Braunschweig Lions
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| Founded | 1987 |
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| League | German Football League |
| Team history | Braunschweig Lions (1987–2010) Hygia Lions (2010–2011) NewYorker Lions (2011 – Present) |
| Based in | Braunschweig, Germany |
| Stadium | Eintracht-Stadion |
| Colors | White and Red |
| President | Christoph Wolk |
| Head coach | Troy Tomlin |
| Manager | Thomas Krecklenberg |
| Championships | Eurobowl: 1999, 2003, 2015, 2016 German Bowl: 1997–1999, 2005–2008, 2013–2016 |
| Division titles | GFL North: 1998, 1999, 2002–2007, 2013–2016 |
| Website | www.newyorker-lions.de |
The New Yorker Lions are an American Football team from Braunschweig, Germany. Until late 2010, the team was known as the Braunschweig Lions.
Under this name, the Lions became the most successful American football club in Germany, winning seven German Bowls as well as two Eurobowls. From 1997 to 2008, the team played in twelve consecutive German Bowls. After a number of less successful years the club won four more German titles from 2013 to 2016 as well as two more Eurobowls in 2015 and 2016.
The Braunschweig Lions were formed in 1987 and the new team entered the tier-three Regionalliga Nord for that season, where it came third. The Lions were nevertheless promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga, now the German Football League 2, for the following season and spent the next six years at this level. The team was never outstanding at this level for the first five years, only finishing once with a percentage above 0.500 in this era.
In 1993, the Lions finally managed to win their division and earn promotion to the American Football Bundesliga, now the German Football League. The team performed well at this level in its first season there, finishing fourth and qualifying for the play-offs, where they were knocked-out in the quarter finals. The following season, 1995, saw the club miss the play-offs but in 1996 they returned and reached the semi-finals, losing to the Hamburg Blue Devils and beginning what was to become a strong football rivalry in the following decade.
The year 1997 saw the beginning of the golden era of the Braunschweig Lions and the most successful era of any American football club in Germany to date. The Lions were to play in every one of the next twelve German Bowls.
The club won the first three of those, the first one against the Cologne Crocodiles and title number two and three against the Hamburg Blue Devils, the latest in front of a record crowd of over 30,000 in Hamburg. That year, the Lions also took out the Eurobowl, once more playing a final against the Blue Devils there, too. The next five seasons, the Lions were to lose five German Bowls in a row. The 2000 edition saw revenge for the Cologne Crocodiles, the following three were all lost to the Blue Devils. The fifth and final loss came to the Berlin Adler. In this era, the only title the club did manage to win was another Eurobowl in 2003.
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