2021 European League of Football season

The 2021 ELF season is the inaugural season of the European League of Football, a newly formed professional American football league based in Europe. It started on June 19, 2021, and will end with a Championship Game in Düsseldorf, on September 26, 2021.^[1]

Format[]

The league is divided into two divisions, North and South. Each team plays 10 games during the regular season: twice against their division rivals, and twice against two of the teams from the other division. The top two teams in each division qualify for the playoffs, with the North and South champions qualifying for the Championship Game.

Rules[]

For the inaugural season, the ELF is mostly using adapted NFL rules, as opposed to adapted NCAA rules which virtually all other European American Football leagues use. There is a limit of two "Americans" (a category which also includes some other non-European nationalities) per down but people who are dual citizens of the U.S. and a EU-member country are not counted towards that limit in keeping with the Bosman ruling. Unlike in most other European American football leagues there is overtime during regular season games that are still tied after regulation, but the overtime rules are based on NCAA rules.

Teams[]

Team Name	City	Stadium	Capacity	Head coach
Berlin Thunder	Berlin	Amateurstadion Olympiapark[A] Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark[B]	5,400 19,708	Jag Bal
Hamburg Sea Devils	Hamburg	Stadion Hoheluft	11,000	Andreas Nommensen
Leipzig Kings	Leipzig	Alfred-Kunze-Sportpark	4,999	Fred Armstrong
Wrocław Panthers	Wrocław	Wrocław Olympic Stadium	11,000	Kuba Samel
Barcelona Dragons	Reus	Estadi Municipal	4,700	Adam Rita
Cologne Centurions	Cologne	Südstadion[C] [D]	11,748 333[2]	Kirk Heidelberg
Frankfurt Galaxy	Frankfurt	PSD Bank Arena	12,542	Thomas Kösling
Stuttgart Surge	Stuttgart	Gazi-Stadion auf der Waldau	11,410	Martin Hanselmann

Coaching changes[]

Team	Outgoing coach	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Incoming coach	Date of appointment
Hamburg Sea Devils	Ted Daisher	Released[3]	July 6, 2021	Andreas Nommensen	July 13, 2021[4]

Salaries[]

For its first season, the league pays a salary that generally ranges from €600 (around $700) to €3,000 ($3,500) per month, and provides housing, health insurance and two meals per day to players during the season.^[5]

Regular season[]

Standings[]

North Division v Pos Team GP W L PF PA Div Qualification 1 Hamburg Sea Devils 10 7 3 274 178 4–2 Advance to playoffs 2 Wrocław Panthers 10 6 4 314 259 5–1 3 Leipzig Kings 10 5 5 295 320 3–3 4 Berlin Thunder 10 3 7 228 296 0–6 Source: europeanleague.football

South Division v Pos Team GP W L PF PA Div Qualification 1 Frankfurt Galaxy 10 9 1 357 132 6–0 Advance to playoffs 2 Cologne Centurions 10 5 5 310 365 3–3 3 Barcelona Dragons 10 3 7 237 277 2–4 4 Stuttgart Surge 10 2 8 157 355 1–5 Source: europeanleague.football

Results[]

Playoffs[]

	Division Finals					Championship Game
	N1	Hamburg Sea Devils	30
	N2	Wrocław Panthers	27
						Hamburg Sea Devils
						Frankfurt Galaxy
	S1	Frankfurt Galaxy	36
	S2	Cologne Centurions	6

Divisional playoffs[]

South: Frankfurt Galaxy 36, Cologne Centurions 3[]

North: Hamburg Sea Devils 30, Wrocław Panthers 27[]

Championship Game[]

The inaugural Championship Game, between the North and South division champions, will be played on September 26, at Merkur Spiel-Arena in Düsseldorf.^[6]

All-Star Game[]

The inaugural All-Star Game will be held one week after the end of the season, on October 3 (the Day of German Unity), at Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark in Berlin. It will feature a selection of the best players from the ELF, playing against the United States men's national American football team.^[7]

Attendance[]

As of September 5, 2021^[8][E]

Games without fans are not counted in averages or games played. All teams started the season with capacity restrictions, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^{[citation needed]}

Awards[]

MVP of the Week[]

Week	Player	Position	Team	Stat	Source
1	Lukas O'Connor	QB	Wrocław Panthers	27/38, 302 Yds, 4 TD, 0 Int	1
2	Madre London	RB	Cologne Centurions	352 Yds, 4 TD	2
3	Seantavius Jones	WR	Berlin Thunder	9 Rec, 155 Yds, 3 TD	3
4	Jakeb Sullivan	QB	Frankfurt Galaxy	18/25, 270 Yds, 5 TD, 0 Int	4
5	Justin Rogers	CB	Hamburg Sea Devils	2 Punt return TD, 1 Int	5
6	Jean Constant	WR	Barcelona Dragons	10 Rec, 164 Yds, 3 TD	6
7	Madre London (2)	RB	Cologne Centurions	320 Yds, 4 TD	7
8	Zack Edwards	QB	Barcelona Dragons	20/45, 454 Yds, 4 TD, 0 Int, 2 Rush TD	8
9	Joshua Poznanski	DB	Frankfurt Galaxy	2 Int, 2 return TD, 93 return Yds, 4 Tackles	9
10	Michael Birdsong	QB	Leipzig Kings	16/25, 189 Yds, 5 TD, 0 Int	10
11	Madre London (3)	RB	Cologne Centurions	154 Yds, 1 Rush TD, 1 Rec TD	11
12	Moritz Johannknecht	QB	Frankfurt Galaxy	23/31, 255 Yds, 4 TD, 0 Int, 1 Rush TD	12

Statistical leaders[]

As of September 12, 2021^[9]

Category	Player	Position	Team	GP	Stat
Passing
Yards	Lukas O'Connor	QB	Wrocław Panthers	11	3198
Touchdowns	Lukas O'Connor Jakeb Sullivan	QB	Wrocław Panthers Frankfurt Galaxy	11 10	28
Completions	Lukas O'Connor	QB	Wrocław Panthers	11	259
Completion percentage	Jakeb Sullivan	QB	Frankfurt Galaxy	10	66.5%
Rushing
Yards	Madre London	RB	Cologne Centurions	10	2177
Touchdowns	Madre London	RB	Cologne Centurions	10	23
Yards per attempt	Madre London	RB	Cologne Centurions	10	7.2
Receiving
Yards	Jean Constant	WR	Barcelona Dragons	10	1038
Touchdowns	Seantavius Jones Timothy Knuettel	WR	Berlin Thunder Leipzig Kings	10	12
Receptions	Jean Constant	WR	Barcelona Dragons	10	74
Yards per reception	Seantavius Jones	WR	Berlin Thunder	10	16.9
Defensive
Sacks	Kyle Kitchens	LB	Leipzig Kings	10	12.5
Tackles	Wael Nasri	LB	Berlin Thunder	10	141
Interceptions	Joshua Poznanski Andy Vera Justin Rogers	DB	Frankfurt Galaxy Barcelona Dragons Hamburg Sea Devils	11 8 11	5

References[]

Notes[]