Graz Giants
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| Founded | 1981 |
|---|---|
| Based in | Graz, Austria |
| Stadium | ASKÖ Stadium (8,500) |
| Colors | Blue and Gold |
| Championships | AFL 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2008, CEFL 2016, EFAF 2002,2006, 2007 |
| Website | https://www.grazgiants.at/ |
The Graz Giants are an American football team in Graz, Austria, founded in 1981. The Giants play in the Austrian Football League and are ten time Austrian Bowl champions. The Giants home games are at ASKÖ Stadium in the Eggenberg district of Graz.[1]
Inspired by a March 1981 broadcast of the first Austrian football team, the Vienna Ramblocks, Stefan Herdey decided to found an American football team.[2] After an advertisement was placed in a local newspaper, a dozen potential players attended the first meeting and founded the Graz Football Team.[2][3] That team would be renamed the Graz Giants.[2][3] The Giants took part in the first game between two Austrian teams, in which they lost 44–12 to the Ramblocks. With the dissolution of the Ramblocks, the Graz Giants are the oldest existing American football team in Austria.[2][4]
The Giants were the first known team from Europe to win a match against a US college team. In 1991, the Giants defeated Albany State University 32-23 in an exhibition game played August 31, 1991 in the USA.[5]