The Austrian Football League (AFL) is the highest level of American football in Austria founded in 1982. The Austrian Football League (AFL) has always been considered among the best and strongest leagues in Europe. The league plays by rules based on those of the NCAA.

The Austrian Football League is the highest tier level and below that is a tier pyramid system consisting of teams playing in divisions I through division IV. Winners of each division move up to the next level of play. The Tyrol Raiders and Vienna Vikings which had dominated the league for much of the preceding decade announced their intention to leave for the European League of Football for the upcoming 2022 season. However, unlike teams in other countries that have made this move, the reserve team of both will remain a participant in the Austrian Football League.

History

The AFL was founded in 1982 by the teams such as the Salzburg Lions, Graz Giants, Vienna Ducks and Vienna Ramblocks.

The AFL is commonly considered as one of the best American football leagues in Europe. This was especially so in the period from 2004 to 2011, when the European Football League final game the Eurobowl, was won seven out of eight times by an Austrian league AFL team.^[1]

In 2010, the Prague Panthers from the Czech Republic joined the league as the first team from outside of Austria. The Panthers were a member of the AFL until the 2016 season. In 2016, the Ljubljana Silverhawks from Slovenia joined, and in 2018, the Bratislava Monarchs from Slovakia entered the league.

The regular season currently consists of ten games and starts in mid-March; the playoffs continue through July. The final game, the Austrian Bowl, was held for the first time in 1984 in Salzburg, Austria. Because homegrown players are one of the main focus points of the league, there are rule limitations for the numbers of foreigners. The rule has changed several times over the years and currently each roster can have a maximum of 6 American, Canadian, Mexican or Japanese professional import players, with two allowed on the field at the same time.

Teams

"Blue River Bowl III": Danube Dragons vs. Vikings at Rattenfängerstadion in Korneuburg, 2010

In 2023, the AFL will consist of:

• Vienna Vikings
• Graz Giants
• Swarco Raiders Tirol
• Danube Dragons
• Prague Black Panthers
• AFC Rangers
• Salzburg Ducks
• Steelsharks Traun
• GBG Graz Styrian Bears
• Telfs Patriots

Austrian Bowl

Austrian teams in international competitions

Despite the relatively small size of Austria, both the Austrian national American Football team and individual club teams of the AFL have enjoyed remarkable success in European competitions. The Austrian national team, whose players mostly play in the AFL (with a few also playing in the German Football League), won the final 28-0 over team Finland 2023 European Championship of American football to win the championship title. The National team also has placed third at the 1995 European Championship of American football (hosted in Austria) and third at the 2010 European Championship, second at the 2014 European Championship (hosted in Austria), losing the final in double overtime to Germany in front of 27000 spectators at Vienna's Ernst-Happel-Stadion^[2] and placed second again in 2018.

The Vienna Vikings have won the Eurobowl five times and reached the final ten times overall while the Tyrol Raiders have won it three times in five appearances in the final. Furthermore the Central European Football League has been won five times by Austrian teams both before and after it became a premier European competition.

The AFL Graz Giants own the first known European victory against a US college team in 1991. The Giants won the exhibition game 32–23 against Albany State University. The game was played in the United States on August 31, 1991.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Austrian Bowl.

• Official website (in German)
• Historical AFL scores