The Panthers Wroclaw are an
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
team in
Wrocław
Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
, which was merged from
Giants Wrocław and
Devils Wrocław
The Devils Wrocław were an American football team based in Wrocław, Poland. They played in the Polish American Football League. Devils' American affiliate is Chattanooga Steam from Tennessee. In 2013, they merged with Giants Wrocław forming a n ...
(both founded in 2005). They currently play in the newly formed
European League of Football
The European League of Football (ELF) is a professional American football league. The league (as of the 2023 season) consists of 17 teams located in Germany, Poland, Spain, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Hungary, Czech Republic and France, with p ...
since 2021.
In the past, they played in domestic leagues
PLFA until 2017 and in the
LFA (2018–2020); and in international leagues
IFAF Europe Champions League (2016) and
CEFL
The Central European Football League (CEFL) is a European organization of American football which hosts two international competitions, CEFL Championship and CEFL Cup. The final game of the CEFL Championship playoffs is dubbed CEFL Bowl.
Until t ...
(2017–2019). For the 2021 season they announced their intention to participate in the
European League of Football
The European League of Football (ELF) is a professional American football league. The league (as of the 2023 season) consists of 17 teams located in Germany, Poland, Spain, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Hungary, Czech Republic and France, with p ...
that plans to hold its inaugural season that year.
History
The team was founded in 2013 by a merger of two
PLFA teams,
Giants Wrocław and
Devils Wrocław
The Devils Wrocław were an American football team based in Wrocław, Poland. They played in the Polish American Football League. Devils' American affiliate is Chattanooga Steam from Tennessee. In 2013, they merged with Giants Wrocław forming a n ...
. In 2014, the club played in the
Polish Bowl
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
for the first time, where they lost to
Seahawks Gdynia. In 2016, the Panthers dominated every game and won their first Championship. The Panthers won the title by defeating Seahawks, 56–13. After the Panthers won also the 2017 Polish Bowl, the team left the
Polish American Football League
The Polish American Football League or shortly PLFA ( pl, Polska Liga Futbolu Amerykańskiego) was a structured system for the American football competitions in Poland founded in 2004 by the Polish federation PZFA. In 2012, the Topliga was creat ...
and joined the new
Liga Futbolu Amerykańskiego. In first two seasons in LFA, Panthers won every game in regular season, lost Polish Bowl XIII to Lowlanders Białystok 14–13 in 2018 and won Polish Bowl XIV to Lowlanders 28–14 (both final games were played at Wrocław Olympic Stadium).
The Panthers also became the first Polish team to win the
IFAF Europe Champions League.
Panthers królami Europy!
/ref>
During the COVID-19 lockdown
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countrie ...
, Jakub Samel was named new head coach of the Panthers Wrocław. He is the first Polish head coach in club history. It was also announced that the club would be one of the first 8 to join the new European League of Football
The European League of Football (ELF) is a professional American football league. The league (as of the 2023 season) consists of 17 teams located in Germany, Poland, Spain, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Hungary, Czech Republic and France, with p ...
that is set to start in June 2021.
Uniforms
The Panthers Wrocław's Panther blue home jersey has black numbers, letter outlines and vertical stripes on opposite sides. The away kit consists of a white jersey with dark blue letters and numbers that have orange outlines. Players wear white socks, black helmets with a panther head logo, and black pants to all games.
Roster
Staff
Season-by-season records
Honours
* Polish Bowl
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
(PLFA)
**Champions: 2016, 2017
** Runners-up: 2014, 2015
* Polish Bowl
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
(LFA)
**Champions: 2019, 2020
** Runners-up: 2018
* IFAF Europe Champions League
**Champions: 2016
The Crew Wrocław/Giants Wrocław
* Polish Bowl
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
(PLFA)
** Champions: 2007, 2011, 2013
** Runners-up: 2009, 2010
Devils Wrocław
* Polish Bowl
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
(PLFA)
** Champions: 2010
** Runners-up: 2011
References
External links
Official Website
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Panthers Wroclaw
2013 establishments in Poland
American football teams established in 2013
American football teams in Poland
Sport in Wrocław
European League of Football teams