Football: ELF enters its second season: Focus on coaches and teams

Copyright: Marc Junge / Cologne Centurions

The Cologne Centurions around Fabian Kratz (center), Frederick Weinreich (left) and Alexander Boes (right, undated photo) start against the Istanbul Rams on Saturday (June 4, 2022).

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The European League of Football starts this weekend. Also present: the Cologne Centurions and the Rhein Fires from Düsseldorf. EXPRESS.de took a closer look at it.

Centurions versus Rhein Fire, reminiscent of the glory days of football. When the European League of Football starts its second season at the weekend (June 4, 2022), the two teams from Cologne and Düsseldorf will also be involved.

The Cologne Centurions will play the opening game on Saturday (June 4, 2022, 5 p.m.) against the Istanbul Rams in the South Stadium. On Sunday (June 5, 2022, 3 p.m., Pro7 MAXX & ran.de), Rhein Fire competes in the classic at the reigning champion Frankfurt Galaxy. EXPRESS.de presents the stars of the ELF.

The European League of Football begins its second season

The Boss ELF Commissioner is Patrick “Coach” Esume (48), known from the NFL broadcasts on Sky. The master player (German Bowl winner 1996 and 2010) and coach (EFL Bowl winner 2014, European champion with France 2018) bears the sporting responsibility and announces: “We have more teams, more games and therefore even stronger competition . I can promise everyone who loves football: It will be really crispy.”

Twelve teams from five nations are taking part: Barcelona Dragons, Berlin Thunder, Cologne Centurions, Frankfurt Galaxy, Hamburg Sea Devils, Istanbul Rams, Leipzig Kings, Panthers Wroclaw, Raiders Tirol, Rhein Fire, Stuttgart Surge, Vienna Vikings. In 2023 Milano Seamen, Hungarian Enthroners, Helvetic Guards will join.

Five teams rely on head coaches with US expertise: First and foremost Rhein Fire, who were able to sign NFL coach Jim Tomsula (54) again after 2006. He was the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers and defensive line coach for the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys. Andrew Weidinger (Barcelona), Charles Jones (Hamburg), Fred Armstrong (Leipzig) and Jeff Jagodzinski (Wroclaw) also have NFL experience.

Centurions head coach Frank Roser (37) previously worked for the Munich Rangers, Ingolstadt Dukes, Munich Cowboys, Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys.

From Cologne & Düsseldorf: Cologne Centurions and Rhein Fire

Centurions: The Cologne quarterback and league “Man of the Year” 2021, Jan Weinreich (25), can again lead a powerful squad. Top receiver Quinten Pounds has returned from California and three top players from Texas have been signed in D1 college players Chris Richardson and Kalon Beverly from the UTEP Miners (El Paso) and Tre King (Texas Tech Red Raiders).