Ghost investors, a 90-0 defeat and a party at the corner of a parking lot: the disastrous return of the Barcelona Dragons

An MVP of the Super Bowl; other former NFL players; Earth bassist, Wind & Fire; The saxophonist of Michael Jackson; And so many investors among which there was also a directive of the Wells Fargo bank or the director of a cybersecurity company. A little over a year ago, an American group called Elite Sports Equity bought the American Football Dragons and seemed to take off. The team that in the 90s filled the Olympic Stadium of Montjuïc resurrected in 2021 to participate in the new European League of Football (ELF) and had since waiting for the entry of foreign capital. It was the time.

With Yankee money, players with NFL, the victories and a new boom would arrive: would tens of thousands of people meet again to see American football in Spain? It seemed possible. But it was a mirage. Now the team no longer exists; It disappeared a few days ago.

«It was a disaster. Last year they gathered us in the middle of the season and told us that investors had decided not to put more money for a disagreement with the ELF. They warned us that there would be unpaid, but asked us to play until the end of the year to save the club. Many left, including the coaches and those who stayed we did what we could. In the first game, the Munich Ravens were putting 54-0 at rest and we decided to retire. Then we received swells that were shame. The Ravens, for example, on the way back, beat us for 90-0. And it was useless, ”he recalls Jorge HernándezDragons linebacker until December. “I thought the name of Dragons would weigh more, but it was not so,” he denounces.

From Angoy to the resurrection

The first Dragons were created in 1991 to play at the World League of American Football, an NFL project that sought to extend its sport. His first game, at home, against the New Jersey Knights, was a public success and then with Jesús Angoyformer goalkeeper and son -in -law of Johann Cruyff, as kicker and image of the team, heaven was reached. In the 1997 World Bowl Bowl, with victory against the Rhein Fire, the Montjuïc Olympic stadium recorded a full. Then came the decline.

Until their disappearance in 2003, Dragons were losing fans, players, sponsors and then there were years and years without a professional American football in Spain. But in 2021, in the heat of a new competition, the European League of Football (ELF), also with influence of the NFL, an Italian entrepreneur, Bart IaccarinoDragons decided to recover. First they played in Reus, then in Terrassa and finally in Badalona. When the money of the investment group Elite Sports Equity arrived, everything was prepared for success.

«American football in Europe is very powerful in Germany, but in 2022 we had managed to reach the ELF semifinals and opt for the title. The coaches were very good and we had signed good Americans. We, the Spaniards, that we were a majority, we charged between 300 and 1,000 euros. Before the arrival of investors, with Iaccarino, there were already delays, but we thought they would be resolved. Every week they announced on Instagram a new investor, but in the end nothing, ”he explains ÀxlexPutalso LineBacker, who as Hernández has now gone to play the Bravos Madrid.

The last party in a parking

Last year, in the middle of the Dragons crisis, the team was born at the Vallehermoso stadium and now results for national players. Thanks to the Braves, American football maintains a professional team in Spain and is supposed to be one of the favorites for the next ELF that begins on May 17.

«In Spain there is a lot of fond of NFL, it is said that we are one of the 10 countries in the world with the most followers of the League, but that does not translate into local teams. That transition is missing », analyzes Isaac GómezDragons fan that formed in one of the two animation groups that the team had in this new era, the Supporters Dragon Wall.

«Many had devotion to ancient dragons and created the group to encourage the new ones. It was a disappointment. We had very excited, but it ended up being a disaster. The investment group that came with an MVP of the Super Bowl did nothing. In the previous matches there is the tradition that each team mount a party and in the last one we end up in a corner of the parking lot with a basket tied to a fence. It was very sad, ”he concludes.