Panthers Wrocław
The Panthers Wrocław are an American football team based in Wrocław, Poland, that plays in the European League of Football (ELF) since the inaugural season 2021.
Panthers have qualified for the semifinal in 2021, and the wildcard round in 2023.
Panthers have Ukraine as additional homegrown market.[1]
History[edit | edit source]
Pre-ELF[edit | edit source]
The Panthers Wrocław were founded in 2013 by Giants-Wrocław players and former Devils-Wrocław players. In 2014 and 2015 the Panthers were Polish runners-up, the following year they won the championship and were winners of the IFAF Europe Champions League.
Since 2019, the Panthers have been cooperating with the Jaguars Kąty Wroclawskie from the suburb of Kąty Wrocławskie.
The first announcements of the league already included the Panthers as one of the participants.[2]
2021 Season[edit | edit source]
In the 2021 season, the Panthers finished the regular season in second place in the North Division with six wins and four losses. They qualified for the semifinals, where they lost to the Hamburg Sea Devils 27-30.
2022 Season[edit | edit source]
The Panthers finished the 2022 season in 3rd place in the Northern Conference with five wins to seven losses. Following the season, Kuba Samel resigned as head coach and was named the Panthers' athletic director. U.S. college football coach Dave Christensen was announced as his successor in November 2022.
2023 Season[edit | edit source]
The Panthers signed American quarterback Nik Rango for the 2023 season, but released him a few weeks before the start of the regular season without naming a replacement yet. [3] On 5/25/2023, 9 days before the season started, the Panthers announced that Matthew Vitale is their new quarterback for the 2023 season.[4] With eight wins and four losses, they qualified for the Wild Card Round, where they lost to Stuttgart Surge.
2024 Season[edit | edit source]
After A.J. Wentland had already received a two-year contract as a US American in the pre-season, Special Teams Player of the Year Devan Burrell was also signed by the Panthers. Adrià Botella Moreno came from the Paris Musketeers as an E-spot.
For the season opener against the Berlin Thunder, the Panthers play for the first time in the Tarczyński Arena with a capacity of 45,105
Stadium[edit | edit source]
The Olympic Stadium (Polish: Stadion Olimpijski) is a multi-purpose stadium in Wrocław, Poland. It is the home stadium of speedway team Sparta Wrocław and American football team Panthers Wrocław.
The stadium has a capacity now of 11,000 people and was supposed to be one of the main pitches on UEFA Euro 2012. The newly constructed Stadion Miejski (Tarczyński Arena) was used for that event instead.
The Panthers will play their opening game of the 2024 season vs Berlin Thunder in the Tarczyński Arena, which has a capacity of 45,105.
Players[edit | edit source]
Top Players[edit | edit source]
Quarterback | Year | G | COMP | ATT | CMP% | YDS | TD | INT | SCK |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lukas O'Connor | 2021 | 10 | 237 | 390 | 60,77 | 2879 | 24 | 11 | 19 |
Receiver | Year | G | RRC | TGT | YDS | CTCH % | YPG | YPC | LNG | TD | TD/G |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jakub Mazan | 2021-22 | 22 | 93 | 159 | 1265 | 58.5% | 57.5 | 13.6 | 80 | 11 | 0.5 |
Malik Stanley | 2022 | 12 | 87 | 134 | 1099 | 64.9% | 91.6 | 12.6 | 65 | 12 | 1.0 |
Przemysław Banat | 2021-22 | 18 | 70 | 104 | 956 | 67.3% | 53.1 | 13.7 | 58 | 8 | 0.4 |
Running | Year | G | ATT | YDS | AVG | YPG | LNG | TD | TD/G | FMB | FML |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dawid Brzozowski | 2022-23 | 23 | 329 | 1696 | 5.2 | 73.7 | 64 | 15 | 0.7 | 4 | 1 |
2024 Roster[edit | edit source]
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 |
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 | |||
Jakub Samel | 2021-2022 | 11 | 12 | - |
Dave Christensen | 2023-2024 | 10 | 8 | - |
Craig Kuligowski | 2024-current | 6 | 6 | - |
2024 Staff[edit | edit source]
Front office
Head coach
Offensive coaches
|
Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
Assistant coaches
|
Total record[edit | edit source]
Games | Win | Loss | Win % | P+ | P- | PDiff | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Panthers Wrocław | 47 | 24 | 23 | 0.511 | 1352 | 1140 | +212 |
Record per Season[edit | edit source]
Season | Conference | Rank | Games | Win | Loss | Win % | P+ | P- | Playoffs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | North | 2 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0.600 | 314 | 259 | Semi final @ Hamburg Sea Devils 27-30 |
2022 | Northern | 3 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 0.417 | 287 | 314 | |
2023 | Eastern | 3 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0.667 | 385 | 221 | Wild card round @ Stuttgart Surge 14-37 |
2024 | Eastern | 2 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 0.500 | 356 | 285 |
Record per Opponent[edit | edit source]
Games | Win | Loss | Win % | P+ | P- | PDiff | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fehérvár Enthroners | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 204 | 63 | +141 |
Prague Lions | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 133 | 46 | +87 |
Leipzig Kings | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1.000 | 181 | 111 | +70 |
Berlin Thunder | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0.500 | 242 | 221 | +21 |
Cologne Centurions | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 86 | 72 | +14 |
Stuttgart Surge | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0.400 | 110 | 146 | -36 |
Hamburg Sea Devils | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0.286 | 147 | 165 | -18 |
Vienna Vikings | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0.167 | 123 | 133 | -10 |
Frankfurt Galaxy | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0.167 | 126 | 183 | -57 |
Source: https://elfdata.eu/
See also[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ https://europeanleague.football/news/european-league-of-football-expands-homegrown-market-for-three-nations-1859
- ↑ https://www.abendblatt.de/sport/article230829884/European-League-of-Football-ELF-Hamburg-Patrick-Esume.html?fbclid=IwAR1gZ-bfxFW6XLITh0X1OY7d8dBZGSvUhO5pTLvS8Onby7pzbjFH-HCbV4M
- ↑ https://europeanleague.football/elf-news/wroclaw-panthers-release-american-quarterback-replace-division-i-wide-receiver
- ↑ https://en.pantherswroclaw.com/posts/qb1-on-site-matthew-vitale-joins-panthers-wroclaw/287