“Cologne Centurions to Play ELF Home Games in Sportpark Höhenberg after Crocodiles’ Withdrawal”

The Cologne Centurions will play two ELF home games in Cologne’s Sportpark Höhenberg next season. As far as American football is concerned, the stadium was previously in the firm hands of the Cologne Crocodiles.

• Home games against Sea Devils and Rhein Fire in Höhenberg
• Power Party geplant
• Centurions conceivable permanently in Höhenberg?

“One’s sorrow is another’s joy” – this is how one could comment on the latest announcement of the Cologne Centurions. According to the current status, the Cologne ELF participant will play two home games in the Höhenberg sports park in the coming season, which has become vacant on a number of dates after the Cologne Crocodiles withdrew from the German Football League. The Centurions will play the home games against the Hamburg Sea Devils on June 17th and the derby against Rhein Fire on June 25th at the new home ground. Most recently, the Centurions presented themselves to their own fans at the Südstadion in Cologne.

“The Sportpark Höhenberg is better suited for football than the Südstadion due to the steeper and larger grandstand. I promise we’ll celebrate two great football events there – and there will also be a power party,” said Cologne’s General Manager Tonye Spiff. Also Sports director David Drane promised: “These will be two atmospheric games in Höhenberg. Together with our fans, we want to turn the stadium into a cauldron. The players and coaches are really looking forward to the games there.”

+++Double header on the peel sick+++
The American Footballers of the Cologne Centurions come to the “Schäl Sick”! pic.twitter.com/UjPqVJVVpP

— Cologne Centurions (@CenturionsCGN) May 10, 2023

This means that the retreat of the crocodiles is spreading further. After internal disputes in the spring, the Crocodiles lost several players and coaches and as a result had to withdraw their team from the top German division. The fact that the Centurions are now moving to the Crocodiles’ “home stadium” because they simply cannot serve their fans also points to the loss of the Crocodiles brand in Cologne’s sport. It is still completely unclear when the Crocodiles will have a first team again and in which league they will have to start again. If the sports park remains unclaimed by the Crocodiles for years, the Centurions could establish themselves there as a home team and the Crocodiles would have to face the problem that the Centurions faced when they were founded, when they were looking for a stadium and even played home games on the Ostkampfbahn at the RheinEnergieStadion had to.