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The Frankfurter Löwen ((英語:Frankfurt Lions)) were an American football team from Frankfurt, Germany. The ''Löwen'' were the first American football club to be formed in Germany.〔(Geschichte ) AFVD website, accessed: 29 December 2010〕〔(Google book review: Turnen and sport: transatlantic transfers ) author: Annette R. Hofmann, accessed: 12 January 2010〕 The club, a founding member of the ''American Football Bundesliga'', was also the winner of the first two editions of the German Bowl.〔 However, the club was short-lived, folding in 1985. ==History== The history of American football in Germany, outside the US Army bases in the country, began in 1977, when the Frankfurter Löwen were formed as the first club to play the game in Germany. At first, this team was only able to play US Army teams, lacking German opposition.〔 The driving force behind the formation of the club was Alexander Sperber, son of an U.S. Army soldier and a German mother.〔(Football Goes International ) ''The Washington Post'', published: 24 August 1980, accessed: 28 September 2015〕 In 1979, the ''American Football Bundesliga'', later to be renamed the German Football League,〔(GFL German Football League ) AFVD website, accessed: 29 December 2010〕 was formed, consisting of six clubs, the Frankfurter Löwen, Ansbach Grizzlies, Düsseldorf Panther, Munich Cowboys, Berlin Bears and Bremerhaven Seahawks.〔 The first official game of the league was played on 4 August 1979, between the ''Löwen'' and the Düsseldorf Panther, and ended in a victory for Frankfurt.〔 The ''Löwen'' were an early power house of the game in Germany. The first season was completed undefeated, culminating in a German Bowl victory over the Ansbach Grizzlies, the team it would face in all three editions of the German Bowl it played in.〔 While the club was able to repeat its championship the following year, with the league now split into a northern and a southern division, Ansbach finally managed to triumph in 1981. Frankfurt won its division, the northern, which it played in despite being a southern German club, but was stopped by the Grizzlies in the final. While the Grizzlies continued to play in the German Bowl until 1986, the short golden era of the ''Löwen'' had come thereby to a halt.〔 The team moved to the southern division for 1982 but came only third that year and was knocked out in the quarter finals by the Düsseldorf Panther, who would go on to win the final. Panthers and Lions met again the following year in the quarter finals, with the same result, while 1984 was to be the last season for the club. The Frankfurter Löwen only just scraped into the play-offs, finishing fourth, and again had to face the Panthers, where a 55-0 defeat would be the last competitive game ever played by the side.〔 After the 1984 season, the club folded in 1985, never to be reformed. No team from Frankfurt until 2015 played at the highest level of American football in Germany again, until the promotion of the Frankfurt Universe. The city however has had a professional team in the sport until 2007, when the Frankfurt Galaxy of the NFL Europe folded.〔(Football-Hauptstadt Frankfurt ) ''Frankfurter Allgemeine'', published: 24 October 2007, accessed: 12 January 2011〕 A similar-named club, the Frankfurt Lions, are actually an ice hockey club and are unrelated to the ''Löwen''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Frankfurter Löwen」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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