2021 European League of Football season

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[A]	05,400	Jag Bal
		Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark[B]	19,708
Hamburg Sea Devils	Hamburg	Stadion Hoheluft	11,000	Andreas Nommensen
Leipzig Kings	Leipzig	Alfred-Kunze-Sportpark	04,999	Fred Armstrong
Wrocław Panthers	Wrocław	Olympic Stadium	11,000	Kuba Samel
South Division
Barcelona Dragons	Reus	Estadi Municipal	04,700	Adam Rita
Cologne Centurions	Cologne	Südstadion[C]	11,748	Kirk Heidelberg
		Ostkampfbahn[D]	00,333[2]
Frankfurt Galaxy	Frankfurt	PSD Bank Arena	12,542	Thomas Kösling
Stuttgart Surge	Stuttgart	Gazi-Stadion auf der Waldau	11,410	Martin Hanselmann

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]

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.^{[citation needed]}

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]

Year	Home		Away		Venue	City	Attendance	Ref
2021	ELF All Stars	26	US Federation All Stars	8	Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark	Berlin, Germany		[10][11]

As of September 5, 2021^[12][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]}

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

On 1. October 2021 the "ELF Honors" were presented at RCADIA Hotel in Hamburg. The following players received the awards mentioned below:^[13][14]

• Most Valuable Player: Madre London, Running back, Cologne Centurions
• Offensive Player of the Year: Jakeb Sullivan, Quarterback, Frankfurt Galaxy
• Defensive Player of the Year: Kyle Kitchens, Defensive End, Leipzig Kings
• Special Teams Player of the Year: Phillip Friis Andersen, Kicker / Punter, Hamburg Sea Devils
• Rookie of the Year: Louis Geyer, Wide Receiver, Stuttgart Surge
• Coach of the Year: Thomas Kösling, Head coach, Frankfurt Galaxy
• Offensive Rookie of the Year: Gerald Ameln, Running back, Frankfurt Galaxy
• Defensive Rookie of the Year: Marcel Dabo, Cornerback, Stuttgart Surge
• Assistant Coach of the Year: Kendral Ellison, Defensive Coordinator, Hamburg Sea Devils
• Man of Honor: Jan Weinreich, Quarterback, Cologne Centurions

As of September 12, 2021^[15]

Category	Player	Position	Team	GP	Stat
Passing
Yards	Lukas O'Connor	QB	Wrocław Panthers	11	3198
Touchdowns	Lukas O'Connor	QB	Wrocław Panthers	11	28
	Jakeb Sullivan	QB	Frankfurt Galaxy	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	WR	Berlin Thunder	10	12
	Timothy Knüttel	WR	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	DB	Frankfurt Galaxy	11	5
	Andy Vera	DB	Barcelona Dragons	8	5
	Justin Rogers	DB	Hamburg Sea Devils	11	5

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]

The following players signed with a CFL team:

The following players got drafted in the CFL's Global draft: