Current season, competition or edition: 2022 EESL season | |
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| Formerly | Russian Championship |
|---|---|
| Sport | American football |
| Founded | 2019 |
| Inaugural season | 2019 |
| No. of teams | 41[1] |
| Country | Russia Belarus |
| Most recent champion(s) | Moscow Spartans |
| Most titles | Moscow Spartans (3 titles) |
| TV partner(s) | YouTube |
| Official website | http://eesl.pro/ |
The Eastern European Super League (Russian: Восточно-европейская Суперлига, tr. Vostochno-Yevropeiskaya Superliga) is an international American football tournament that brings together the best clubs from the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus. The tournament originated in 2019, when the best teams of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine decided to found a competition called the East European Super League. The list of prospective participants included three Russian teams - Moscow Spartans and St. Petersburg Griffins and Northern Legion, two Ukrainian teams - Kyiv Capitals and Patriots, as well as two Belarusian teams - Minsk Zubrs and Litvins.[2][3]
Unfortunately, by the start of the season in the spring of 2019, three Russian teams and Belarusian Litvins had remained in the tournament bracket. The first champion of the Eastern European Super League were the Moscow Spartans, who defeated the Northern Legion in the final.[4]
Since 2020, almost all competitions in the Russian Federation have been held under the auspices of the East European Super League:
- Super League - Russian American Football Championship - the number of its participants has grown up to 6 (but later reduced back to 5).
- The Open League of the Black Earth Region changed its name to National Major League - Russian Football Cup - the number of participants increased up to 19.
- Volga Bowl changed its name to First League - Russian American Football Championship in the 9x9 format - the number of participants has grown up to 16 teams.
Format
The 2019 season was a round robin, the teams spent 6 games each in the regular season and 2 games in the playoffs (semi-final, match for third place and final). The tournament was held from April to July. The winner of the first ever Super League was the Spartans team from Moscow.,[5] who won the league championship in the first time in its history.
Super League is a round robin tournament in which teams meet each other once.
National Major League - group stage + playoffs. Teams are divided into 6 divisions. All divisions, except for the Far East division, have in mind a circular meeting system.
League One - group stage + playoffs. Teams are divided into 4 divisions.
2019 Season Clubs
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2020 Season Clubs
Super League
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National Major League
| Center Division | Far East Division | North Division | South Division | Ural Division | West Division |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moscow United | Komsomolsk On Amur Black Grizzly | Moscow Spartak(American football) | Krasnodar Bisons | Chelyabinsk Scouts | Bryansk Robbers |
| Tula Tarantula | Khabarovsk Legio-27 | Petrozavodsk Gunners | Sevastopol Titans | Samara Strombringers | Obninsk Cyborgs |
| Voronezh Mighty Ducks | Vladivostok Wild Pandas | Podolsk Vityaz(American football) | Yekaterinburg Ural Lightnings | Vitebsk Healers | |
| Yakutsk Boturs | Saint Petersburg MChS |
First League
| Center-North Division | Kama Division | South Division | Volga Division |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arkhangelsk Woodcutters | Izhevsk Dinamo | Novorossiysk Admirals | Kazan Motors |
| Moscow Phoenix | Naberezhnye Chelny Bulldogs | Volgograd Stalingrad | Nizhny Novgorod Raiders-52 |
| Moscow Spartans-2 | Tumen Black Sables | Volzhsky Kites | Samara Bears |
| Yaroslavl Rebels | Ufa Wolfhounds | Team Penza and Saratov | |
| Vologda Vikings |
Finals
| Date | Winner | Result | Finalist | Stadium | City | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 13, 2019 | Moscow Spartans | 42–16 | Northern Legion Saint Petersburg | Tsarskoye Selo Stadium | Pushkin, Leningrad Oblast, Russia | [6] |
| October 31, 2020 | Moscow Spartans | 36–6 | Steel Tigers Perm | Chayka Stadium | Korolyov, Moscow Oblast, Russia | |
| August 1, 2021 | Moscow Spartans | 13–3 | Moscow Patriots | Vympel Stadium | Korolyov, Moscow Oblast, Russia | |
Winners
| Club | Wins | Finals | Winning Years | Final Games Appearances |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moscow Spartans | 3 | 0 | 2019, 2020, 2021 | |
| Moscow Patriots | 0 | 1 | 2021 | |
| Steel Tigers Perm | 0 | 1 | 2020 | |
| Northern Legion Saint Petersburg | 0 | 1 | 2019 | |