European Football League

The European Football League (EFL) is a European Cup style tournament for European American Football teams affiliated to EFAF (European Federation of American Football). The final game of the EFL is called the Eurobowl, which has been competed for annually since 1987.

EFL

Under the governance of EFAF, comparable with UEFA in football, the best American Football teams in Europe participate in an annual competition. EFAF determine the relative strength of each of its 17 affiliate leagues and allocates teams to the 4 divisions accordingly, thus not all nations take part. National League Champions, runners-up or teams with International success are eligible for the EFL. Teams from 'weaker' leagues may take part in the EFAF Cup a sort of UEFA Cup for European American Football teams.

Format

Teams are split into 4 divisions of 3 or 2 teams. In a division of 3 teams play 2 matches, once at home to one opponent and the other away to the other opponent. In a division of 2 teams, each team plays each other home and away. The division winners then advance to the play-offs.

The play-off format was changed for the 2008 season. Tournament will be expanded to an eight-team competition. The two finalists from the 2007 season, Vienna Vikings and Marburg Mercenaries, earned automatic berths for the next season and the two semi-finalists, Eidsvoll 1814's from Norway and Tirol Raiders from Austria, earned a spot for the national champions of their respective countries. In quarterfinals these teams face the four winners of the divisional round. In semi-finals teams will be paired by the Eurobowl seeding system, with the best-seeded team facing the worst and the second-best facing the second-worst. Winners will then advance to the Eurobowl.

For a list of Champions see Eurobowl.

EFL 2007

Division 1

# Dodge Vikings Vienna (Austria)
# Moscow Patriots (Russia)
# Helsinki Wolverines (Finland)

Division 2

# Swarco Raiders Tirol (Austria)
# Bergamo Lions (Italy)
# Valencia Firebats (Spain)

Division 3

# Flash de La Courneuve (France)
# L'Hospitalet Pioners (Spain)
# Marburg Mercenaries (Germany)

Division 4

# Eidsvoll 1814s (Norway)
# Porvoo Butchers (Finland)
# Triangle Razorbacks (Denmark)

EFL 2006

The following teams participated:

Division 1

# Dodge Vikings Vienna (Austria)
# Hamburg Blue Devils (Germany)
# Bologna Warriors (Italy)

Division 2

# Stockholm Mean Machines (Sweden)
# Seinäjoki Crocodiles (Finland)
# Moscow Patriots (Russia)

Division 3

# Swarco Raiders Tirol (Austria)
# Braunschweig Lions (Germany)

Division 4

# La Courneuve Flash (France)
# Bergamo Lions (Italy)
# L´Hospitalet Pioners (Spain)

Semi-Final

* Dodge Vikings Vienna vs. Stockholm Mean Machines 42:9
* Swarco Raiders Tirol vs. La Courneuve Flash 17:27

Final

* Dodge Vikings Vienna vs. La Courneuve Flash 41:9 in Vienna.

External links

* [http://www.eurobowl.info European Football League]