Tigers History 1990 – 1995

Denmark

By Bo Thygesen, editing by Jon Haugaard, Mikkel Guldbjerg and Brian Woodward

1990

The Aarhus Tigers’ long, rich history began in the spring of 1990, when Morten Hertz, Kim Møller and Claus Elming started what would formally become the Aarhus Tigers in September of that year. At the time, the Tigers were Denmark’s eighth American football team, and the club is currently the fourth oldest team in Denmark.
The newly started club grew quickly from the outset – not only in terms of the size of the players, but also in terms of roster size- with over 70 players signing up for the new club in the first year. The Tigers played two scrimmage games that inaugural year, which resulted in an 18-6 loss to the now defunct Kolding Chiefs and a 14-14 tie with the Aalborg 89ers.

Tigers 1990 009
Tigers - Haderslev Lions 1991 004

1991

In 1991, the team’s first full season, the Tigers lost their first ever “real” game to the defending Danish champions, the Herning Hawks. But fiasco was short-lived as Aarhus went on to win its next 10 games, including the club’s first championship, when Aarhus beat the Odense Swans 27-0 in Mermaid Bowl III. This early success was due in large part to the play and coaching of former US college star Erik Thoennes (Central Connecticut State University), who was brought to Aarhus as a player/coach for the third game of the season and immediately managed to use his experience and knowledge to accelerate the Tigers’ development and bring their play to a new level.

The most exciting game of 1991 was the Tigers’ semifinal against the Copenhagen Towers (formerly Copenhagen Vikings). Here, Thoennes used all his coaching tricks to seize a victory, with the Tigers’ lone score coming on an endzone fumble recovery for a touchdown. The ensuing extra point later proved to be the difference in the game when the Tigers blocked a Tower’s extra point attempt and secured a ticket to Mermaid Bowl III.

1991 was also the year where the official attendance record was set for a Danish American football game, when the Tigers throttled the Haderslev Lions 51-0 at Aarhus Stadium in front of 5,100 spectators. The game remains a colorful event in the sports history of Danish American Football and the City of Aarhus.

1992

In 1992, Coach Thoennes left Denmark for a coaching job in Illinois and was replaced by Tony LaVallo from New York. Tony was highly engaged, and likely one of the best coaches to ever have set foot on Danish soil at that point. Unfortunately, Coach LaVallo could never reconcile the reality that football in Denmark was a hobby to most players and not a career, and adapting to the more recreational nature of the sport in Denmark proved to be a challenge.

A disappointing ‘92 season ended with a loss in the Tigers’ first playoff game, however, the year would also mark the first time a Danish team had ever appeared in the Euro Bowl tournament following the Tiger’s successes in 1991. Even though the team’s participation was short lived, they fought hard until the final whistle against French national champions, the Aix en Provence Argonauts. The game ended 50-0 to the Frenchmen.

Tigers 1992 Tony LaVallo 001
Tigers - Hawks 1993 021

1993

In 1993, Rick Paxton would take over as Tigers head coach, but he couldn’t avert the team’s downward trajectory from the previous season and continuing growing pains. Not only did the Tigers suffer from a thin roster and poor play, the club’s budget was also ailing. Even though Paxton did help the team reach the playoffs, it was no surprise when they were knocked out by the up-and-coming Roskilde Kings, a team that would prove to be an archrival for Aarhus in the following years.

The club continued to sputter into the ‘94 season, and, due to a lack of players, the new board of directors decided to pull out of the more-competitive National League division and instead play in Denmark’s First Division (a kind of minor-league for Danish American football clubs). This move would prove to be the right one, and it rescued the Tigers both athletically and economically. The club’s board of directors drafted a stringent budget and a clear vision and plan for a quick return to the National League.

1994

The move down meant that a part of the Tigers’ nucleus of players chose to abandon the club to suit up instead for the Herning Hawks in the National League. Still, the remaining Tigers proved that they still had some bite left in them. The 1994 team made the First Division finals after a 8-0 victory over the Vejle Saints in a nail-biter of a semifinal. The Tigers went on to win the final game 20-0 over the Fredericia Jets at Fredericia Stadium. In so doing, they qualified again to play in the National League in the 1995 season.

1995

In 1995, the foundation was laid for what would be six storybook years for the Tigers.

It started when the board of directors brought in club-founder and football enthusiast Claus Elming as head coach. Claus played for the Tigers during the successful ‘91 season when the team won its first and only Danish championship. Since 1993, Claus had taken on duties as head coach for the Danish Junior National Team and sharpened his head coaching game.

As the newcomer to the 1995 National League, expectations for the Tigers were low, but the squad would once again surprise everyone. The team was led by running back sensation Lars Kristensen (Nørskov), who went on to set an incredible record 20 touchdowns in only 8 games. By the end of the playoffs, the Tigers made it all the way back to the sidelines of the Mermaid Bowl. In the finals of Mermaid Bowl VII, however, the Tigers’ dream season was abruptly halted by the reigning champion Copenhagen Towers with a 35-20 loss.

The ’95 season wasn’t completely over, though, and the Tigers reignited by winning the newly started “Trophy-tournament” that fall.

The tournament final proved to be one of the most exciting games to have been played in Denmark to that point. Trailing 14-6 to the Herlev Rebels, with just 2:32 left on the clock, the Rebels were pushing toward the endzone on the Tigers’ seven yard-line. The book seemed written at that point, but, miraculously, the Tigers recovered a Rebel fumble on the two and turned the ensuing drive into a quick TD and two-point conversion. In overtime, the Tigers’ monopolized on yet another Rebel fumble to score again. The victory gave the Tigers the first ever Trophy-tournament championship and continued the club’s upward momentum toward what would be five powerful seasons in the late 1990s.

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