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The Barcelona Dragons were a founding member of the European League of Football in 2021 and left the league after the 2024 season.
The Barcelona Dragons was created as one of the founding teams of the league. Initially it was called Gladiators Football, but on March 9, 2021, an agreement was signed between the European League of Football and the NFL stipulating the cession of the names rights to the teams that played in the former NFL Europe.[1]
Barcelona Dragons' first season started on June 19, 2021 with a 17:21 loss against Stuttgart Surge. This game was played at the Estadi Municipal de Reus in front of about 2,000 spectators[2]. The team, with Adam Rita as head coach, closed the sason with a negative record of 3 wins and 7 losses. With this result they finished third in the South Divison and could not qualify for the playoff.
This season started with Andrew Weidinger as the new Head Coach.[3] Barcelona Dragons played their firts game in Germany against Stuttgart Surge and won 38:9.[4] They maintained their consecutivve winning streak for four more games until they lost in Week 5 against Vienna Vikings. They finished the reagular season being conference champions with 8 wins and 4 losses.[5] Barcelona played playoffs semifinals being defeated by the Vienna Vikings.[6]
In May 2023, the investment group Elite Sports becomes the majority shareholder of the Catalan team. The investor group is backed by technology entrepreneur Jason Robinson, Super Bowl XLVIII MVP Malcolm Smith, investor Marcelia Freeman and former professional golfer Martin Roache. [7] The Dragons moved to the Olimpic de Terrassa stadium, around 100 km closer to Barcelona than Reus. The team started the season with two wins. New quarterback Connor Miller was named league MVP of the week on the second game day. After that, things went from bad to worse for the Dragons. They did not manage a single win until the end of the season and lost their last game in Munich with a score of 0:55. After the season, general manager Bart Iaccarino resigned from his position. The Dragons also parted ways with head coach Gabriel Sánchez.
In November, the Barcelona Dragons announced David Shelton as their head coach for the 2024 season. His son Dominique Shelton was also signed as a player. He had played for the Raiders Tirol and Berlin Thunder in 2022. Levi Lewis, who was in the 2022 squad of the NFL team Seattle Seahawks, was signed as quarterback.
The franchise announced on the 20th of March that they will play the 2024 season at the Estadi Municipal de Badalona, just 15 minutes from the city center of Barcelona.
After Week 6, the Dragons released DB Dominique Shelton [8], the son of head coach David Shelton, who also left the team a few days later. [9] It emerged that many players were not paid at all or were paid late, were not insured and were only in Spain on tourist visas. As a result, many players left the team as the general mood was at rock bottom. [10] In week 7 at the home game against the Munich Ravens the Dragons could only muster very few players and played without import players. By halftime, they were complaining new injuries and conceded the game at 0:54 from their perspective. [11] [12] In total, at least 24 players left the team and it was expected that the Dragons would withdraw from the league. However, things turned out differently, the franchise decided to hire new players and try with a new team in week 8. [13] The new head coach was Oscar Calatayud. [14] The Dragons were unable to win any of their remaining six games, finishing the season with a 2-10 record and clearly missing out on the playoffs in penultimate place in the Central Conference.
After not hearing anything from the Dragons for a long time and the rumors that they would leave the league grew louder and louder, the people in charge were forced to publish a statement on Instagram on December 4, 2024, in which they announced that they would also participate in the 2025 season.
The Dragons' website is still unavailable at this time. This has been the case for weeks.
Shortly after this statement, the league posted on Instagram that the Dragons (and the Milano Seamen) will not be part of the 2025 season. [15]
"The European League of Football will start the 2025 season with 16 teams from nine nations. Nordic Storm will join, the Milano Seamen will take a one-year break and return in 2026, and the Barcelona Dragons will leave the European League of Football."
In 2021 and 2022, the Dragons' home stadium was the 4700-capacity Estadi Municipal de Reus in Reus, a city around 110 km southwest of Barcelona. In the 2023 season, the Estadi Olímpic de Terrassa, the former Olympic field hockey stadium with space for 11,500 spectators, was chosen as the home ground.
Only players who have passed for at least 1,000 career yards for their team are included in this list.
| Barcelona Dragons all-time passing leaders | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | S | G | COMP | ATT | CMP% | YDS | TD | INT | SCK |
| Zachary Edwards | 2 | 23 | 458 | 821 | 55.8 | 5963 | 58 | 21 | 94 |
| Conor Miller | 1 | 10 | 220 | 391 | 56.3 | 2482 | 18 | 10 | 8 |
Only players who have received for at least 500 career yards for their team are included in this list.
| Barcelona Dragons all-time receiving leaders | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | S | G | REC | TGT | CTCH % | YDS | TD | ||
| Kyle Sweet | 1 | 13 | 118 | 180 | 65.6 | 1594 | 17 | ||
| Jean Constant | 1 | 10 | 74 | 112 | 66.1 | 1038 | 8 | ||
| Theodor Landström | 1 | 12 | 56 | 121 | 46.3 | 805 | 8 | ||
| Antoni Montón | 4 | 41 | 95 | 132 | 72 | 759 | 6 | ||
| Rémi Bertellin | 1 | 9 | 47 | 85 | 55.3 | 750 | 7 | ||
| Jordi Torrededia | 3 | 31 | 73 | 120 | 60.8 | 744 | 9 | ||
| Mario Flores Somolinos | 2 | 22 | 51 | 108 | 47.2 | 674 | 6 | ||
| Joshua Johnston | 1 | 7 | 50 | 78 | 64.1 | 600 | 2 | ||
| Benjamin Plu | 1 | 13 | 41 | 70 | 58.6 | 567 | 5 | ||
Only players who have rushed for at least 400 career yards for their team are included in this list.
| Barcelona Dragons all-time rushing leaders | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | S | G | ATT | YDS | AVG | YPG | TD | TD/G | FMB | FML |
| Zachary Edwards | 2 | 23 | 185 | 810 | 4.4 | 35.2 | 7 | 0.3 | 7 | 2 |
| Antoni Montón | 4 | 41 | 266 | 730 | 2.7 | 17.8 | 4 | 0.1 | 5 | 3 |
| Adrian Jimenez | 2 | 20 | 130 | 620 | 4.8 | 31 | 4 | 0.2 | 4 | 3 |
Only players who have kicked for at least 25 points for their team are included in this list.
| Barcelona Dragons all-time kicking leaders | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | S | G | FG Made | FG BLCK | FG ATT | FG PCT | FG LNG | XP MADE | XP ATT | XP PCT | PTS | ACC % |
| Giorgio Tavecchio | 2 | 18 | 15 | 1 | 25 | 60 | 56 | 51 | 61 | 83.6 | 96 | 76.7 |
| Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
|
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen |
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams |
Injured reserve
Names with a strikethrough = season ending
| ||||||
| Quarterbacks
Running backs Wide receivers
Tight ends
|
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen |
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams |
Names with a strikethrough = season ending
Rookies in italics | ||||||
| Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
|
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen |
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
|
Names with a strikethrough = season ending
| ||||||
| Name | Tenure | Record | Titles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | |||
| Adam Rita | 2021 | 3 | 7 | – |
| Andrew Weidinger | 2022 | 8 | 4 | Southern Conference title 2022 |
| Gabriel Sánchez | 2023 | 2 | 10 | – |
| David Shelton | 2024 | 2 | 6 | – |
| Oscar Calatayud | 2024 | 0 | 4 | – |
|
Front office
Head coach
Offensive coaches
|
Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
Assistant coaches
Strength and conditioning
| |||||
| Games | Win | Loss | Win % | P+ | P- | PDiff | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barcelona Dragons | 47 | 15 | 32 | 0.319 | 929 | 1514 | -585 |
| Season | Conference | Rank | Games | Win | Loss | Win % | P+ | P- | Playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | South | 3 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0.300 | 237 | 277 | |
| 2022 | Southern | 1 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0.667 | 364 | 225 | Semi final @ Vienna Vikings 12-39 |
| 2023 | Central | 5 | 12 | 2 | 10 | 0.167 | 199 | 396 | |
| 2024 | Central | 5 | 12 | 2 | 10 | 0.167 | 117 | 577 |
| Games | Win | Loss | Win % | P+ | P- | PDiff | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rhein Fire | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 50 | 36 | +14 |
| Helvetic Mercenaries | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 37 | 31 | +6 |
| Cologne Centurions | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0.750 | 143 | 138 | +5 |
| Istanbul Rams | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 60 | 29 | +31 |
| Berlin Thunder | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 51 | 35 | +16 |
| Helvetic Guards | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 48 | 39 | +9 |
| Stuttgart Surge | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0.375 | 190 | 241 | -51 |
| Hamburg Sea Devils | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0.250 | 76 | 99 | -23 |
| Milano Seamen | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0.250 | 123 | 150 | -27 |
| Frankfurt Galaxy | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.000 | 36 | 64 | -28 |
| Vienna Vikings | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0.000 | 50 | 90 | -40 |
| Paris Musketeers | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.000 | 15 | 87 | -72 |
| Madrid Bravos | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.000 | 12 | 96 | -84 |
| Raiders Tirol | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0.000 | 23 | 141 | -118 |
| Munich Ravens | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0.000 | 15 | 238 | -223 |
Source: https://elfdata.eu/
