Frankfurt American team started
We were sponsored by Eintracht-Frankfurt Rugby and trained with them on Wednesdays; their president liked us and they paid for our use of the rugby pitch at the Waldstadion grounds where the professional soccer team plays. (Eintracht got most of its funds from the soccer team, and had many other sports at the complex or training grounds including about 7 amateur soccer teams, swimming, bowling, tennis, golf, etc.. The more teams, the more money they received from the Federal government. Every town had at least one federally and state subsidized swimming pool and soccer pitch to encourage sports; some had hockey rinks)
At the time the 3rd AD club was formed, most of the American players played for Eintracht. However, due to Bundesliga rules, no club could have more than 3 foreigners on their starting team, so most played for the second side. As there was enough interest, in late 1973 Kurt Meizensahl, 3rd AD, and with encouragement of Entracht, began discussions in the Irish Pub and with its owner, Bernard McGowan, to form an American club. The first match was played in March 1974 on a coverted American football field at Edwards Sportsplatz using Eintracht's kit. Rudolf Studzinski, the wonderful rugby administrator for Eintracht would accommodate us for use of the pitch when possible and used his funds to pay for it. Most of the time we'd have to scrounge fields at US bases in the area; once we even lined a shooting range behind 3 AD headquarters, and used communications posts and ropes for the goalposts. We were in the 2d division Bundesliga and played our matches on Sundays (the Germans worked on Saturdays). We'd have Saturday venues with British Army and other non-league American clubs.
The first set of jerseys were purchased by the Munster Rams (coached and founded by Ian Meikle, REME), later reimbursed by the Drake-Ewards wives club. The club used The Drake-Edwards Kaserne as the focal point and the first full season was Fall 1974.
Click here to read an English translation of Our beginnings as documented in the German paper, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
