The European League of Football (ELF) is currently in the middle of its offseason. So far, there’ve been a handful of significant announcements, including changes to the league’s kickoff rules, the addition of 4 new franchises, the movement of many players and coaches, and much more as the league prepares for its 2022 kickoff in June.
Expansion Teams & Playoff Qualifications
After a successful inaugural season, the ELF has expanded from 8 to 12 franchises. Teams added include the Istanbul Rams, Vienna Vikings, Düsseldorf Rhein Fire, and the Swarco Raiders Tirol out of Innsbruck, Austria.
This expansion comes with the addition of a Southern Conference and changes to the league’s playoff qualifications.
The playoff format will remain the same, with 2 Semi-Final games followed by a Championship game. However, teams that qualify to make the playoffs in the ELF’s 2022 season will be the 3 Conference winners, along with whichever 2nd place team has the best overall record in any Conference.
Commissioner Patrick Esume has teased the idea of more teams potentially joining the league before they kick off in June, stating
“We are still in intensive talks. Twelve teams are certain to start, but it may well be that there will be 14 or even 16 [teams]”
While there’s been nothing officially announced regarding the addition of more teams before the 2022 season, the ELF has made it known they would like to continue expanding over the next several years.
Changes to ELF Kickoff rules
XFL fans will be excited to see their Kickoff rules live on in Europe. Yup, Sam Schwartzstein‘s kickoff ruleset has been adopted by the European League of Football with an official announcement made on November 30th.
The decision came following discussions between commissioner Patrick Esume, The ELF Referee Committee, and the Competition Committee.
The change should be a welcome one, as it makes the play safer by eliminating high-speed collisions while simultaneously encouraging returns and keeping the play exciting.
Head Coach/Front Office Signings
- Berlin Thunder – HC – Johnny Schmuck
- Berlin Thunder – GM – Diana Hoge
- Berlin Thunder – Co-Owner/Sports Director – Björn Werner
- Düsseldorf Rhein Fire – GM – Patricia Klemm
- Düsseldorf Rhein Fire – Head of Football Operations – Fabian Hahn
- Cologne Centurions – HC/OC – Frank Roser
- Stuttgart Surge – HC – Martin Hanselmann (extension)
- Vienna Vikings – HC – Chris Calaycay
- Istanbul Rams – HC/GM – Val Gunn
- Swarco Raiders Tirol – HC – Kevin Herron
Players Signed/Re-Signed
- Cologne Centurions – RB – Madre London
- Cologne Centurions – WR – Quinten Pounds
- Cologne Centurions – QB – Jan Weinreich
- Cologne Centurions – DL – Julian Völker
- Cologne Centurions – LB – Marius Kensy
- Cologne Centurions – QB – Alexander Frisch
- Cologne Centurions – OL – Anton Glusancov
- Cologne Centurions – OL – Niklas Meiworm
- Cologne Centurions – DB – Ibrahim Eldewiech
- Cologne Centurions – DB – Marius Riepe
- Cologne Centurions – DB – Waheed Bhikh
- Cologne Centurions – WR – Valentin Rödiger
- Cologne Centurions – WR – Noah Aarass
- Cologne Centurions – WR – Ramin Akhlaghi
- Cologne Centurions – WR – Paul Lenhardt
- Cologne Centurions – OL – Fabian Kratz
- Cologne Centurions – OL – Fredrick Weinreich
- Cologne Centurions – LB – Leon Littfinski
- Wroclaw Panthers – DB – Darius Robinson
- Wroclaw Panthers – DB – Goran Zec
- Wroclaw Panthers – RB – Philéas Pasqualini
- Wroclaw Panthers – OL – Murilo Silva
- Wroclaw Panthers – WR – KaVonte Turpin
- Wroclaw Panthers – DB – Adam Lary
- Wroclaw Panthers – LB – Krzysztof Wis
- Wroclaw Panthers – LB – William Lloyd
- Wroclaw Panthers – QB – Justice Hansen
- Wroclaw Panthers – DE/OLB – Semmie Radji
- Wroclaw Panthers – DB – Lars Steffen
- Wroclaw Panthers – DL – Gustav Karlis Brauns
- Wroclaw Panthers – OL – Thomas Fileccia
- Berlin Thunder – RB – Jocques Crawford
- Berlin Thunder – TE – Nicolai Schumann
- Berlin Thunder – DB – Moritz Thiele
- Berlin Thunder – DE – Kyle Kitchens
- Berlin Thunder – QB – Joe Germinerio
- Berlin Thunder – OL – Tobias Rodlauer
- Berlin Thunder – DL – Ben Nauenburg
- Istanbul Rams – LB – Zachary Blair
- Istanbul Rams – WR – Jalen Conwell
- Istanbul Rams – DB – Noah Allsten
- Istanbul Rams – WR – Muneyuki Kinoshita
- Istanbul Rams – DB/WR – Jamarii Milliken
- Istanbul Rams – QB – Jared Stegman
- Istanbul Rams – WR – Kris Wedderburn
- Düsseldorf Rhein Fire – LT – Sven Breidenbach
- Düsseldorf Rhein Fire – DB – Till Janssen
- Düsseldorf Rhein Fire – OL – Albert Trovato
- Düsseldorf Rhein Fire – DB – Richard Grooten
- Düsseldorf Rhein Fire – K – Daniel Schumacher
- Düsseldorf Rhein Fire – LB – Martin Pinter
- Frankfurt Galaxy – QB – Jakeb Sullivan
- Frankfurt Galaxy – WR – Lorenz Regler
- Barcelona Dragons – LB – Alex Gonzalez Posito
- Barcelona Dragons – OL – Eduardo Sanchez
- Barcelona Dragons – DL – Yago Rivero
- Barcelona Dragons – DL – Sebastián Bowen
- Barcelona Dragons – DB – Jordi Brugnani
- Barcelona Dragons – LB – Cesare Brugnani
- Barcelona Dragons – WR – Benjamin Plu
- Barcelona Dragons – QB – Zach Edwards
- Barcelona Dragons – RB – Adrian Jiménez
- Barcelona Dragons – OL – Mathias Roll Hummelmose
- Vienna Vikings – S – Luis Horvath
- Vienna Vikings – LB – Thomas Schnurrer
- Vienna Vikings – CB – Florian Albrecht
- Vienna Vikings – WR – Diondre Overton
- Vienna Vikings – OL – Aleksandar Milanovic
- Vienna Vikings – LB – Dustin Illetschko
- Vienna Vikings – WR – Anton Wegan
- Vienna Vikings – RB – Flo Wegan
- Hamburg Sea Devils – RB – Glen Toonga
- Hamburg Sea Devils – WR – Jéan Constant
- Hamburg Sea Devils – OL – Lewis Thomas
- Hamburg Sea Devils – DB – Kevin Fortes
- Hamburg Sea Devils – DL – Tim Hänni
- Hamburg Sea Devils – DT – Evans Yeboah
- Hamburg Sea Devils – QB – Salieu Ceesay
- Hamburg Sea Devils – DB – Justin Rogers
- Hamburg Sea Devils – QB/WR – Lamar Jordan II
- Hamburg Sea Devils – LB – Miguel Boock
- Hamburg Sea Devils – DB – Kevin Fortes
- Stuttgart Surge – DB – Benjamin Barnes
- Stuttgart Surge – LB – David Meza
- Swarco Raiders Tirol – QB – Sean Shelton
ELF “Players Committe” for 2022 Season
For the 2022 season, 2 players from each ELF team will represent their franchise in an official “Players Committee.” Of the 24 player representatives chosen, 2 spokespersons will be selected to regularly communicate and interact with the league’s commissioner Patrick Esume along with the league’s Competition Committee.
ELF league officials plan to meet with representatives of the Players Committee in the ramp-up to the league’s 2022 kickoff and after the 2022 season has concluded. Additionally, the league’s governing body can be contacted by the Players Committee at any point throughout the season.
Austria will host the ELF 2022 Championship
The 2022 European League of Football Championship game will take place at Wörthersee Stadium in Klagenfurt, Austria, on September 25th. The stadium was built before the 2008 European Soccer Championship and is the 2nd largest stadium in Austria. The stadium holds 32,000 fans, and European League of Football CEO Zeljko Karajica has stated that the surrounding area offers the perfect infrastructure for an event like this.
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ELF Official Reporter Christopher Hahn
