| 2021 ELF season | |
| Duration: | June 19 – September 5 |
| Finals: | 2021 Championship Game |
| Finals Date: | September 26, 2021 |
| Finals Venue: | Merkur Spiel-Arena, Düsseldorf |
| Finals Champ: | Frankfurt Galaxy (1st title) |
| Nextseason Year: | 2022 |
| League: | European League of Football |
| Sport: | American Football |
| No Of Games: | 40 + 3 playoff games |
| No Of Teams: | 8 |
| Attendance: | 94,704 |
| Mvp: | Madre London (Cologne Centurions) |
| Playoffs: | Division Champions |
| Conf1: | North Division |
| Conf1 Champ: | Hamburg Sea Devils |
| Conf2: | South Division |
| Conf2 Champ: | Frankfurt Galaxy |
| Finals Mvp: | Jakeb Sullivan (Frankfurt Galaxy) |
The 2021 ELF season was 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 ended with a Championship Game in Düsseldorf's Merkur Spiel-Arena, on September 26, 2021.[1]
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.
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 an 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.
| Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Head coach | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Division | |||||
| Berlin Thunder | Berlin | Amateurstadion Olympiapark | 5,400 |  Jag Bal | |
| Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark | 19,708 | ||||
| Hamburg Sea Devils | Hamburg | Stadion Hoheluft | 11,000 | Andreas Nommensen | |
| Leipzig Kings | Leipzig | Alfred-Kunze-Sportpark | 4,999 |  Fred Armstrong | |
| Wrocław Panthers |  Wrocław | Olympic Stadium | 11,000 | Kuba Samel | |
| South Division | |||||
| Barcelona Dragons | Reus | Estadi Municipal | 4,700 | Adam Rita | |
| Cologne Centurions | Cologne | Südstadion | 11,748 | Kirk Heidelberg | |
| Ostkampfbahn | 333[2] | ||||
| Frankfurt Galaxy | Frankfurt | PSD Bank Arena | 12,542 | Thomas Kösling | |
| Stuttgart Surge | Stuttgart | Gazi-Stadion auf der Waldau | 11,410 | Martin Hanselmann | |
| Hamburg Sea Devils | Ted Daisher | Released[3] | July 6, 2021 | Andreas Nommensen | July 13, 2021[4] |
For its first season, the league pays a salary to American "import" players 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] Despite claims to the contrary by the league, most "local" players did not get paid during the 2021 season.
The inaugural Championship Game, between the North and South division champions, was played on September 26, at Merkur Spiel-Arena in Düsseldorf.[6] In a game in which the lead changed more than once, Frankfurt, not confident enough of the quality of their placekicker, opted for two-point conversions after every single touchdown (only one out of five being successful), and not attempting a single field goal. Meanwhile, Hamburg's kicker Phillip Friis Andersen, who led the league in successful attempts during the regular season and won "Special Teams Player of the year", missed 2 FG attempts, including one from 61 yards on the last play, that could have won the game for Hamburg.
The Championship MVP trophy was won by Frankfurt QB Jakeb Sullivan, who passed for 324 yards, with 4 TD and no interceptions, and added another rushing TD.
The inaugural All-Star Game was 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 Federation of American Football All-Stars.[7] [8] [9]
[12] 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.
| width=25 | Rank | width=170 | Team | width=45 | width=45 | width=45 | width=45 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=center | 1 | 5 | 4,500 | 3,000 | |||||||||
| align=center | 2 | 5 | 2,800 | 1,500 | |||||||||
| align=center | 3 | 5 | 2,380 | 1,727 | |||||||||
| align=center | 4 | 5 | 1,800 | 1,600 | |||||||||
| align=center | 5 | 5 | 1,998 | 750 | |||||||||
| align=center | 6 | 4 | 2,500 | 333 | |||||||||
| align=center | 7 | 5 | 1,386 | 775 | |||||||||
| align=center | 8 | 4 | 1,325 | 400 | |||||||||
| align=center | – | Total | align=center | 38 | align=center | 68,504 | align=center | 4,500 | align=center | 333 | align=center |
| Week | Player | Position | Team | Stat | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lukas O'Connor | 27/38, 302 Yds, 4 TD, 0 Int | 1 | |||
| 2 | Madre London | 352 Yds, 4 TD | 2 | |||
| 3 | Seantavius Jones | 9 Rec, 155 Yds, 3 TD | 3 | |||
| 4 | Jakeb Sullivan | 18/25, 270 Yds, 5 TD, 0 Int | 4 | |||
| 5 | Justin Rogers | 2 Punt return TD, 1 Int | 5 | |||
| 6 | Jean Constant | 10 Rec, 164 Yds, 3 TD | 6 | |||
| 7 | Madre London (2) | 320 Yds, 4 TD | 7 | |||
| 8 | Zack Edwards | 20/45, 454 Yds, 4 TD, 0 Int, 2 Rush TD | 8 | |||
| 9 | Joshua Poznanski | 2 Int, 2 return TD, 93 return Yds, 4 Tackles | 9 | |||
| 10 | Michael Birdsong | 16/25, 189 Yds, 5 TD, 0 Int | 10 | |||
| 11 | Madre London (3) | 154 Yds, 1 Rush TD, 1 Rec TD | 11 | |||
| 12 | Moritz Johannknecht | 23/31, 255 Yds, 4 TD, 0 Int, 1 Rush TD | 12 |
On 1. October 2021 the "ELF Honors" were presented at RCADIA Hotel in Hamburg. The following players received the awards mentioned below:[13] [14]
| Category | Player | Position | Team | GP | Stat | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passing | |||||||||||
| Yards | Lukas O'Connor | QB | 11 | 3198 | |||||||
| Touchdowns | Lukas O'Connor | QB | 11 | 28 | |||||||
| Jakeb Sullivan | QB | 10 | 28 | ||||||||
| Completions | Lukas O'Connor | QB | 11 | 259 | |||||||
| Completion percentage | Jakeb Sullivan | QB | 10 | 66.5% | |||||||
| Rushing | |||||||||||
| Yards | Madre London | RB | 10 | 2177 | |||||||
| Touchdowns | Madre London | RB | 10 | 23 | |||||||
| Yards per attempt | Madre London | RB | 10 | 7.2 | |||||||
| Receiving | |||||||||||
| Yards | Jean Constant | WR | 10 | 1038 | |||||||
| Touchdowns | Seantavius Jones | WR | 10 | 12 | |||||||
| Timothy Knüttel | WR | Leipzig Kings | 10 | 12 | |||||||
| Receptions | Jean Constant | WR | 10 | 74 | |||||||
| Yards per reception | Seantavius Jones | WR | 10 | 16.9 | |||||||
| Defensive | |||||||||||
| Sacks | Kyle Kitchens | LB | 10 | 12.5 | |||||||
| Tackles | Wael Nasri  | LB | 10 | 141 | |||||||
| Interceptions | Joshua Poznanski | DB | 11 | 5 | |||||||
| Andy Vera | DB | 8 | 5 | ||||||||
| Justin Rogers | DB | 11 | 5 | Interceptions | Jordi Brugnani Sebastian Gauthier  Joshua Poznanski Darius Robinson Omari Williams Goran Zec | DB | 3 4 4 3 4 3 | 2--> | |||
The following players invited to the NFL's International Combine, assigned to NFL's International Player Pathway Program (IPPP), signed or drafted by CFL team or signed with USFL team following their involvement with The ELF in 2021:[16] [17] [18]
| Player | Position | ELF team | NFL team |
|---|---|---|---|
| DL | International Combine | ||
| DL | International Combine | ||
| DL | Houston Texans (IPPP) | ||
| DL | International Combine | ||
| DL | International Combine | ||
| LB | International Combine | ||
| DB | Indianapolis Colts (IPPP) | ||
| WR | International Combine | ||
| OL | International Combine | ||
| OL | International Combine | ||
| OL | International Combine | ||
| OL | International Combine | ||
| TE | International Combine | ||
| TE | International Combine | ||
The following players signed with a CFL team:
| Player | Position | ELF team | CFL team |
|---|---|---|---|
| WR | Ottawa Redblacks | ||
| OL | Calgary Stampeders | ||
| WR | Ottawa Redblacks | ||
The following players got drafted in the CFL's Global draft:
| Player | Position | ELF team | CFL team | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DL | 3 | |||
| DB | 16 | |||
| FB | 21 | |||
| OL | 22 | |||
| Player | Position | ELF team | USFL team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RB | ||||
| DE | ||||
| WR | New Jersey Generals | |||
| S | ||||
| LB |
| Region | Broadcaster | |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | ProSieben Maxx | |
| Spain | Esport3 | |
| Worldwide | ELF Gamepass |