Austrian Football League
The Austrian Football League ( AFL) is the highest division of American Football in Austria and is discharged under the responsibility of the American Football Confederation Austria ( AFBÖ ). The AFL is just like the nachgereihten Division I and Division II played on amateur basis. An automatic ascent and descent rule between the three top divisions exist only formally. The ascent or descent or a training or new entry is mostly provided by the financial possibilities of the individual teams.
- 2.1 Austrian Bowl 2.1.1 Title distribution 2.1.1.1 Austrian Champion
- 2.1.1.2 Austrian Vice Champion
Game Mode 2011
After the AFL- season should be in 2011 played the same pattern continues to the AFL 2010 season only with reversed return round, but in the short term, the Generali Invaders from St. Pölten einstellten the league play for financial reasons, a league system was installed with seven teams. In addition, this season is all about the American Football World Cup 2011, to be held in Austria in July 2011. This can be seen on the shortness of the season.
Has the first and second place of the basic passage in the play-offs against the third - and fourth-placed home enough. The winners of the two play-off pairings play then in the Austrian Bowl to the Austrian championship.
Each team must have four Class A Legionaries in his roster, and two of them at the same time on the field. Exception in this case all the games against the Bulls Salzburg and the Black Lions, where only two or three Class A Legion may be on roster. Until the 2009 season six "American" were at the roster and allowed three simultaneously on the pitch. As a Class A Legion also any other player be considered in addition to those players from America, which refers by his club a fixed salary.
Team
- Black Lions (Klagenfurt)
- Danube Dragons (Vienna)
- Prague Panthers ( Prague)
- Raiffeisen Vikings Vienna ( Wien)
- Bulls Salzburg (Salzburg)
- Swarco Raiders Tirol (Innsbruck )
- Graz Giants (Graz)
- AFC Rangers ( Mödling / Wr.Neudorf )
History of Austrian Football League
The history of American football began in Austria with the establishment of the first clubs, the Vienna Ramblocks in 1978 and continued in 1984 with the introduction of an annual championship and the establishment of the Austrian Football League continued. The first guy came with the Lions from Salzburg. The team later merged with the Hallein Diggers and now plays under the name Salzburg Bulls after many years in Division I, again since 2010 in the AFL. The dominant team of the 1980s presented the Graz Giants. The Graz are now Austrian record holder and were from 1984 to 1992 in eight consecutive years in each case represented in the final match of the Austrian Bowl, where they could decide for themselves the title six times during this period. The Vienna Vikings won their first league title in 1994 and made between 1998 and 2005 the record of Graz with an eight consecutive finals. In this period, the Vikings came up with six league titles, where they could win five times in a row Austrian Bowl from 1999 to 2003 even. The Tyrolean Raiders reached their first final in 2000, have since been represented in five finals and celebrated their first league title in 2004.
Up to and including the 2008 season, the AFL was played with six teams that meet once each in a round-trip round. Each team came up with eight regular season games, after which the top two in the table fought out the final of the Austrian Bowl. It was This is the same mode that was to host in the NFL -Europe. Before that there were up to the 2005 season, a regular season followed by playoffs.
Because of sponsors Change it came after the 2008 season to a few name changes: For example, the former Chrysler Vikings playing now as Raiffeisen Vikings Vienna, the Papa Joe's Tyrolean Raiders as Swarco Raiders Tirol and the Öko-Box Turek Graz Giants as Graz Giants. The Carinthian Falcons already changed in 2005 their club name on Carinthian Black Lions.
After the 2008 season, the discontent grew about the structure of the AFL, especially in the Carinthian Black Lions and the Cineplexx Blue Devils. These two teams attracted a participation under continuation of the hitherto existing mode no longer in consideration, which led to considerable changes in the structure of Austrian football. The AFL has been reduced to the four strongest teams, Raiffeisen Vikings Vienna, Turek Graz Giants, Swarco Raiders Tirol and Danube Dragons and founded a so-called Inter Division with the Black Lions and the Blue Devils. These two teams both games played with teams from the Division I and the AFL.
Since the 2010 season, it came again to huge changes in the structure of the AFL. At that time, the league of four was increased to eight teams and dissolved the Inter Division founded only for the 2009 season. In addition to the four top teams, the Carinthian Black Lions (Inter Division ) increased, the Salzburg Bulls and Generali Invaders (both Division I), and the Prague Panthers from the Czech Republic a. The Cineplexx Blue Devils, however, joined the Swiss National League A.
In the 2011 season, the Generali Invaders rose because of short-term financial problems of the league mode, so the AFL in 2011 consisted of only seven teams.
Before the 2012 season, the Black Lions and the Bulls Salzburg AFC Rangers got out of the League of operation, but one, so that the AFL in 2012 consisted of six teams. Each team completed a home and away game against the other teams. This mode was retained in the 2013 season.
The AFC Rangers chose a voluntary relegation to Division 2, so that the season will be completed in 2014 with five remaining teams.
Austrian Bowl
In the Austrian Bowl, which was held for the first time on October 20, 1984 in Salzburg, every year, the Austrian national champion will be crowned in American Football:
Title distribution
Austrian Champion
Austrian Vice Champion
- 9 x Turek Graz Giants
- 8 x Raiffeisen Vikings Vienna
- 7 x Swarco Raiders Tirol
- 2 x Salzburg Lions, Klosterneuburg Mercenaries
- 1 x Schwarzenau Rangers