ENTHRONERS UNSEATED? CENTURIONS, SEA DEVILS DONE?
The final week of the 2025 European League of Football regular season may have been the culmination of several campaigns for another year but, in the case of three teams, may also have been the end of their entire ELF journey.
The emergence of the European Football Alliance has cast doubt over the future of the league, and has already led to 11 of the current 16 teams enrolling with the ‘union’, but the fate of the weaker franchises remained unclear — until now.
The news that Cologne were, first, poised to cancel their trip to Tirol due to having insufficient players amid problems with unpaid salaries and insurance premiums was soon followed by the revelation that homegrown players were attempting to fulfil the fixture by travelling to Austria in their own vehicles — an admirable gesture, but a damning exclamation mark to end a pitiful season that saw the Centurions propping up almost every significant metric. The club had already seen several members of its roster defect to national league outfits around Europe in the lead-up to the game, and the ensuing 63-6 defeat was nothing short of a fighting performance to cap an 0-12 season.
Gridiron has approached the Centurions for comment, but has yet to have a response — something perhaps to have been expected once the ‘official’ Twitter/X feed turned into something of a parody, first proclaiming the ‘breaking news’ that the Centurions would not lose in Week 14, then cycling through a series of tongue-in-cheek messages once it appeared that the game would indeed go ahead.
The Centurions’ Instagram account was a little more circumspect, its latest post a heartfelt thank-you to those who kept the lights on in 2025. Cologne’s future has not been revealed, despite claims that ‘a new chapter is being written’, but many believe that they will no longer feature in the ELF.
A season full of ups and downs is behind us.
A season that demanded everything from us!
On and off the field.
But we felt one thing in every moment:
We were never alone!!!
Thanks to Head Coach Javan and his team of coaches.
You didn’t just teach us football—you taught us to stand together, to keep fighting, and to never doubt ourselves, even when things were difficult.
Thanks to Auge, Daniel and Stephen — you were the unsung heroes in the background. No one sees how much work you really put in—but without you, we would never have been able to take the field.
Thanks to our team manager Lizzy
You were more than a manager — you were a mom, a sister, and a rock. Always there, day and night, whenever someone needed help.
Thanks to Lucca, who made our home games experiences we’ll never forget.
Thanks to our social media team
You tried to tell our story on your own — and showed us that even with just a few hands, you can achieve great things.
Thanks to our cheerleaders @centurionscologne_cheerleaders, who filled every game with energy and passion. You were our loudest support and the best we could wish for.
And a huge thank you goes out to Jude and his physio team. With his open and humorous manner, he entertained not only the players but also the entire team.
And our biggest thanks go to you — our fans.
You were there when we fell. You carried us when we had no more strength. You traveled with us, suffered and cried with us – and you showed us what ‘Football Family’ truly means.
Each and every one of you was a piece of the puzzle.
And only together did you make this team complete.
What’s next?
Life is currently writing a new chapter.
But one thing remains: our gratitude. Forever.
Thank you. From the bottom of our hearts.
#footballfamily #centurions #cologne
***
Meanwhile, in Hungary, it appears that the decision has been taken to withdraw the Fehervar Enthroners from continental competition and return to the Austrian national league while the team recovers from the effects of another tough campaign. In fairness to the Enthroners, they generally made their opposition work for their wins, before taking one of their own in an overtime nail-biter with the Berlin Thunder, a franchise that has also seen better days but which has been accepted into the EFA fold.
According to a social media post by @WaickDiTeacha, the decision may have been taken some time ago, but the Enthroners continued to play out the season looking like a team making improvements each time they took to the field. Now, however, their ELF future is in question, especially with the EFA having 11 members of what it hopes could be a 12-team replacement for the ailing league.
Again, Gridiron has approached the Enthroners organisation for comment.
***
With the 2025 regular season now over, it also appears that the Hamburg Sea Devils will not be a part of any European resurrection. With majority owner Zeljko Karajica in his final days as CEO and managing director of the ELF, and suggestions that recently-installed replacement Ingo Schiller might be a ‘smokescreen’ after a calamitous meeting with EFA representatives last week, it is inconceivable that Hamburg could jump ship for 2026.
According to the local Abendblatt newspaper, ‘the Sea Devils will definitely no longer be part of the [group] — which also means the end of the Hamburg franchise” which, along with Cologne had adopted a former NFL Europe moniker when joining the ELF in a bid to pair legacy with familiarity amongst fans.
***
One team that, seemingly against the odds, looks set to be part of any future European set-up is the Berlin Thunder.
Despite having gone into voluntary insolvency in a bid to sort its financial woes, the capital’s club has repeatedly said that it had investors interested in securing its future. Again according to Abendblatt, that man is Till Grönemeyer, nephew of the musician Herbert Grönemeyer, who has become the Thunder’s new majority shareholder. Having been a minority investor for a couple of years, Grönemeyer is stepping up his involvement and was given time to presented his ‘Restart Berlin Thunder’ plans at last week’s EFA assembly.
***
If suggestions are true that the EFA will soon add a 12th member and press ahead with plans to start its own league with that number of teams in 2026, the next question is ‘who might team 12 be?’.
The Munich Ravens are the last ‘big’ ELF club to commit to joining the breakaway group, but have bigger things on their minds right now, having secured a bye through the Wildcard round of the 2025 playoffs. It would be a surprise to not see Munich take up the challenge and complete a relatively strong group of teams in any future competition.
With the Centurions, Enthroners and Sea Devils apparently on the way out, that just leaves the Helvetic Mercenaries as an existing option for the EFA. The Swiss side have been on the wrong end of heavy beatings this season, and an 0-12 campaign was confirmed when they went down 69-12 to the Prague Lions on Sunday. Speaking to Gridiron, however, head coach/GM Joshua Fitzgerald refused to throw in the towel, insisting that he knew the direction the team needed to be taken in, but pointing out that the current set-up, with the extremely high cost of living that comes with being based in Switzerland amongst other concerns, did not create a level playing field for the minnow, which admittedly also needs some serious investment.
With the ELF Championship game just three weeks away, and the same date having been set as the deadline for accord between the ELF and EFA, further developments can be expected before too long.