Scoreboard

Standings

Playoff Schedule

Regular Season Schedule

For Scoring Summaries from Game Day 05 Onwards please click each individual game in the schedule below.

References: see [5] Below.

Report

A new 8-team fully professional American Football League in Europe – the European League of Football is planned to start in June 2021 with a 12-week 10-game schedule announced, playing by NFL rules as opposed to NCAA as everywhere else in Europe.

It is the first fully professional league since the demise of NFL Europa in 2007, and has been met with much criticism by the German Football League – the current top league in Europe – as 6 of the franchises are based in Germany, with two more in Spain (Barcelona Dragons) and Poland (three times Champions Wroclaw Panthers).

Following the demise of the NFLE/WLAF, the Central European Football League, featuring teams from Poland to Turkey and France to Hungary was a weekly Football League, but not fully pro, lasting until 2016.

The six German teams are Berlin Thunder, Frankfurt Galaxy, Cologne Centurions and Hamburg Sea Devils (all using the same names as their previous NFL Europe/World League of American Football team), Stuttgart Surge (using the name of the old Sacramento Surge team in the WLAF) and Leipzig Kings (almost a resurrection of the London Monarchs name). Barcelona Dragons is also a resurrection of the previous NFLE/WLAF team name.

Weeks 1-3

After three Game Days Hamburg Sea Devils were the only undefeated team on 2-0. Panthers Wroclaw were hot on their heels, however, at 1-2 with Berlin Thunder (1-1) and Leipzig Kings (1-2) still within one win of the Division North leaders. In Division South there were no undefeated teams as Cologne Centurions and Frankfurt Galaxy both tied for first on 2-1, Stuttgart Surge just behind on 1-2 and Barcelona Dragons the only winless team in the league on 0-3.

Week 4

In Week 4 Hamburg Sea Devils stretched their unbeaten run to 3 games with a comprehensive 44-6 victory versus Berlin Thunder. Frankfurt Galaxy meanwhile took over sole ownership of the top spot in Division South with a 41-20 win at Cologne Centurions, moving the Sea Devils to 3-1 and dropping the Centurions to 2-2. In the Game of the Week Stuttgart Surge came from 12-0 down after the first quarter to squeak by Leipzig Kings 27-24 to move the Surge to 2-2 and joint second with the Centurions in the South, while Leipzig Kings dropped to 1-3 and bottom spot of the North.

Week 5

In Week 5 Hamburg Sea Devils had another big win, 55-0 at Leipzig Kings as they moved to 4-0 in the North while Panthers Wroclaw kept in touch with a 45-26 victory at Berlin Thunder as the Polish team and Hamburg continued to dominate Division North. There was one game in Division South where Barcelona Dragons fell at home to old WLAF foes Frankfurt Galaxy, again the scoring was big with the game finishing 42-22 to Frankfurt, which left them in command of the Division at 3-1. Barcelona fell to 0-4, remaining winless.

Week 6

Panthers Wroclaw lost 23-26 in a tight game to Hamburg Sea Devils, putting Hamburg on 5-0, and putting Wroclaw out of touch with the Division North leaders. Barcelona Dragons meanwhile won their first game of the season as they lit up the scoreboard with a 41-16 defeat of Berlin Thunder. In the other game in Week 6, Stuttgart Surge lost 23-39 to Cologne Centurions.

Week 7

Week 7 saw Hamburg struggle to a 22-17 victory over Barcelona with four P Andersen Field Goals in the second half giving them the win after N Lester had given the travelling Dragons fans some hope of an upset with a 97 yard Interception Return for a Touchdown of Hamburg Quarterback J Clark. L O’Connor, another quarterback with an Irish name was on the losing side as Panthers Wroclaw succumbed to Cologne Centurions, losing 33-31 putting the Centurions and Panthers both on 3-2 records. J Sullivan, a third Quarterback with an Irish name scored two rushing Touchdowns and passed for another as Frankfurt Galaxy destroyed Stuttgart Surge 57-3. In the fourth game Leipzig Lions won 37-24 versus Berlin Thunder as the two bottom teams in Division North battled each other for their second win of the season.

Week 8

In a week of drama, Barcelona Dragons won their second game in a row after losing their first five with a 60-51 victory at home to Cologne Centurions. In an unbelievable game there were 18 touchdowns in all, 10 for Barcelona and 8 for Cologne. In Leipzig the Kings improved to 3-4 with a 49-23 win over Stuttgart Surge who dropped to 2-5. Meanwhile the Frankfurt Galaxy and Hamburg Sea Devils met in a possible Championship Game match-up in Frankfurt. The eagerly awaited clash between the two Division leaders saw Frankfurt Galaxy hand Hamburg their first defeat of the season as a dominant Galaxy defense held the Sea Devils to three field goals and got on the scoresheet themselves with a safety. J Sullivan, the Irish-named Frankfurt Quarterback had a stellar day, passing for three touchdowns and scoring himself on a one yard quarterback sneak.

Week 9

Week 9 saw Barcelona Dragons win their second in a row with a 30-12 victory over the Surge in pouring rain in Stuttgart. Meanwhile in Berlin the Clark-inspired Hamburg sea Devils raced into a 28-0 lead thanks to three touchdown passes in the first half from the Quarterback with the Irish surname to A Bottela Moreno and one in the third quarter to J Madin Cerezo before a spirited Thunder comeback saw them come within striking distance of tying the match at 20-28, but the game ended there. In the other match, there was contrasting fortunes for the two other quarterbacks with Irish names as Frankfurt Galaxy’s Jakub Sullivan threw three touchdown passes in the first half to put Frankfurt 20-0 up at haltime, and then in the second half Panthers Wroclaw’s Lokas O’Connor threw two interceptions to the same Galaxy player, Joshua Poznanski, who returned both Interceptions for a touchdown (58 and 36 yards respectively). O’Connor fired a late TD pass of his own to Jakub Mazan but it was mere consolation as Frankfurt won 36-7.

Week 10

Leipzig Kings defeated Cologne Centurions 42-24 to open up Week 10. The victory put the Kings on 4-4 and kept them in the chase for a Playoff spot, with Cologne dropping to 4-4 but still in second place in the South. In the battle of the cellar-dwellers, Berlin Thunder got the better of Barcelona Dragons 19-3 in a low-scoring encounter, leaving both teams on two wins, and still mathematically in with a slim chance of the playoffs. Meanwhile the top two teams in the North Division, Hamburg Sea Devils and Panthers Wroclaw put on a thriller of a show which the Polish team edged 30-24 thanks to an amazing 24 points in the second quarter. The win left the Panthers on 4-4, just 2.5 games behind Hamburg on 7-2.

Week 11

In Week 11 action Barcelona Dragons almost pulled off another upset, as they lost 14-22 to South Division leaders and the team also with the best overall record, Frankfurt Galaxy, which left the Galaxy on 8-1 and with the Division title. Panthers Wroclaw stayed in the hunt for the North Division title with a relatively easy 35-12 victory versus Berlin Thunder. Berlin Thunder’s 12 points all came in the fourth quarter when the result was in no doubt and left Panthers on 5-4. In an extremely close game Hamburg Sea Devils went down 17-18 to Leipzig Kings, meaning all three teams still in the hunt for the North Division Playoff spots (Hamburg 7-3, Wroclaw 5-4 and Leipzig 5-4) were in a game of each other with one week left. Meanwhile Cologne Centurions defeated Stuttgart Surge 19-9 to take second place in the South Division.

Week 12

Finishing off the Regular Season, Frankfurt Galaxy wrapped up the Division North title in style, and with it the best Regular season league record on 9-1 with a 45-7 thumping of Cologne Centurions, who finished the season on 5-5. In the battle of the two last-placed teams Berlin Thunder were hungrier team, winning 38-0 as Stuttgart lost their sixth in a row to finish on 2-8. Berlin finished 3-7. In the other match with Playoff consequences Wroclaw Panthers defeated Leipzig Kings 21-13 to reach the Playoffs in second place in the North on 6-4 as Leipzig Kings finished 5-5. Cologne Centurions took the fourth playoff spot in second place in the North.

Playoffs

Frankfurt Galaxy won easily versus Cologne Centurions for the second week in a row as they won 36-6 in an All-German Semi-Final. In the North match-up there was another close encounter between the Hamburg Sea Devils and Panthers Wroclaw which the Sea Devils squeaked 30-27. In the three games between the teams this season there was a touchdown or less between the sides at the final whistle.

ELF Championship Game

The lead changed hands five times in the 2021 European League of Football Championship Game as two Irish-named Quarterbacks duelled it out for European American Football’s top prize. J Clark managed to score on two 1-yard runs and pass to J Madin Cerezo for another Touchdown for the Hamburg Sea Devils, however, favourites Frankfurt Galaxy, behind Quarterback J Sullivan fared better, as Sullivan also scored on a 1-yard Quarterback keeper and passed for four more to G Adams, N Strahmann, A Mahoungou and K Mwamba as the Galaxy triumphed 32-30.

Tadhg Leader – Irish-born Player (Panthers Wroclaw)

Former Connacht Rugby player Tadhg Leader was born in Galway, Ireland. At the age of 15 he and his brother Darragh headed out to kick some Rugby balls at their local pitch on Christmas Day. His dad, a former Galwegians RFC Rugby player made a bet with them that they could not kick the ball over the bars from the halfway line. Both Tadhg and his brother Darragh won €50 each.

Tadhg went on to play Rugby Professionally for Connacht and Darragh now lives in USA where he coaches at Clemson University Tigers. Tadhg suffered a number of injuries during his last few years at Connacht and after playing in Italy he ended up studying in USA and playing for both New England Free Jacks in Major League Rugby and making his Test debut for USA Eagles Rugby Union National Team.

Tadhg was signed up to play another year of Rugby Union in 2021 when the kicker started kicking American Footballs for fun. People took notice and said he should try out for American Football teams and so he went off to San Diego where he was kicking alongside Super Bowl-winning athletes. Unsure of his own ability he asked John Carney, who has 23 years of experience kicking Footballs and Carney said he could mix it with the NFL players.

Before long Leader found himself playing for the Aviators in The Spring League in USA. The Aviatiors, one of four teams based in Indianapolis, a COVID-19 Pod and one of two Pods in the 8-team league in 2021 finished with an 0-6 record in 2021. On May 7 versus Alphas Tadhg Leader scored the first points of his American Football career kicking a Field Goal to make the score Aviators 3 Alphas 7 at Halftime.

After spending Spring in Indianapolis with the Aviators Tadhg signed for Panthers Wroclaw in the European League of Football, making his debut on opening day in a 55-39 victory over Cologne Centurions.

Tadhg Leader’s 2021 Panthers Wrocław Stats

FIELD GOALS	1-19 yds	20-29 yds	30-39 yds	40-49 yds	50+ yds
Tadhg Leader	0-0	2-2	2-4	3-5	1-1
Panthers Wrocław 2021 Total	0-0	3-3	3-6	4-6	1-1

PUNTING	NO	YDS	AVG	LG	I20	50+	Blkd
Tadhg Leader	11	400	36.4	54	5	2	0
Panthers Wrocław 2021 Total	36	1206	33.5	54	6	4	1

DEFENSE STATISTICS – TACKLES	TT	UT	A	TFL	Yds
Tadhg Leader	1	1	0	0	0
Panthers Wrocław	649	331	318	73	241

Kevin Mayo – Irish Player (Panthers Wrocław)

Kevin Mayo, who is from Tallaght, South Dublin Co. in Ireland, and had previously played for the South Dublin Panthers in the American Football Ireland League joined the Panthers Wroclaw at the tail end of the season after being picked up by North Park University in Chicago, an NCAA Division III College.

Reference

Logos

[1] European League of Football Facebook Page (2021) Profile Picture, February 4, 2021 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/europeanleagueoffootball/photos/a.100150555247238/159345569327736/ [Accessed 27 April 2021]

Websites

[2] American Football International (2020) Pro football returns to Europe: European League of Football kicks off in 2021 [Internet] Available from: https://www.americanfootballinternational.com/pro-football-returns-to-europe-european-league-of-football-kicks-off-in-2021/ [Accessed 5 November 2020]

[3] Mailchimp ELF (2021) European League of Football Season Schedule 2021 [Internet] Available from: https://mailchi.mp/468f778ac192/european-league-of-league-of-football-season-schedule-2021?e=8720ab58ac [Accessed 20 April 2021]

[4] European League of Football Facebook Page (2021) Post, 26 April 2021: “The divisions with the updated Leipzig Kings logo!” [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/europeanleagueoffootball/photos/a.189040923024867/211338784128414 [Accessed 27 April 2021]

[5] European League of Football (2021) Stats [Internet] Available from: https://europeanleague.football/stats [Accessed 10 November 2021]

[6] European League of Football (2021) Schedule [Internet] Available from: https://europeanleague.football/schedule [Accessed 11 July 2021]

[7] Barcelona Dragons Facebook (2021)Profile Picture: March 24, 2021: 164100830_143302991038424_6685619488922431445_n [Internet] Available from: https://scontent-dub4-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/164100830_143302991038424_6685619488922431445_n.jpg?_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-4&_nc_sid=09cbfe&_nc_ohc=7nF5AhntfsEAX9glptP&_nc_ht=scontent-dub4-1.xx&oh=a430079a20cfb0956dd3ea5a7c8db22e&oe=61316F91 [Accessed 11 July 2021]

[8] Panthers Wroclaw Fabecook (2021) profile Picture September 20, 2013 1235513_483738095055993_896136457_n [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/PanthersWroclaw/photos/a.483738081722661/483738095055993/ [Accessed 6 August 2021]

[9] Hamburg Sea Devils Facebook (2021) Profile Picture March 9, 2021: 159505975_122355319823281_3096303558860788527_n [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/HamburgSeaDevils/photos/a.106420621416751/122355316489948 [Accessed 6 August 2021]

[10] Stuttgart Surge Facebook (2021) Profile Picture July 27, 2021: 224860379_157740426432198_682630597869113461_n [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/StuttgartSurgeFootball/photos/a.101150422091199/157740416432199/ [Accessed 6 August 2021]

[11] Leipzig Kings Facebook (2021) Profile Picture April 23, 2021 176481610_124322863083112_5924150060350890678_n [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/105240348324697/photos/a.105240374991361/124322859749779 [Accessed 6 August 2021]

[12] Cologne Centurions Facebook (2021) Profile Picture March 22, 2021 164225775_104312295086165_3866117950552195047_n [Internet] Available from: https://scontent-dub4-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/164225775_104312295086165_3866117950552195047_n.jpg?_nc_cat=107&ccb=1-4&_nc_sid=09cbfe&_nc_ohc=q-FxP6s2FecAX8leJ2f&_nc_ht=scontent-dub4-1.xx&oh=b85f562fcd7282fd92b580c46312ec3d&oe=61329D2C [Accessed 6 August 2021]

[13] Frankfurt Galaxy Facebook (2021) Profile Picture April 18, 2021 175159880_127159659432418_8771340701865027771_n  [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/frankfurtgalaxy21/photos/a.100834638731587/127159656099085 [Accessed 6 August 2021]

[14] Berlin Thunder Facebook (2021) Profile Picture May 6, 2021 182443261_131030875743347_4880774321224305568_n  [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/BER.Thunder/photos/a.106909338155501/131030872410014/ [Accessed 6 August 2021]

[15] South Dublin Panthers (2021) Post to Page 2 December 2021: “Great Interview!” [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/southdublinpanthers/posts/309142057879208 [Accessed 3 December 2021]

[16] The Liberty (2021) Leader and Mayo: Meet the two Irishmen with the NFL in their sights [Internet] Available from: https://www.theliberty.ie/2021/12/01/leader-and-mayo-meet-the-two-irishmen-with-the-nfl-in-their-sights/?fbclid=IwAR1g3KnLD1lmr5GsnTTOrYiBJpVYPuyZzhjcgWKz54lKAc1ychvTjBiYwqA [Accessed 3 December 2021]

[17] Rugby Players Ireland (2021) The Journey Continues for Tadhg Leader [Internet] Available from: [Accessed 3 December 2021]

Note: for individual game scores and stats view each game [click on the game in the schedule above]

Statistics

European League of Football 2022 Stats Book p36-37 – Transaction Prepared Exclusively for Enda Mulcahy

Acknowledgements

Thanks to John Gunning (American Football International); Tomas; Carmine and Morgan (Dublin Bay Raptors)

About this document

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive

Published: 3 December 2021. Last Updated: 4 July 2024.

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2021-2024

You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Resereved. The Logos and Photos used in this article remain the property of the organisations and individuals which own the copyright and are used here for educational and information purposes only.