Helvetic Mercenaries
.svg)
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.
History[edit | edit source]
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 2022, they already appeared as shareholders of the Cologne Centurions, but left the franchise shortly afterwards. [9]
2024 Season[edit | edit source]
On April 14, the franchise announced its head coach for the 2024 season. [10] 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.
2025 Season[edit | edit source]
In October 2024, Marcus Herford was introduced as the new Head Coach for the 2025 season. [11]
Stadium[edit | edit source]
2024[edit | edit source]
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 Brรผhl stadium, the remaining home games at the Kleinfeld sports center. [12]
2025[edit | edit source]
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. [13]
2025 Roster[edit | edit source]
Quarterbacks
Running backs Wide receivers
|
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen |
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
|
Names with a strikethrough = season ending
Rookies in italics | ||||||
2024 Roster[edit | edit source]
| Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends |
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
|
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
|
Injured reserve
Names with a strikethrough = season ending
Rookies in italics | ||||||
2024 Staff[edit | edit source]
|
Front office
Head coach
Offensive coaches
|
Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
Strength and conditioning
| |||||
Head Coaches[edit | edit source]
| Name | Tenure | Record | Titles | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | |||
| Val Gunn | 2024 | 1 | 5 | 0 | โ |
| Bryan Billy | 2024 | 0 | 6 | 0 | โ |
| Marcus Herford | 2025 | 0 | 0 | 0 | โ |
Total record[edit | edit source]
| Games | Win | Loss | Win % | P+ | P- | PDiff | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helvetic Mercenaries | 12 | 1 | 11 | 0.083 | 185 | 438 | -253 |
Record per Season[edit | edit source]
| Season | Conference | Rank | Games | Win | Loss | Win % | P+ | P- | Playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Central | 6 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 0.083 | 185 | 438 |
Record per Opponent[edit | edit source]
| Games | Win | Loss | Win % | P+ | P- | PDiff | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milano Seamen | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 23 | 24 | -1 |
| Barcelona Dragons | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.000 | 31 | 37 | -6 |
| Raiders Tirol | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.000 | 38 | 75 | -37 |
| Vienna Vikings | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.000 | 43 | 98 | -55 |
| Munich Ravens | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.000 | 36 | 93 | -57 |
| Stuttgart Surge | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.000 | 14 | 111 | -97 |
Source: https://elfdata.eu/
References[edit | edit source]
- โ https://europeanleague.football/news/swiss-franchise-enters-2024-elf-season-with-new-ownership-group-and-new-team-name-1779
- โ https://www.instagram.com/p/C5oIvGutvKv/?img_index=1
- โ https://endzone.ch/der-managing-director-des-neuen-schweizer-elf-teams-im-talk/
- โ https://endzone.ch/helvetic-guards-die-athletic-directors-j-c-williams-matt-hammer
- โ https://ag.chregister.ch/cr-portal/auszug/auszug.xhtml?uid=CHE-494.605.885
- โ https://new.reddit.com/r/elf/comments/1dfocv0/the_mercenaries_chaos_continues/
- โ https://www.instagram.com/p/C8Xf9DJo7PI/
- โ https://footbowl.eu/erneut-neue-eigentuemer-fuer-die-mercenaries/
- โ https://www.football-aktuell.de/cgi-bin/news.pl?artikel=1667311279802813
- โ https://www.instagram.com/p/C5v3Eo0r8I8/
- โ https://europeanleague.football/news/elf-returnee-marcus-herford-named-new-mercenaries-head-coach-2573
- โ https://www.instagram.com/p/C6JnHg8oRQI/
- โ https://www.instagram.com/p/DDtsIXsxYdw/
