Rhein-Neckar Bandits
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| Founded | 2003 |
|---|---|
| League | German Football League |
| Based in | Mannheim, Germany |
| Arena | MTG Stadion |
| Colors | Black and Red |
| President | Walter Burkhardt |
| Head coach | Marvin Washington |
| Championships | none |
| Division titles | none |
| Cheerleaders | Six Shooters |
| Website | www.bandits-football.de |
The Rhein-Neckar Bandits are an American football team from Mannheim, Germany. The club's greatest success came in 2011, when it earned promotion to the German Football League, followed by a second-place finish in the southern division of the GFL in 2012.
The club was formed in 2003 in a merger of two local sides, the Hockenheim Renegades and the Heidelberg Toreros. The cub is not related to the Rhein-Main Razorbacks, a team from Rüsselsheim, which folded in early 2004.
The club's first league season, in 2004, was spend in the tier four Oberliga Baden Württemberg, which it finished in first place, winning all ten season games. Four seasons in the tier three Regionalliga Mitte followed, with a second place in 2008 as its best result, a place that also allowed it to be promoted to the German Football League 2 via the promotion round, where they defeated Bavarian champions Aschaffenburg Stallions.
The Bandits spend the next three seasons in the GFL 2, gradually improving their results, coming fifth, fourth and second. The second place in 2011 allowed the team to take part in the promotion round to an enlarged GFL. However, when the Plattling Black Hawks, last placed n the GFL South, declared that they would withdraw their team to the third division Regionalliga the Bandits were granted direct promotion to the highest football league in Germany. The season however had been a tight affair, with the Bandits finishing on equal points with the Holzgerlingen Twister and Darmstadt Diamonds in second place behind champions Franken Knights. The final placings in the league had to be decided by the games played between the three clubs, in which the Bandits had the best record.
In 2012 the club came second in the southern division of the GFL and qualified for the play-off where it was knocked out by Dresden Monarchs in the quarter finals. The side qualified for the play-offs once more in 2013 but was once again knocked out in the quarter finals, this time by the Braunschweig Lions. The 2014 and 2015 seasons saw the club finish only seventh in the southern division of the GFL and miss out on the play-offs.
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