Stuttgart Scorpions
Founded1982
LeagueGerman Football League
Based inStuttgart, Germany
StadiumGazi-Stadion auf der Waldau
ColorsRed and White
   
PresidentRoland Pellegrino
Championshipsnone
Division titlesGFL South: 1998, 2007
Websitestuttgart-scorpions.de

The Stuttgart Scorpions are an American football team from Stuttgart, Germany. The club's greatest success came in 2007, when it reached the German Bowl but lost to the Braunschweig Lions.[1]

History

The Stuttgart Scorpions were formed in December 1982.[2] The new club spent its first couple of seasons in the 2nd Bundesliga, now the German Football League 2, where it played until 1985.[3]

The club, after having earned promotion, spent the 1986 and 1987 season in the central division of the American Football Bundesliga, now the German Football League, but was only able to win one game in two years and found itself relegated back to the second tier for 1988. At this league, the team once more was a top performer and won two division titles in 1990 and 1991, with the later also earning promotion to the Bundesliga once more.[3]

The Scorpions once more struggled at top level and were immediately relegated again. After coming second in 1993 and winning its division the following year, the Scorpions were able to defeat the Franken Knights 47–0 in the promotion round and moved up for a third time in their history.[3]

The club was now much improved at the top level and reached the quarter-finals in its first two seasons back, 1995 and 1996. After a difficult 1997 season, when survival was only assured in the relegation round against the Saarland Hurricanes, the Scorpions would finally be able to deliver constant top-level performances. From 1998 onwards, the team was to reach the play-offs every season.[3]

The Stuttgart Scorpions won the southern division of the Bundesliga in 1998 and were able to reach the semi-finals of the German championship for the first time. In 2001, 2002 and 2006, this play-off performance was repeated, in between, the club was knocked out in the semi-finals. The 2007 season was to be the club's best-ever, first winning the southern division of the GFL for only the second time and then progressing all the way to the German Bowl. In this game, the Scorpions were defeated 27–6 by the Braunschweig Lions, despite playing at home in Stuttgart.[3]

Since then, the team's performances have fallen off, only being able to reach the quarter-finals of the championship in 2008, 2009 and 2010.[3] In 2011, the side finished third in its division, qualifying for the play-offs once more, where they lost to the Mönchengladbach Mavericks.[4]

In 2012, the club came fourth in the southern division of the GFL and qualified for the play-off where it was knocked out by Kiel Baltic Hurricanes in the quarter-finals. After 15 consecutive play-off qualifications the club came only sixth in 2013 and missed the finals for the first time since 1997.

In 2014, the club finished second in the southern division of the GFL but lost 28–33 to the Cologne Falcons in the quarter-finals of the play-offs. After a third-place finish in 2015 the club lost to the Dresden Monarchs in the quarter-finals of the play-offs.

In 2021, the Scorpions received an offer to become a franchise of the newly established European League of Football ELF which sees itself as a continuation of World League of American Football WLAF and NFL Europe. A 2/3 majority of the member base rejected the offer, but management and coaching staff decided to join the Stuttgart ELF franchise. Since the Scorpions rejected an ELF cooperation, the WLAF "Sacracmento Surge" (1992 World Bowl champion) was revived as "Stuttgart Surge". The Scorpions remain a constituent of the GFL.

Honours

  • German Bowl
    • Runners-up: 2007
  • EFL
    • Participations: 2008
  • GFL
    • Southern Division champions: (2) 1998, 2007
    • Play-off qualification: (20) 1995, 1996, 1998–2012, 2014, 2015, 2019
    • League membership: (29) 1986–1987, 1992, 1995–2021
  • GFL2
    • Central Division champions: 1985, 1990, 1991, 1994
  • Junior Bowl
    • Runners-up: 1992, 1999, 2001, 2007, 2008

German Bowl appearances

The club has only appeared once in the German Bowl:[1]

BowlDate ChampionsRunners-UpScore LocationAttendance
XXIXOctober 6, 2007 Braunschweig LionsStuttgart Scorpions27–6Stuttgart8,152
  • Champions in bold.

Recent seasons

Recent seasons of the Scorpions:[3][4][5][6][7]

YearDivision FinishPointsPct. GamesWDL PFPA Postseason
2005GFL (South) 3rd10–100.500 10505 353343 Lost QF: Hamburg Blue Devils (0–30)
2006 2nd17–70.708 12813 407190 Won QF: Dresden Monarchs (47–27)
Lost SF: Braunschweig Lions (17–36)
2007 1st20–40.833 121002 390144 Won QF: Hamburg Blue Devils (27–17)
Won SF: Berlin Adler (19–14)
Lost GB: Braunschweig Lions (6–27)
2008 2nd16–80.667 12804 302195 Lost QF: Berlin Adler (6–9)
2009 3rd11–130.458 12516 331302 Lost QF: Kiel Baltic Hurricanes (6–20)
2010 4th8–16 0.333 12408 228280 Lost QF: Kiel Baltic Hurricanes (21–23)
2011 3rd15–110.577 13715 316335 Lost QF: Mönchengladbach Mavericks (17–43)
2012 4th18–100.643 14824 344271 Lost QF: Kiel Baltic Hurricanes (22–70)
2013 6th9–190.321 14419 272430 —
2014 2nd24–40.857 141202 560477 Lost QF: Cologne Falcons (28–33)
2015 3rd20–80.714 141004 429342 Lost QF: Dresden Monarchs (14–55)
2016 5th14–140.500 14707 474387 —
2017 6th8–200.286 144010 227403 —
2018 8th4–240.143 142012 226486 Won RR: Ravensburg Razorbacks (72–34 & 48–6)
2019 4th12–160.429 14608 328473 Lost QF: New Yorker Lions (3–70)
2020 No season played because of the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 8th2–180.100 10109 128457 Lost RR: Straubing Spiders (withdrawal)
2022 GFL2 (South) 6th6–140.300 10307 136261 —
2023 8th2–180.100 10109 95331 —
  • RR = Relegation round.
  • QF = Quarter finals.
  • SF = Semi finals.
  • GB = German Bowl

References

  1. 1 2 Bowls Archived 2015-09-29 at the Wayback Machine GFL website, accessed: 1 January 2011
  2. ↑ History: 1982–1989 (in German) Stuttgart Scorpions website, accessed: 11 January 2011
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Football History (in German) Historic American football tables from Germany, accessed: 2 January 2010
  4. 1 2 GFL 2011 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 18 September 2011
  5. ↑ GFL 2008 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 2 January 2011
  6. ↑ GFL 2009 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 2 January 2011
  7. ↑ GFL 2010 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 2 January 2011
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