SF4San Francisco 49ers

Franchise history

The 49ers were founded in 1946 by shipping magnate brothers Tony and Vic Morabito as charter members of the All-America Football Conference, taking the name from the prospectors of the California Gold Rush of 1849. When the AAFC folded after the 1949 season, the 49ers joined the NFL in 1950, playing home games at Kezar Stadium before moving to Candlestick Park in 1971. The franchise struggled for much of its early history, but the arrival of head coach Bill Walsh in 1979 and quarterback Joe Montana transformed the club into the NFL's dominant power of the 1980s. Walsh's innovative "West Coast Offense" and "The Catch" against Dallas in the 1981 NFC Championship Game launched a run of five Super Bowl titles (XVI, XIX, XXIII, XXIV, XXIX) between the 1981 and 1994 seasons, featuring Hall of Famers Montana, Jerry Rice, Steve Young, and Ronnie Lott under coaches Walsh and George Seifert.

After Eddie DeBartolo Jr.'s ownership era ended amid a legal scandal in the late 1990s, the team passed to the York family and endured a lean decade of losing seasons in the 2000s. A revival came under head coach Jim Harbaugh (2011-2014), who led the 49ers to three straight NFC Championship Games and a Super Bowl XLVII appearance, narrowly losing to Baltimore. The team moved from Candlestick Park to Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara in 2014. A rebuild under Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch, beginning in 2017, returned the franchise to championship contention, including a Super Bowl LIV appearance loss to Kansas City. The 49ers' rivalry with the Dallas Cowboys, forged in the 1970s-90s playoffs, remains one of the league's most storied.

Sources

• Pro Football Reference
• Wikipedia
• Pro Football Hall of Fame

Super Bowl Champions won (5)

• Super Bowl XVI - 1981
• Super Bowl XIX - 1984
• Super Bowl XXIII - 1988
• Super Bowl XXIV - 1989
• Super Bowl XXIX - 1994

Runner-up finishes (3)

• Super Bowl XLVII - 2012
• Super Bowl LIV - 2019
• Super Bowl LVIII - 2023

See the full super bowl champions list for the winner each of these years.