German Football League announces 2022 schedule
On May 21, the German Football League will kick off its 2022 season with 32 total teams in the SharkWater GFL and GFL2. Germany’s top league will have another 10-game season following the success of the 2021 schedule, which saw only one pandemic-related cancelation. This year’s schedule will also leave room for European competition and national team training camps. The league will have two weeks off in mid-July along with a week break at the beginning of August.
“The compact game system from 2021 has proven itself,” says Jörg Dreßler, who is responsible for game operations on the GFL league board. “We are therefore sticking to it in 2022, especially since nobody can say exactly what challenges the pandemic will present us within the coming year.”
The league structure will contain two leagues with 16 teams each. These teams will once again be divided regionally with North and South conferences. The eight teams in each regional conference of the SharkWater GFL and GFL 2 will be divided into two divisions with four teams each. Those teams will play a home and away series within their division, along with one game against the other four teams in their regional conference.
The 2022 GFL league structure Photo: GFL
The GFL South will consist of the recently promoted Straubing Spiders together with the Ravensburg Razorbacks, the Allgäu Comets, and the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns in one division. While the Saarland Hurricanes, the Marburg Mercenaries, the Munich Cowboys, and the Frankfurt Universe will make up the GFL South’s other divisional group.
The GFL2 South includes the Ingolstadt Dukes return to the GFL2 along with the Frankfurt Pirates, the Fursty Razorbacks, and the Kirchdorf Wildcats. The other division features the recently demoted Stuttgart Scorpions, the Bad Homburg Sentinels, the Gießen Golden Dragons, and the Wiesbaden Phantoms.
Up north, the reigning GFL champion Dresden Monarchs will welcome the recently promoted Berlin Adler to their division, along with the Potsdam Royals and Berlin Rebels. The GFL North’s other division will be made up of the Braunschweig New York Lions, the Cologne Crocodiles, the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes, and the also recently promoted Düsseldorf Panther.
The GFL2 North will feature the recently promoted Hildesheim Invaders, the Hamburg Huskies, the Lübeck Cougars, and the Rostock Griffins. The GFL2 Norths other divisions will be made up of the Langenfeld Longhorns, the Paderborn Dolphins, the Solingen Paladins, and the Assindia Cardinals
The start of the 2022 season is scheduled for the weekend of May 21 and 22. Afterward, the regular season goes on until the weekend of August 27 and 28. The playoffs will then begin on the weekend of September 10 and 11 with the German Bowl XLIII planned for October 2 at Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt am Main.
To determine the playoff participants in the SharkWater GFL, the first four places in the north and south conferences will qualify. The last-place teams must face relegation against the first-place team in the GFL 2.
In regards to surging Covid-19 cases across Europe, league officials remain hopeful:
“We are optimistic and assume that we will not be subject to any or only marginal restrictions due to Corona during the season,” says Jörg Dreßler. “However, the pandemic has taught us that you can never be sure that a very restrictive course will not have to be followed again. If so, then we will have to react on the part of the league and in each individual club. In 2021 we showed that we are able to do this with our combined forces if it should be necessary. “
Read the 2022 GFL schedule here:
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