2018 German Football League
LeagueGerman Football League
SportAmerican football
Duration21 April–13 October 2018
Number of teams16
Top scorerMitchell Paige (156)
Promoted to GFLDüsseldorf Panther
Relegated to GFL2Hamburg Huskies
Regular season
GFL North championsNew Yorker Lions
GFL South championsSchwäbisch Hall Unicorns
German Bowl XL
ChampionsSchwäbisch Hall Unicorns
  Runners-upFrankfurt Universe

The 2018 German Football League season was the 40th edition of the top-level American football competition in Germany.

The regular season started on 21 April and finished on 9 September 2018, followed by the play-offs. The season culminated in the German Bowl XL, which was held on 13 October 2018 in Berlin.[1][2]

Modus

During the regular season each club plays all other clubs in its division twice, home and away, resulting in each team playing 14 regular season games. There are no games between clubs from opposite divisions, interconference games having been abolished after the 2011 season.[3]

The best four teams in each division qualify for the play-offs where, in the quarter-finals, teams from opposite divisions play each other, whereby the better placed teams have home field advantage. The first placed team plays the fourth placed from the other division and the second placed the third placed team. From the semi-finals onwards teams from the same division can meet again.[3]

The eighth placed team in each division enter a two-leg play-off with the winner of the respective division of the German Football League 2, the second tier of the league system in Germany. The winners of this contest qualify for the GFL for the following season.[3]

League tables

GFL

The league tables of the two GFL divisions:

North

The defending division champion Braunschweig had a harder time walking away with first place this time than the previous year. While the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes who had proven fierce competitors in 2017 disappeared into obscurity (from which they wouldn't emerge for some years to come), the Dresden Monarchs finished with the same record as the Lions and the game between the two in Braunschweig was a 28–28 draw (The GFL does not have regular season overtime, thus making drawn games more likely) and ultimately the head-to-head was the deciding factor giving Braunschweig first place ahead of Dresden as Dresden had lost their home game against Braunschweig 24–44, which was the only home game that year that Dresden did not win. Just half a game behind the top duo were the Berlin Rebels, who were now the sole top-flight representative of the German capital in German Football after their crosstown rivals, the Berlin Adler, were relegated the previous year. Much behind the top trio was the final Northern play-off entrant, the Cologne Crocodiles who had actually allowed more points scored by their opponents than they themselves had scored and finished barely above .500. The Hamburg Huskies were completely outmatched and lost every single game which continued into the relegation round ending their stint in the top flight that had begun in 2015.

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD PCT Qualification or relegation
1 New Yorker Lions 14 11 1 2 526 178 +348 .821 Qualification to play-offs
2 Dresden Monarchs 14 11 1 2 507 287 +220 .821
3 Berlin Rebels 14 11 0 3 367 211 +156 .786
4 Cologne Crocodiles 14 7 1 6 376 403 −27 .536
5 Potsdam Royals 14 6 0 8 403 360 +43 .429
6 Kiel Baltic Hurricanes 14 4 1 9 297 394 −97 .321
7 Hildesheim Invaders 14 4 0 10 145 446 −301 .286
8 Hamburg Huskies 14 0 0 14 157 499 −342 .000 Relegation play-offs to GFL2
Source: Football-aktuell, GFL.info
Rules for classification: 1) Winning percentage,[notes 1] 2) Head-to-head results

South

In the South, Schwäbisch Hall continued its domination and added to the 17 wins of the previous season (14 regular season, 3 play-offs, including the German Bowl) another 14 on the way to a 50 game winning streak that wouldn't snap until German Bowl XLI. Frankfurt Universe were punished for some off-field financial improprieties by the league with having "four points" (equivalent to two victories) deducted from their total, but in the end it did not affect the standings as Frankfurt lost only to Schwäbisch Hall and won all its other games. In third place were the Allgäu Comets, the only other team with a winning record at 8–6. The tie-breaker for the fourth play-off spot in the South went to the Munich Cowboys as they had scored more points in their head-to-head games than the Marburg Mercenaries, both teams having won their home matches.

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD PCT Qualification or relegation
1 Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns 14 14 0 0 558 163 +395 1.000 Qualification to play-offs
2 Frankfurt Universe[south 1] 12 10 0 2 504 143 +361 .833
3 Allgäu Comets 14 8 0 6 403 488 −85 .571
4 Munich Cowboys[south 2] 14 6 0 8 290 373 −83 .429
5 Marburg Mercenaries[south 2] 14 6 0 8 366 438 −72 .429
6 Ingolstadt Dukes 14 4 1 9 350 401 −51 .321
7 Kirchdorf Wildcats 14 3 1 10 167 372 −205 .250
8 Stuttgart Scorpions 14 2 0 12 226 486 −260 .143 Relegation play-offs to GFL2
Source: Football-aktuell, GFL.info
Rules for classification: 1) Winning percentage,[notes 1] 2) Head-to-head results
  1. ↑ The Frankfurt Universe were charged two wins for violating licensing regulations.
  2. 1 2 The Munich Cowboys scored 75–50 points against the Marburg Mercenaries, both teams won their home match.

GFL2

The league tables of the two GFL2 divisions:

North

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD PCT Qualification or relegation
1 Düsseldorf Panther 14 13 0 1 383 155 +228 .929 Qualification to promotion play-off
2 Solingen Paladins 14 10 0 4 493 332 +161 .714
3 Elmshorn Fighting Pirates 14 8 0 6 538 466 +72 .571
4 Rostock Griffins 14 8 0 6 373 304 +69 .571
5 Langenfeld Longhorns 14 6 0 8 305 398 −93 .429
6 Lübeck Cougars 14 6 0 8 258 330 −72 .429
7 Paderborn Dolphins 14 3 0 11 317 487 −170 .214 Relegation to Regionalliga
8 Berlin Adler 14 2 0 12 226 421 −195 .143
Source: Football-aktuell, GFL.info
Rules for classification: 1) Winning percentage, 2) Head-to-head results

South

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD PCT Qualification or relegation
1 Ravensburg Razorbacks 14 11 1 2 661 414 +247 .821 Qualification to promotion play-off
2 Saarland Hurricanes 14 10 1 3 550 297 +253 .750
3 Straubing Spiders 14 10 0 4 496 329 +167 .714
4 Nürnberg Rams 14 8 0 6 467 509 −42 .571
5 Wiesbaden Phantoms 14 7 0 7 342 392 −50 .500
6 Gießen Golden Dragons 13 3 3 7 337 323 +14 .346
7 Albershausen Crusaders 14 2 1 11 350 582 −232 .179 Relegation to Regionalliga
8 Montabaur Fighting Pirates 13 1 0 12 177 534 −357 .077
Source: Football-aktuell, GFL.info
Rules for classification: 1) Winning percentage, 2) Head-to-head results

Relegation and Promotion round

Continuing their Yo-yo club tendencies, the Düsseldorf Panther returned to the top-flight after a two year absence. The following season would see them lose every single game, including both relegation matches against the Elmshorn Fighting Pirates sending them back to the second division GFL2 once more. In 2021 of course, they placed second there and are thus eligible to fill one of the two open spots for the 2022 German Football League in the North.

DivisionGFL TeamGFL2 Team1st leg2nd legTotal
NorthHamburg HuskiesDüsseldorf Panther 10–3621–3431–70
SouthStuttgart ScorpionsRavensburg Razorbacks 72–3448–6120–40

Play-offs

Frankfurt had surprising difficulty in the quarterfinals in overcoming the Berlin Rebels in a game where neither team scored a touchdown kicking the game winning field goal with 21 seconds remaining in the game after having given up a Safety in the fourth quarter. Frankfurt had fewer first downs, fewer passing yards, fewer rushing yards and fewer third down conversions while also possessing the ball for a shorter amount of time than Berlin, but while the Rebels had only one Field Goal to show for four Red Zone trips, Frankfurt scored a Field Goal during both their stints in the Red zone – enough to squeak by 6–5. The other quarterfinals saw the home teams win in more convincing fashion and there would thus be a repeat of the 2017 semifinal for Frankfurt while the Dresden Monarchs got another chance to snap their three game losing streak at Optima Sportpark, which had only been paused in 2017 because Dresden failed to make the semifinal altogether. Frankfurt managed to keep the game tied after four quarters and ultimately prevailed over Braunschweig in double overtime (both teams scored touchdowns with the point after Touchdown good in the first overtime period, but only Frankfurt scored in the second as Braunschweig were intercepted in their second possession) dealing the Lions their first post-season defeat since 2010. Dresden meanwhile failed to reverse their trend of semifinal defeats in Hall being shut out into the third quarter and having to give up a Safety in their 23–7 defeat to the defending champion. Thus German Bowl XL would see something not seen since 1981 – an all Southern final.

Quarterfinals Semifinals German Bowl
         
N1 New Yorker Lions 59
S4 Munich Cowboys 14
New Yorker Lions 17
Frankfurt Universe 20*
S2 Frankfurt Universe 6
N3 Berlin Rebels 5
Frankfurt Universe 19
Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns 21
S1 Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns 37
N4 Cologne Crocodiles 14
Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns 23
Dresden Monarchs 7
N2 Dresden Monarchs 51
S3 Allgäu Comets 19

* indicates overtime win

Notes

  1. 1 2 The official standings of the GFL actually use points (plus two for a win, one positive and one negative for a draw and minus two for a loss) instead of winning percentage, which sometimes produce different results if teams have unequal numbers of games played

References

  1. ↑ "German Bowl XL am 13.10.2018 in Berlin". germanbowl.de (in German). 8 November 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  2. ↑ "GFL Spielplan – GFL". www.gfl.info (in German). Retrieved 2018-03-07.
  3. 1 2 3 "GFL 2018". football-aktuell.de (in German). Retrieved 7 March 2016.
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