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The Helvetic Guards were an American football team based in Zurich, Switzerland, that plays in the European League of Football (ELF) since 2023. Operations were discontinued in 2024. A successor team to take part in the 2024 season has been announced. [1]
On April 11, the succeeding franchise unveiled its name, Helvetic Mercenaries
The entry of the newly founded franchise into the professional league was announced on 13 May 2022, during a press conference to open the 2022 ELF season by the team's general manager Toni Zöller. Together with co-owner Mukadder Erdönmez and others they established the first ELF franchise in Switzerland.[2]
On 26 August 2022, the team announced Norm Chow as the head coach for the European League of Football 2023 season.[3]
On 30 October 2022 the front office announced that they will play their home games in the Lidl Arena in Wil, Switzerland, about 25 miles (40km) eastern of Zürich.
On 2 December 2022, the team signed Colin Hill to be their starting quarterback. They added fellow US-American running back and wide receiver Silas Nacita on 17 December 2022.
In their first season, the Guards finished with a record of 3-9 and failed to qualify for the playoffs.
They recorded the first win in their history on Matchday 6 with a 22-19 (OT) win over the Barcelona Dragons. On the following game day 7, they defeated the eventual finalists Stuttgart Surge 31-13. The last victory came in week 8, when they won 31-24 in overtime against the Milano Seamen. [4]
On April 4, 2024, it was announced that Helvetic Guards had new owners. They will not compete under the name Helvetic Guards, but will establish a new franchise. The colors and logo will also be changed accordingly. [5]
The Lidl Arena Wil has a total capacity of 6,048. The stadium contains 748 seats and 5,300 standing places.
This section shows the performance data of selected players of the corresponding team.
Only players who have at least 50 passing attempts for this team are included
| Name | # Exp | G | CMP | ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SCK | CMP% | YPG | Y/A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tristan Noble | 1 | 7 | 100 | 192 | 1035 | 5 | 11 | 24 | 52.1% | 147.9 | 5.4 |
| Collin Hill | 1 | 2 | 39 | 72 | 383 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 54.2% | 191.5 | 5.3 |
Only players who have received for at least 500 career yards for their team are included in this list.
| Name | # Exp | GP | Rec | Tgt | Yds | TD | Ctch% | YPC | RPG | YPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silas Nacita | 1 | 12 | 52 | 70 | 603 | 3 | 74.3% | 11.6 | 4.3 | 50.3 |
Only players who scored at least 20 points are included in this list.
| Player | Seasons Active | GP | FG Made | FG Att | FG % | FG Long (Max) | XP Made | XP Att | XP % | FG PTS | XP PTS | Total PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nils Jonkmans | 1 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 85.7% | 57 | 16 | 20 | 80.0% | 36 | 16 | 52 |
Only players who have at least 500 rushing yards for this team are included
| Player | # Exp | GP | Rush Att | Rush YDS | Avg | Rush LNG | Rush TD | Fumbles Lost
No results |
|---|
| Quarterbacks
Running backs Wide receivers
Tight ends |
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen |
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
|
Injured reserve
Practice squad
Roster updated 18 August 2023 | ||||||
| Name | Tenure | Record | Titles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | |||
| Norm Chow | 2023 | 3 | 9 | 0 |
| Games | Win | Loss | Win % | P+ | P- | PDiff | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helvetic Guards | 12 | 3 | 9 | 0.250 | 174 | 378 | -204 |
| Games | Win | Loss | Win % | P+ | P- | PDiff | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barcelona Dragons | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 39 | 48 | -9 |
| Stuttgart Surge | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 50 | 60 | -10 |
| Milano Seamen | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 31 | 56 | -25 |
| Raiders Tirol | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.000 | 21 | 46 | -25 |
| Munich Ravens | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.000 | 16 | 74 | -58 |
| Rhein Fire | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.000 | 17 | 94 | -77 |
Source: https://elfdata.eu/
