Uniform of the Helvetic Mercenaries football team in 2024.
The Helvetic Mercenaries are an American football team based in Zurich, Switzerland, that plays in the European League of Football (ELF) since 2024. It is the successor organization to the Helvetic Guards, which were folded April 2024. A rebranding was obviously necessary for legal reasons.
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.[1]
On April 11, the new franchise unveiled its name, Helvetic Mercenaries, as well as the new logo. [2]
Managing Director is Chris Rummel [3], who also works as Head of Finance at the Swiss American Football Association and is responsible for the Swiss national team. The Sports Director is Matt Hammer, who also held this position with the Guards. [4]
The operating company behind the franchise is American Football Betriebs GmbH, with Chris Rummel as the sole shareholder. [5]
By June 14, GM Matt Hammer had already left the franchise, accusing the unknown owners of not being committed enough. [6]
On June 18, the franchise announced that Sonja and Sandro Moor are now the sole owners of the Helvetic Mercenaries. [7].
Sandro Moor explained to the Foot Bowl blog that the couple had already tried to take over the Swiss franchise before last season. But it never really worked out. Now is the right time. [8]
In October 2024, Marcus Herford was introduced as the new Head Coach for the 2025 season. [10]
Shortly before the start of the season, GM Chris Rummel was first reassigned so that he could focus more on the purely sporting interests of the team before he was dismissed without notice on April 30, 2025. The franchise justified this move with a massive loss of trust. [11][12]
On June 27, before the away game against the Nordic Storm, the franchise announced that it had parted ways with head coach Marcus Herford. [13]
The Mercenaries were unable to play the Week 7 game against Nordic Storm, because they reportedly had too many injured players. [14]
The unofficial word is that a good portion of the players are on strike. This would also fit better with the nebulous wording "As part of the strategic realignment, changes will also be made to the coaching staff. In addition, the franchise will part ways with individual players." which can be found in the team's Instagram posting on the firing of Coach Herford. [15]
On April 14, the franchise announced its head coach for the 2024 season. [16] Val Gunn, who was already Head Coach and General Manager for the Istanbul Rams in 2022, took over the team.
In their first season, the Mercenaries did not get off to a good start. They were only able to win one game against the Milano Seamen, compared to 11 defeats at the end of the season. This left them in last place in the Central Conference.
After Week 6, Val Gunn was replaced as head coach by Bryan Billy, who was unable to win another game with the team.
At the ELF Honors, however, the Mercenaries won 3 awards. DT Pierre-Yves Majo was named
Defensive Rookie of the Year, Milan Spiller (WR) Rookie of the year and Jonathan Falk was named Homegrown player of the year.
On December 18, 2024, the Mercenaries announced that they will play their home games in the Lidl Arena in Wil in 2025. The predecessor organization of the Helvetic Guards also played its games there in 2023. [17]
<tabber>
On 24.04.2024 it was announced that the home games will be played in 2 stadiums. The opening game will be played at the Brühl stadium, the remaining home games at the Kleinfeld sports center. [18]
.svg)
