Football
The Austrian Football League (AFL) will start its 38th full season this weekend. As a special treat, the eternally young classic between the AFC Vienna Vikings and the Swarco Raiders Tirol awaits on Sunday (3 p.m.) in Vienna. It is a special season for the Vikings from Vienna, because the record champions are celebrating their 40th birthday. “It would be great to give yourself a gift,” said head coach Ivan Zivko about the goal of winning the first title since 2017. The people from Innsbruck, meanwhile, want to forget the last place from last year.
In 2022, both traditional clubs had to struggle in the domestic championship fight with a personal bloodletting due to their simultaneous commitment in the European League of Football (ELF) compared to the past. For the Viennese it was still enough for a place in the Austrian Bowl, where they clearly lost to the Danube Dragons (29:51). They have now armed themselves with more than 20 new signings, including US imports Marcus Lawrence on defense and Lamar Carswell at running back.
“We’ve significantly expanded the squad and now have a roster that we can use to plan well throughout the season,” explained Zivko, who continues to rely on young Nico Hrouda as quarterback. The goal is clear: “With our history, the Vikings can only claim to be at the forefront.” Club President Karl Wurm put it even more clearly: “The task for all our teams – regardless of whether it’s flag, cheerleading or football – is that we want to give ourselves the most beautiful gift with many titles. We hope that as many candles as possible burn on the Vikings’ birthday cake.
Incidentally, the Vikings teams in the AFL and ELF have been separated in terms of organization and name since January 1st. The AFL team operates under the name AFC Vikings together with the academy, the ELF team under the established name Vienna Vikings. The smoldering venue problem affects both: while the venue of the ELF troop is still unclear, the AFL team remains in the Ravelin football center in Simmering. According to President Wurm, negotiations are currently underway with the City of Vienna about expanding Ravelin into a covered 3,500-seat stadium.
Redemption and title defense
The Raiders learned a lot from a young team in the AFL last year and lost every game. This year, the Tyroleans want to be one step further. “We want to show that we belong in this league and can keep up. We also want to be seen as a training track for the ELF team – that should be the goal,” said head coach Florian Grein, who also has US reinforcements in the form of quarterback CJ Fowler and defender Antonio Johnson (linebacker).
The defending champions Danube Dragons, who won the title in 2022 after a perfect undefeated season, have given up some players. It remains to be seen whether the Viennese around national team quarterback Alexander Thury will be able to dominate again. The Styrian Bears are new in the ten-league as the second Graz club next to the Giants, replacing the Czech Znojmo Knights. The local association AFBÖ meanwhile offers streams of all AFL games via “pay per view” via a new online platform.