The Raiders Tirol (for the AFL-Teams SWARCO Raiders Tirol, formerly Papa Joe's Tyrolean Raiders) are an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

team based in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

, Austria. Founded in 1992, the Raiders since have become one of

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

's and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

's most dominant American football teams, winning the

Eurobowl The Eurobowl, first played in 1986, was the championship final game of a tournament style playoff to determine the champion of all of the American football leagues in Europe. The tournament featured the top or champion clubs from each country ...

title three times (2008, 2009, and 2011) and the CEFL also three times (2017–2019). Competing in the

Austrian Football League The Austrian Football League (AFL) is a professional American football league in Austria. The league comprises six teams, and operates on a system of promotion and relegation. It plays by rules based on those of the U.S. National Collegiate Athl ...

(AFL), the team has won the league championship eight times, most recently in 2021. In

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, the Raiders joined the

European League of Football The European League of Football (ELF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football sports league, league based in Europe, continuing some team names and logos of the former NFL Europe. The ELF played its first season in 2 ...

(ELF). In 2019, the Swarco Raiders Tirol completed their first perfect season with a record of 16–0 and won Austrian Bowl XXV, as well as the CEFL and ECTC Bowls. The Raiders employ the most full-time coaches and staff out of all European teams, combined with their special cooperation with the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West ...

, many teams, coaches and players regard the Raiders as one of the most well-run organizations in Europe. In 2021 they announced their intention to join the

for the upcoming 2022 season together with their league rival

Vienna Vikings The Vienna Vikings is a professional American football club based in Vienna, Austria. Founded in 1983, the Vikings are known as one of Europe's most dominant clubs, having won the Eurobowl title five times (2004–2007 and 2013), as well as be ...

History

The Swarco Raiders were founded by a small number of

American Football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

fans and volunteers back in 1992. Starting in Austria's 3rd division in the 1993 season, the team went unbeaten with an overall score of 158–11. After being promoted to the 2nd division, the team failed to continue its run of 1993, and posted a record of 2–14 in 1994 and 1995. The next two seasons, the Raiders reached the playoffs but lost their semifinals. Due to a league expansion they were promoted to Austria's top division, the

AFL AFL may refer to: Education * Angel Foundation for Learning, a Canadian Roman Catholic charity * Ankara Science High School, a high school in Ankara, Turkey, natively referred to as ''Ankara Fen Liesi'' * Assessment for learning Military * ...

, in 1998. The first two-season on the top level the Raiders lost most of their games. In the 2000 season they made it to the playoffs and played its first championship game, losing to the then Chrysler Vikings Vienna. A year later they repeated their appearance in the final, but again lost to the Vikings.

Retired numbers

Austrian Football League

First Championship (2004)

After losing both regular season games against its rival the Vienna Vikings, the team fared much better in post season, beating the Vikings 28–20 in a thrilling game, hosted in

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

and it clinched the club's first national championship. Also in 2004, the team won the EFAF Cup becoming the first Tyrolean team to win an international title, shutting out the P.A Farnham Knights of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

45–0.

Second Championship (2006)

After losing to the Vikings 43–14 in the bowl game of 2005, the two teams faced each other again in the final of 2006, but this time the team from

beat its rival from Austria's capital in a lopsided game with an overall score of 43–19. Again the game was played on neutral ground, as it was held in

Maria Enzersdorf Maria Enzersdorf (Central Bavarian: ''Maria Enzasduaf'') is a small city in the district of Mödling (district), Mödling in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. There are several castles and ruins in the forests surrounding Maria Enzersdorf, in ...

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

Third Championship (2011)

In one of their most successful seasons of club history and just a week after winning their third

title, the Raiders beat the Vikings 23–13 in Vienna and won Austrian Bowl XXVII, winning the national title as well as an international trophy, this is commonly called "the double" and the ultimate goal in American Football in Europe.

Runner-up years (2012–2014)

In 2012, 2013, 2014 the Raiders came in second against the Vienna Vikings, who at that time had one of their best runs in history, including a perfect season in 2013. Many of the Raiders' veterans retired after the "double" season of 2011 and the Raiders had trouble replacing some of the most distinguished players in club history, despite the Raiders having more imports on their roster, the Vikings prevailed by running a well-versed spread offense and a hard-hitting defense in those years.

Fourth Championship (2015)

On 11 July 2015, the Raiders shut out the Vikings 38–0 and capped the successful rebuild started in previous years with the highest win over their rivals from Vienna. Good coaching of their young local stars and with the help of import players from the United States, the Raiders regained their position as the number one American Football Club in Austria.

Fifth Championship (2016)

In 2016, the Raiders once again advanced to the final for the 7th year in a row. The Austrian Bowl XXXII turned out to be a lopsided one, as the Raiders took an early lead over the Graz Giants and coasted to a comfortable 51–7 victory. After another back-to-back championship season, the Raiders again had to stomach an exodus of veteran players, however they were able to retain QB Sean Shelton and their successful coaching staff led by Shuan Fatah.

European competition

In a thrilling game against the Vikings, the Swarco Raiders claimed its first

-title, as it won 28–24 in 2008. Three of the last four teams in the EFL contest were Austrian, underlining the country's dominance in European football. Ironically, neither of the teams who faced in the final was able to claim the Austrian title, as the bowl went to the Graz Giants. After the Raiders went unbeaten in the 2009 regular season, it let the semi-final game of the AFL slip away, after they gave away a comfortable 21–0 halftime lead and lost the game 22–21 to the Raiffeisen Vienna Vikings. One week later, the team redeemed itself, by winning its second EFL title, beating the French top club Flash de la Courneuve in front of 6500 spectators (at that time a record attendance for an American Football game in

) in the Tivoli Neu stadium of

. In 2011, the Raiders won their third Eurobowl Championship at the Tivoli Neu stadium of

in front of 8600 spectators, which is a new record attendance for American Football in Austria. In 2014, the club took part in a new European competition, the

BIG6 European Football League The BIG6 European Football League (BIG6) was a European Cup style tournament for European American football teams. Originally organized by the EFAF (European Federation of American Football), the tournament had been run by the German Football L ...

, which consisted of three teams from Germany, two from Austria and one from Switzerland, the clubs being

Berlin Adler The Berlin Adler () is an American football club based in Berlin, Germany. The club is one of the most successful clubs in the sport in Germany, having won six German Bowls as well as ten ''Ladies Bowls'' and five ''Junior Bowls''. International ...

New Yorker Lions The New Yorker Lions are an American Football team from Braunschweig, Germany. Until late 2010, the team was known as the Braunschweig Lions.

Dresden Monarchs The Dresden Monarchs are an American football team from Dresden, Germany. They have been a member of the first tier German Football League since 2002 and play in its Northern Division. In 2021 they were GFL champions after having won German Bowl ...

Raiffeisen Vikings Vienna The Vienna Vikings is a professional American football club based in Vienna, Austria. Founded in 1983, the Vikings are known as one of Europe's most dominant clubs, having won the Eurobowl title five times (2004–2007 and 2013), as well as be ...

, Swarco Raiders Tirol and the

Calanda Broncos The Calanda Broncos are an American football team from Landquart, Switzerland. The club, formed in 1991 as the Landquart Broncos, changed its name in late 2008 after the Calanda mountain to show the club's desire to represent a larger region of ...

. The two best teams of this competition advanced to Eurobowl XXVIII, where the Lions were beat by the Adler.BIG6 European Football League starts 2014
www.eurobowl.com, published: 20 November 2013, accessed: 5 December 2013 The next season Tirol again took part in the Big 6, once more failing to advance to the final, which was won by Braunschweig against the

Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns The Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns are an American football team from Schwäbisch Hall, Germany founded in 1983. The club's greatest successes were winning the southern division title in the German Football League in 2009 and in every season played s ...

. In the 2016 the fortunes of the Raiders improved as they beat the

and Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns, not conceding a single point to advance to Eurobowl XXX against the New Yorker Lions. The final was played in front of home crowd and after a highly entertaining game, the Raiders suffered two late touchdowns in the 4th quarter and had to succumb to the Lions 21–35. For the 2017 season, the Raiders withdrew from the "BIG 6" competition due to growing concerns over the high number of import players and the lack of sustainability of this practice. They signed on to compete in the lower-level Central European Football League (CEFL) which they won unbeaten.

European League of Football

Beginning from the

2022 European League of Football season The 2022 ELF season was the second season of the European League of Football, a semi professional American football league based in Europe. Twelve teams from five countries participated. The 2022 season started on June 4, 2022, and concluded with ...

the now named Raiders Tirol compete with 11 other European teams for the ELF trophy. They start in the central conference together with long-term rival

2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

champion Frankfurt Galaxy and

Stuttgart Surge The Stuttgart Surge are an American football team based in Stuttgart, Germany. They play in the European League of Football (ELF) as part of the league's Devision West . The team plays its home games at the Gazi Stadion (full name with sponsor ' ...

. The Raiders finished the 2022 ELF season with an 8–4 record and reached the semi-finals of the playoffs.

Roster

Staff

Honours

** Playoffs: (1) 2022 *

** Champions: (3) 2008, 2009, 2011 ** Runners-up: (2) 2013, 2016 * Central European Football League ** Champions: (3) 2017–2019 ** Runners-up: (1) 2021 * Austrian Bowl ** Champions: (8) 2004, 2006, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021 ** Runners-up: (9) 2000, 2001, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012–2014, 2017

Exhibition games against US college teams

The SWARCO Raiders board has stated that they will place a greater emphasis on trans-atlantic competition and thus have begun scheduling college football teams as future opponents. The long-term plan includes establishing a

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

for USA

College football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

teams to be played against the SWARCO Raiders in Innsbruck. Previously in 2001 the Raiders won a game 33–6 against Division III

Centre College Centre College, formally Centre College of Kentucky, is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky, United States. Chartered by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1819, the col ...

from Kentucky. In 2016, the Raiders played and won against Division III

Elmhurst College Elmhurst University is a private university in Elmhurst, Illinois, United States. It has a tradition of service-oriented learning and an affiliation with the United Church of Christ. The university changed its name from Elmhurst College on July ...

"Bluejays" with a final score of 24–10. For 2017, the Raiders played against the

Benedictine Ravens The Benedictine Ravens are the athletic teams that represent Benedictine College, located in Atchison, Kansas, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Hea ...

(NAIA) from Kansas losing to in the final seconds. In 2018 the Raiders hosted Division III Central College from Iowa. The Swarco Raiders won in a hard-fought game.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1992 establishments in Austria American football teams established in 1992 Sport in Innsbruck European League of Football teams Austrian Football League teams