Dresden Monarchs


The Dresden Monarchs are an American football team from Dresden, Germany. They have been a member of the first tier German Football League since 2002 and play in its Northern Division.
As its greatest success, the club reached the German Bowl for the first time in 2013, where it lost to the Braunschweig Lions by a point.

History

The Dresden Monarchs were formed in January 1992 and entered in the Aufbauliga Ost the following year, the lowest possible league in the region.
The Monarchs, in the following years, gradually worked their way up through the league system, winning the league they played in every season from 1996 to 1999. In 1999, a second title in the tier-three Regionalliga Nordost allowed the club promotion to the northern division of the 2nd Bundesliga, now the GFL 2.
After three seasons at this level, Dresden won its division in 2002, winning all ten games, and went on to defeat the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes in two games in the promotion round by a combined score of 100–0.
Promoted to the German Football League, the GFL, the club became an instant play-off contender, reaching the semifinals in 2004, where it lost to the Braunschweig Lions. After four consecutive play-off qualifications, the club had a difficult 2007 season. With only one win and eleven defeats in the regular season, the Monarchs had to enter the relegation round, but were able to overcome the Hamburg Eagles and thereby defended their place in the GFL.
The club returned to its better performances after 2007, reaching the play-offs once more every year. A second semifinal qualification, in 2010, ended in defeat to eventual German Bowl winners Kiel Baltic Hurricanes.
In 2011, the club narrowly missed out on play-off qualification, finishing fifth in the league. In 2012, the club came third in the northern division of the GFL and qualified for the play-off where they were knocked out by the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes in the semi finals. The 2013 season became the club's best ever, finishing second in its division and reaching the German Bowl after play-off victories at home over the Munich Cowboys and Berlin Adler.
In 2014, the club took part in a new European competition, the BIG6 European Football League, which consisted of three teams from Germany, two from Austria and one from Switzerland, the clubs being Berlin Adler, New Yorker Lions, Dresden Monarchs, Raiffeisen Vikings Vienna, Swarco Raiders Tirol and the Calanda Broncos. The two best teams of this competition advanced to the Eurobowl XXVIII, with Dresden knocked out in the group stage. In the GFL the club finished once more in second place in 2014 and defeated the Marburg Mercenaries 42–22 in the quarter finals of the play-offs but lost in the semi finals to the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns.
The team finished second in the northern division of the GFL in 2015 and defeated the Stuttgart Scorpions in the quarter finals of the play-offs but again lost to the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns in the semi-finals of the play-offs. Schwäbisch Hall would go on to lose the German Bowl against the New Yorker Lions as they had already done the previous year. Prior to the 2016 season many players left the team or announced their retirement from Football and the first game of the Dresden Monarchs 2016 season was a 21–21 draw against the Berlin Rebels in Berlin. However, the team led by Quarterback Brandon Connette ultimately recovered and proved one of the most statistically efficient passing offenses in the league, losing only two games and tying their home game against Braunschweig before defeating an overmatched Saarland Hurricanes squad in the Quarterfinals before once more going on the road to the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns. Like the two previous seasons, the Southern champions proved too tough a nut to crack for the Monarchs and the 35-26 defeat ended the season that ultimately had very similar results to the two previous seasons, all ending as the second placed team in the North falling in the Semifinals to Hall.

Honours

The club appeared in the German Bowl just once:
BowlDateChampionsRunners-UpScoreLocationAttendance
XXXVOctober 12, 2013Braunschweig LionsDresden Monarchs35–34Berlin12,157

Recent seasons of the club:
YearDivisionFinishPointsPct.GamesWDLPFPAPostseason
2005GFL 3rd14–100.58312705306290Lost QF: Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns
2006GFL 3rd11–130.45812516200318Lost QF: Stuttgart Scorpions
2007GFL 6th2-220.083121011169440Won RR: Hamburg Eagles
2008GFL 4th12–120.50012606192272Lost QF: Marburg Mercenaries
2009GFL 3rd10–100.50010505258250Lost QF: Marburg Mercenaries
2010GFL 3rd12–120.50012606248253Won QF: Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns Lost SF: Kiel Baltic Hurricanes
2011GFL 5th12–160.42914608405237—
2012GFL 3rd20–80.714141004481297Won QF: Rhein-Neckar Bandits Lost SF: Kiel Baltic Hurricanes
2013GFL 2nd22–60.786141103513254Won QF: Munich Cowboys Won SF: Berlin Adler Lost GB: New Yorker Lions
2014GFL 2nd16–80.66712804426269Won QF: Marburg Mercenaries Lost SF: Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns
2015GFL 2nd20–40.833121002498170Won QF: Stuttgart Scorpions Lost SF: Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns
2016GFL 2nd22–60.786141022708345Won QF: Saarland Hurricanes Lost SF: Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns
2017GFL 3rd20–80.714141004585337Lost QF: Frankfurt Universe
2018GFL 2nd23–50.821141112507287Won QF: Allgäu Comets Lost SF: Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns
2019GFL 2nd20–80.714141004418189Won QF: Marburg Mercenaries Lost SF: Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns