The Rüsselsheim Razorbacks were an

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

team from Rüsselsheim,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The club's most successful era was from 1996 to 2003 when it played in the

German Football League The German Football League (GFL) is a professional American football league in Germany. The league was formed in 1979. In 1999, the league changed to its current name from American-Football-Bundesliga.

, the highest level of play in American football in Germany. It reached the play-offs in six of its eight seasons there, with the semi-finals in 2003 as its greatest achievement.

History

The club entered league football in 1991 in the tier four Verbandsliga Hessen/Rheinland Pfalz which it won in its first season there. It spent the following two years in the Regionalliga, taking out a title and winning promotion in this league in 1993. The next two seasons were spent in the 2. American football Bundesliga, where it won a southern division title and promotion in 1995.Football History
Historic American football tables from Germany, accessed: 18 October 2014 The Razorbacks played their next eight seasons in the American football Bundesliga, a league renamed to German Football League after the 1999 season. The first two of those the club finished as a lower table side, coming fifth in the southern division on both occasions. From 1998 onwards the Razorbacks were much more competitive, qualifying for the play-offs on each occasion and taking out division titles in 1999, 2002 and 2003. In the play-offs the club was less competitive, going out in the quarter-finals in its first five appearances. In 2003 the club achieved its greatest success, reaching the semi-finals but losing there to the eventual winners

Hamburg Blue Devils The Hamburg Blue Devils are an American football team in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded in 1992. The Blue Devils are one of the most successful American football clubs in Germany, having won four German Bowls as well as three Eurobowls. Dur ...

24–44. Shortly before the start of the 2004 season, in May 2004, the club informed the GFL that it would hand back its licence because of the departure of a large number of players, caused in turn by the departure of American head coach Mike Wyatt who had coached the Razorbacks in the previous six seasons.Razorbacks geben Lizenz zurück
GFL website, published: 5 May 2004, accessed: 18 October 2014 The club made an unsuccessful attempt to reestablish itself, fielding a team in the lowest division, the ''Aufbauliga'' in 2006 but eventually went defunct in 2010.

Honours

* GFL ** Southern Division champions: (3) 1999, 2002, 2003 ** Play-off qualification: (6) 1998–2003 ** League membership: (8) 1996–2003 * 2. American football Bundesliga ** Southern Division champions: 1995

References

External links

*
German Football League official website
*
Football History
Historic American football tables from Germany {{DEFAULTSORT:Russelsheim Razorbacks American football in Hesse Defunct American football teams in Germany German Football League teams Razorbacks American football teams established in 1989 American football teams disestablished in 2010 1989 establishments in West Germany 2010 disestablishments in Germany Sport in Darmstadt (region)