News You Can Use – IFL Edition #1

The Italian Football League has come to an end as Guelfi Firenze have beaten the Ancona Dolphins 49-14 to take their second Italian Bowl in the team’s history. With that, though, the offseason has just started. Right up until the start of the 2026 season in February, First Down Mag will inform you about all the movements in the IFL by all teams and around the league.

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2025 IFL Awards

Before the Italian Bowl even concluded, many things already happened around the IFL, starting with the Italian Football League Awards, decided by the IFL Commission, which is composed of all of the league’s insiders and federation members.

Rik Parker, in his first year as the HC of Dolphins Ancona, has been announced as the Best Coach of the IFL in the 2025 season, thanks to his efforts on bringing the green and orange side to their first championship game in 21 years.

Andrea Fimiani, QB for Guelfi Firenze is the Best Italian Player, thanks to his 48 TDs and 3,146 all around yards. He also won the MVP race, continuing his great moment as one of the best players in the league and one of the best in Italian football right now.

In 2025 Lions Bergamo experienced a reverse perfect season with their 0-11 record, including the loss in the playout game against the Albisola Pirates, but found in Tommaso Moro, the 2025 IFL Rookie of The Year, a rare gem. He scored 2 TDs on 14 receptions for 229 yards during a rather unlucky season for his team. Moro started his adventure in American Football after an open tryout organized by the Lions in October 2024, and has already shown some potential for the organization’s future.

Skorpions Varese WR Roberto Zanovello has been announced as the Best Special Teams player of the year with 26 kick returns for 716 yards and one returned for a touchdown.

Danny Kittner, the Frogs Legnano Import Player, has been nominated as the Best Offensive Player of the season. He scored 16 total TDs with 98 receptions for 1,417 yards as well as 76 carries for 317 rushing yards.

The Dolphins’ Valentino Rotelli is voted as the best defensive player with 20.5 total tackles (13.5/7.0), 2.5 tackles for a loss, 2 fumble recoveries and 6 interceptions.

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FIDAF Hall of Fame

FIDAF has also announced the three new members of its Hall of Fame. Every year, three former players, coaches or team members who have contributed to the success of American football in Italy become immortal thanks to all they have done on and off the gridiron.

The 2025 class includes Gianluigi Allegretti, who is a pioneer of American football in Southern Italy (especially Apulia), former player and coach of the now defunct Mad Bulls Barletta. It is also composed by Maurizio Barbotti, a former Frogs Legnano, Lions Bergamo and Pharaones Milano player who  won it all, and by former Dolphins Ancona player and HC Roberto Rotelli, who left the sideline this year to continue his career behind the desk. All three of these gentlemen were officially inducted during the Silver Bowl, the final of the IFL2 (the second tier of Italian Football).

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Silver Bowl and Nine Bowl

Speaking of the Silver Bowl, on both the 4th and 5th of July the other two championships of Italian Football were decided in Cecina, a city near Leghorn/Livorno. Saints Padova and Elephants Catania were the finalists of this year’s Silver Bowl, while Cavaliers Castelfranco and Navy Seals Bari were the two remaining teams in the Nine Football League (9v9 Football).

Before the matches, there was the opportunity for two teams from South Italy to finally conquer a title, the first in nine years for a team hailing from that part of the “Boot”, and in the end, the Elephants finally managed to win it all. Meanwhile, the Castelfranco Cavaliers dominated the Nine Bowl, beating the Navy Seals with a tough 43-0 final score, while Catania won the Silver Bowl against the Padova Saints with a final score of 27-7.

This is the first official title conquered by the Cavs in FIDAF Football, while after 23 years and 9 championship game losses, Catania finally made it, winning their second title under the actual federation. Their first title was in 2002 with the FIDAF Arena League (8v8 Football), the first tournament in the history of the Italian organization.

During the offseason we will know about the Elephants’ destiny for next year and if they will officially join the Italian Football League for the first time in more than a decade. Elephants president Lucio Maugeri has declared that a decision on their 2026 plans (whether they will play in the IFL or not), has not been made yet.

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Roster and Sideline Changes

Christian Nobile, one year removed from the IFL sidelines, has been announced as the new HC of Warriors Bologna. The white and blue team has decided to move on from Samuele Rigato, who ends his stint as the head coach of the team after just two seasons.

The Warriors have announced during the Italian Bowl Week that Christian Nobile, former player also for Panthers Parma and Seamen Milano and now member of the Tirol Raiders coaching staff in the ELF, will indeed come back to Italy as their new HC for the 2026 season first with the Under 18 team during the National Junior Championships, and then for the Senior Team playing in the Italian Football League.

This is a return to the IFL for Nobile, who has already coached for Vipers Modena, winning a Silver Bowl in 2021 and bringing them to the playoffs 1 year later. He also coached the Rhinos Milano during the 2023 and 2024 seasons, participating in the postseason during his first year in orange and black.

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Early player movements

Speaking of player movements, Roberto Lira has announced that he will not continue with Lions Bergamo in 2026. This is the first player to announce his departure from his 2025 team, as the future for Orobici is uncertain at the moment. It is sure that he will not be the only one.

In an interview released by local newspaper Gazzetta di Parma, Vanni Belli has announced that he is retiring after spending eleven years with the Panthers. A former Bobcats Parma player, the defensive lineman has won three titles (2021, 2023, 2024) in black and silver.

Many import players will continue their 2025 season abroad. Josiah Norwood, this year’s Lazio Marines QB, has now joined the Helvetic Mercenaries as a replacement to Isaiah Weed, who was recently released by the Swiss team.

Four more players were signed by the Mercs: Roberto Zanovello, Andrea Poglietelli, Luigi Minaudo and Marco Cupic, respectively from Skorpions Varese, Guelfi Firenze, Hammers Monza e Brianza and Lugano Rebels (a Swiss team that played in the 2025 Nine Football League, the third tier of Italian Football).

Another player who started his season in the Italian Football League and then was called to the ELF was Jordan Bouah, who spent half of the 2025 IFL season with Rhinos Milano before flying to Germany to be part of the Rhein Fire roster. The defending champions of the European League of Football had released their former Seamen WR, as he was injured for a long period of time and was occupying an E-Import spot. He will return later this year to play once again in the European league, getting off the injury list after Week 11 of the ELF regular season.

Vitor Festuccia, a Brazilian player for Pirates Albisola, has returned to his country and to his former team, the AD Vikings Berserkers, for the final period of the season in the Sao Paulo Football League, a state championship in Brazilian football. His team lost in the Serie Prata final against Sao José Jets, who won the game with a 35-14 final score.

Former Aquile Ferrara QB Percy King has continued his season in Poland as part of the Wroclaw Panthers farm team playing in the PFL, losing in the first round of the playoffs against the Warsaw Mets (58-42).

Meanwhile, Warriors Bologna have also announced that former Slippery Rock University safety Josh Stokes will be their first import player for the 2026 season. Stokes recorded 6 INTs, 170 tackles, one sack and six tackles for a loss in 52 games during his four year spell in Pennsylvania. The Maryland-born player will play for the first time outside of the United States.