| Founded | 1991 |
|---|---|
| League | German Football League |
| Based in | Elmshorn, Germany |
| Stadium | Krückaustadion |
| Head coach | Jörn Maier |
| Division titles | GFL 2 North: 2019 |
| Website | fighting-pirates.net |
The Elmshorn Fighting Pirates are an American football team from Elmshorn, Germany.
The club's greatest achievement is winning the championship in the GFL2 North in 2019 and - after winning the promotion/relegation round against the Düsseldorf Panther qualifying for the 2020 season in the top tier German Football League. However, as the 2020 season was never played due to Covid-19, and with competition from a Hamburg based team in the upstart European League of Football ("ELF") worsening the doubtful financial situation, the Fighting Pirates ultimately withdrew from the GFL without ever having played a single match in their "theoretical" year of league membership.[1] Unlike the Hildesheim Invaders and the Ingolstadt Dukes who took similar decisions after failing to move their teams to the upstart European League of Football and went on to play in their respective (third tier) Regionalliga, the Fighting Pirates ultimately played only in the sixth tier Landesliga West