Del Rio at Forefront of New Dawn of European American Football

By Peter Mann

The constantly changing landscape of Europe’s mainstream American football scene took on a new, differing dimension during this past, winter off-season, with the still-fledgling European Football League splitting in two.

Nations across the continent housing football leagues, with organisations dating back to the 1980s when the NFL took British/European shores by storm; although the UKs British American Football League is not the oldest, that belongs to Germany.

On an international level, the World League of American Football/NFL Europe ran between 1989 and 2007, with the European League of Football running for the past five seasons – until now…

Germany have had continuous success during the mainstream European leagues with Frankfurt Galaxy winning four World Bowl titles (1995, 1999, 2003, and 2006), Berlin Thunder three (2001, 2002, and 2004), Rhein Fire two (1998 and 2000), and Hamburg Sea Devils one (2007).

Domestically, and with their league dating back to the late 1970s, their most successful franchise has been the New Yorker Lions with a dozen titles; German dominance continued in the ELF as well, with the newly founded Rhein Fire winning back-to-back in 2023-2024, whilst Frankfurt Galaxy (2021) and Stuttgart Surge (2025) won the first and last version.

Teams in Austria (Vienna Vikings and Danube Dragons), Italy (Milano Seamen and Bergamo Lions), Spain (Madrid Bravos and Badalona Dracs), and France (Paris Musketeers and La Courneuve Flash), whilst the Central European Football League (CEFL) has increased in participants season-on-season.

Heading into the 2026 season, next month (May) and Europe’s winter off-season has been nothing short of chaotic, and the less said of the ins-and outs of what has gone on behind the scenes, the better; basically, the ELF is no longer, and two ‘new’ leagues have sprung forth.

Meet the European Football Alliance (EFA) and the American Football League Europe (AFLE), consisting of six and eight European American Football organisations respectively; a keen eye on the former of the two will zoom in on the Paris Musketeers, and their vastly experienced, American Head Coach.

Back in January 2025 a certain Jack Del Rio was named as the Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator of the Paris Musketeers, leading them to second place in the West Division, with a 7-5 winning record, in his debut season.

Del Rio, now 63-years-old, is a former Jacksonville Jaguars (2003-11) and Oakland Raiders (2015-17) Head Coach, having also had positional coaching roles with New Orleans Saints, Baltimore Colts, Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos, and Washington Commanders, amassing over 25yrs in the NFL.

Musketeers CEO, John McKeon said of Del Rio’s appointment in January 2025 (with a nod to the Raiders in there) that; “We are incredibly excited to welcome coach Del Rio to Paris.

“His commitment to excellence and his passion for teaching the game will build upon the tone and culture that was set by our first coach, Marc Mattioli.

“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome him to the Musketeers family and continue building our winning tradition.”

Elsewhere in the EFA, there will also be Frankfurt Galaxy (Germany), Munich Ravens (Germany), Nordic Storm (Denmark), Prague Lions (Czech Republic), and Raiders Tirol (Austria), with the Danish side, Nordic Storm, being last season’s surprise package in the ELF, winning the North Division with an impressive, 11-2 record.

John Shoop’s side then won their Wild Card game, 28-23 against then defending champions, Rhein Fire, before falling in the semi-finals, 28-20 to Vienna Vikings; Shoop, like Del Rio at the Musketeers, is a vastly experienced American coach, he having over three decades worth.

After a couple of years in the college game, with Dartmouth Big Green and Vanderbilt Commodores in the early 1990s, Shoop went on to have roles at several NFL franchises, including Chicago Bears and Oakland Raiders, before spells back in the college game with North Carolina Tar Heels and Purdue Boilermakers.

Just a few years back, in 2022, Shoop appeared in Europe, enjoying three seasons in Germany with Hamburg Sea Devils, Munich Ravens, and Rhein Fire, being announced as Nordic Storm’s number one last season.

The EFA campaign begins mid-May, on the weekend of 15-17 with Paris Musketeers @ Frankfurt Galaxy (PSD Bank Arena), Prague Lions @ Nordic Storm (Gladsaxe Stadion), and Raiders Tirol @ Munich Ravens (Uhlsport Park); the play-off semi-finals are scheduled to take place in Frankfurt on 15/16 August.

Season finale for the EFA is scheduled for Saturday 29 August.

Now, on the flipside of the EFA, is the other newly-created league, the American Football League Europe (AFLE), came to life whilst the world was enjoying its Christmas festivities last year, with four of the eight franchises involved coming from the former ELF, alongside four newcomers to the ‘top table.’

Flagship ELF names, Rhein Fire (Germany) and Vienna Vikings (Austria) will be joined by Panthers Wroclaw (Poland) and Berlin Thunder (Germany), alongside Alpine Rams (Switzerland), Paris Lights (France), Firenze Red Lions (Italy), and, having left the British American Football Association, the recently announced newcomers, London Warriors.

Leading each of the AFLE franchises will be Berlin Thunder’s Shaun Cooper (first season at the helm), Dave Likins with Wroclaw Panthers, Mark Ridgley leading European powerhouses, Rhien Fire for the first time, Joshua Fitzgerald at the Alpine Rams, Chris Calaycay with last seasons ELF Championship runners-up, Vienna Vikings, David Shelton leads the Paris Lights, and Bill Shuey, with over 40 years coaching experience, at Firenze Red Lions.

With all seven of those Head Coaches being American, the stand-out difference comes in the shape of the very recently announced London franchise, BAFA’s English powerhouse, London Warriors, who’ll be fronted by another vastly experienced, Tony Allen.

Winning seven Britbowl National Championships, all in the last thirteen years, the Warriors will be hoping to bring something fresh, different, to the European table, and they’ll take to the field, for the first time, on the opening weekend of the upcoming AFLE season.

The AFLE campaign looks set to kick off on the weekend of 23-24 May with Berlin Thunder @ Vienna Vikings (Wiener-Sport-Club Stadion), and Wroclaw Panthers @ London Warriors (venue n/k).

The league’s semi-finals are scheduled to take place in late August, weekend of 29-30, and the final, named the ‘Gold Bowl,’ is set for Sunday 6 September at the Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena, Duisburg, Germany.

On the plus side of all the chaos that has been spreading the European game, there will be fourteen different organisations, from nine countries, playing the game during the 2026 season, Germany leading the way with four of them, along with two from both Austria and France, and one apiece for Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Italy, Poland, and Switzerland.

PETER MANN

NFL ANALYST

PETER IS A LIFELONG SPORTS FAN, JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR BASED IN COUNTY DURHAM. HE HAS FOLLOWED THE NFL AND THE RAIDERS SINCE THE 1980s, AND LOVES BOTH SPORTS AND FAMILY HISTORY. PETER HAS A DEGREE IN SPORT & EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY, AND CAN BE FOUND ON TWITTER @petermannwriter

 
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