Milano Seamen
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The Milano Seamen were a franchise of the European League of Football that joined the league for the 2023 season and left after the 2024 season to rejoin in 2026.
History[edit | edit source]
The Seamen Milano were founded by Sergio Galeotti, a shareholder of the "Giorgio Armani SpA" on October 27, 1981. In the 1980s they were one of the most successful Italian teams collecting two Italian Super Bowl appearances in 1987 and 1989, with an overall record of 68 wins, 4 draws and 39 defeats in 111 games played. After finishing the 1987 regular season with a record of 11–1, the Milano Seamen defeated the Giaguari Torino 49–3 in the eight-finals. Their winning streak continued after defeating the Rhinos 29-6 and the Doves 20–14 in the quarter- and semi-finals respectively. They lost the Super Bowl against the Frogs Legnano 24–27 after suffering a TD pass with a few seconds remaining on the game clock. They won the Under 20 National Championship in 1989. The team folded in 1990.
After 19 years, in 2009, the team was reestablished by a group of former players, winning the Under 19 championship a year later in 2010 with a lot of athletes from the Falcons Milano, a team disbanded in 2009, the Seamen took part at the II Division championship.
In 2010, the Seamen Milano were admitted to the Italian Football League Championship. In 2012 Joe Avezzano became the Head Coach of the Milano Seamen. In 2014 the Seamen won the Italian Super Bowl for the first time in their history, beating the Parma Panthers 33–3. After the 2020 season was cancelled because of the covid pandemic, the Seamen were playing in the Italian Bowl four times in a row. They lost against the Parma Panthers with 34–40. In the 2021 CEFL season, they lost their quarter-finals too.
In the Italian Bowl 2022 they lost to the Guelfi Firenze with 17–21.
The team announced in April 2022, that they will join the for the 2023 season after negotiation talks with the national association were successful.
The organization will no longer participate in the IFL, but will have a cooperation with the local team Legano Frogs for developing young players. After that, the stadium, headcoach and general manager of the previous club were confirmed.
2023 Season[edit | edit source]
On August 10, 2022, the Seamen announced on Instagram that the Velodromo Vigorelli would continue to serve as their home ground in the 2023 season. One day later, they published the information that Stefan Pokorny will also remain Head Coach in the ELF. General Manager of the ELF franchise is Marco Mutti, who co-founded the team in 1981 and 2009. The Seamen finished their first season in the ELF in last place in the Central Conference, winning just two games. One day after the last game, Stefan Pokorny announced his resignation as head coach.
2024 Season[edit | edit source]
Jim Ward was hired as the new Head Coach for the 2024 season in October 2023. Ward had previously worked as defensive coordinator for the Helvetic Guards. Malik Hoskins joined the Seamen as offensive coordinator. After seven years, the team parted ways with quarterback Luke Zahradka, who subsequently joined the Frankfurt Galaxy. His successor was Zach Bronkhorst from the Angelo State Rams (NCAA Div II).
In sporting terms, the Milano Seamen improved compared to the 2023 season with 4 wins and 8 defeats, although these victories were not against stronger teams. In the end, they finished 4th in the Central Conference, far behind 3rd-placed Raiders Tirol (8-4).
2025 Season[edit | edit source]
On December 4, 2024, the franchise announced that it would not participate in the 2025 season. The plan is to compete again with a team in the European League of Football in 2026. [1] [2]
Stadium[edit | edit source]
After the renovation of the historical stadium Velodromo Vigorelli ended up in 2018, the Milano Seamen were able to play again their home games there, after the brief experience at the Stadio Breda in Sesto San Giovanni, Milan. The Stadium features an artificial turf and endzones in the color of the franchise
Players[edit | edit source]
Top Players[edit | edit source]
| Quarterback | Year | G | COMP | ATT | CMP% | YDS | TD | INT | SCK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luke Zahradka | 2023 | 12 | 293 | 498 | 58.8 | 3518 | 25 | 14 | 24 |
| Receiver | Year | G | RRC | TGT | YDS | CTCH % | YPG | YPC | LNG | TD | TD/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jean Constant | 2023 | 8 | 65 | 104 | 823 | 62.5 | 102.9 | 12.7 | 59 | 3 | 0.4 |
| Juan Flores-Calderon | 2023 | 12 | 43 | 87 | 817 | 49.4 | 68.1 | 19.0 | 65 | 9 | 0.8 |
| Running | Year | G | ATT | YDS | AVG | YPG | LNG | TD | TD/G | FMB | FML |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ali Khalife | 2023 | 11 | 98 | 387 | 3.9 | 35.2 | 67 | 3 | 0.3 | 3 | 3 |
| Modeste Pooda | 2023 | 12 | 85 | 305 | 3.6 | 25.4 | 23 | 1 | 0.1 | 1 | 0 |
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 | ||||||
2023 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
| ||||||
Staff[edit | edit source]
Head Coaches[edit | edit source]
| Name | Tenure | Record | Titles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | |||
| Stefan Pokorny | 2023 | 2 | 10 | - |
| Jim Ward | 2024 | 4 | 8 | - |
2024 Staff[edit | edit source]
|
Front office
Head coach
Offensive coaches
|
Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
Assistant coaches
Strength and conditioning
| |||||
Total record[edit | edit source]
| Games | Win | Loss | Win % | P+ | P- | PDiff | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milano Seamen | 24 | 6 | 18 | 0.250 | 536 | 899 | -363 |
Record per Season[edit | edit source]
| Season | Conference | Rank | Games | Win | Loss | Win % | P+ | P- | Playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Central | 6 | 12 | 2 | 10 | 0.167 | 328 | 497 | |
| 2024 | Central | 4 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 0.333 | 208 | 402 |
Record per Opponent[edit | edit source]
| Games | Win | Loss | Win % | P+ | P- | PDiff | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barcelona Dragons | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0.750 | 150 | 123 | +27 |
| Helvetic Guards | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 56 | 31 | +25 |
| Helvetic Mercenaries | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 24 | 23 | +1 |
| Fehérvár Enthroners | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 36 | 41 | -5 |
| Frankfurt Galaxy | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.000 | 47 | 93 | -46 |
| Raiders Tirol | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0.000 | 40 | 142 | -102 |
| Munich Ravens | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0.000 | 103 | 222 | -119 |
| Stuttgart Surge | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0.000 | 80 | 224 | -144 |
Source: https://elfdata.eu/
