSV Hamburg Blue Devils. In 2012, the club came seventh in the northern division of the GFL and failed to qualify for the play-off. In January 2014 the club announced that it would withdraw its team from the GFL because of a loss of players and would restart in 2015. After not fielding a senior team in 2014 the club returned to league football for 2015, entering the tier five Verbandsliga Nord, where they finished third.

Teams

Apart from the senior men's team, the Blue Devils also operate a reserve side, a junior team, the ''Hamburg Junior Devils'', ladies team, the ''Hamburg Blue Devilyns'' and a flag team, the ''Hamburg Flag Devils''.

Honours

** Champions: 1996–1998 ** Runners-up: 1999, 2000 *

** Champions: 1996, 2001–2003 ** Runners-up: 1995, 1998, 1999, 2005 * EFL ** Participations: (7) 1996–2000, 2000, 2006 * GFL ** Northern Division champions: 1997, 2001 ** Play-off qualification : (12) 1995–1999, 2001–2008 ** League membership : (16) 1995–2008, 2012–2013 *

GFL 2 The German Football League 2 (GFL2) is the second tier of American football in Germany, below the German Football League The German Football League (GFL) is an American football league in Germany and was formed in 1979. Playing rules are based ...

** Northern Division champions: 2011 * Junior Bowl ** Champions: 1999

German Bowl appearances

The club's appearances in the German Bowl:Bowls
GFL website, accessed: 1 January 2011

Recent seasons

Recent seasons of the Blue Devils:Football History
Historic American football tables from Germany, accessed: 4 January 2021 * PR = Promotion round. * QF = Quarter finals. * SF = Semi finals. * GB = German Bowl.

Charity bowls

The Blue Devils victory against

St. Xavier University Saint Xavier University (or SXU) is a private Roman Catholic university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1846 by the Sisters of Mercy, the university enrolls 3,749 students. History Saint Xavier University was founded as a women's college by ...

in 1995 was one of the first success for a European team against a US college team. The Devils also won against US college teams in 1997 and 1998. The first known European victory against a US college team was in 1991. The

Graz Giants The Graz Giants are an American football team in Graz, Austria founded in 1981. The Giants play in the Austrian Football League at ASKÖ Stadium in the Eggenberg district of Graz. History Inspired by a March 1981 broadcast of the first Austria ...

of the

Austrian Football League The Austrian Football League (AFL) is the highest level of American football in Austria founded in 1984. The Austrian Football League (AFL) has always been considered among the best and strongest leagues in Europe. The league plays by rules based ...

winning a game 32–23 against Albany University. The game was played in the United States on August 31, 1991.Hamburg Blue Devils
GFL website, accessed: 27 February 2011

References

External links

*
Official Website
*
German Football League official website
*
Football History
Historic American football tables from Germany {{Former German Football League clubs Sport in Hamburg German Football League teams American football teams in Germany American football teams established in 1992 Hamburger SV 1992 establishments in Germany