The AFLE has had a busy few weeks

A new CEO, a familiar face back at Rhein Fire and Warsaw on the way are all good signs. But the first season left questions about money, ownership and planning that the league still needs to answer.

On 27 October the league named Jim Tomsula as its CEO, with immediate effect. He had been the league's President since the summer. Few people know European football better. He coached Rhein Fire back in NFL Europe, then led them to back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024. "This league is here to stay," he said, and it's the right message.

A day later, Rhein Fire named Sammy Schmale as managing director from November. He ran the club from 2004 to 2007, in the final NFL Europe years, so it feels like a homecoming.

And the Warsaw Eagles join for 2027 as the ninth franchise. They're an established Polish club and have already appointed Deante Battle as head coach. Real moves, all of them.

Year one was shaky off the field. The league itself stepped in twice. In August it activated a financial protection plan for Berlin Thunder, and later that month it became majority owner of Rhein Fire, saying the move averted "an imminent insolvency". According to football-austria.com, citing media reports, the Firenze Red Lions and Alpine Rams also received financial support. If that's right, it's half the league.

Then there's ownership. Joel Nagel founded the AFLE and is its owner and Chairman of the Board. Football-austria.com's study of company registers traces an indirect stake of around 58.8% in Rhein Fire's operating company to him. At Companies House, he's listed as the person with significant control of London Warriors Ltd. None of this is necessarily improper, but a chairman with stakes in competing teams needs clear, published rules.

Then there are the people on the ground. Douglas Fryer, whom the league listed as the Alpine Rams' offensive coordinator, has set out his side of things in a public post in a Facebook fans' group. He says he joined on a signed 24-month agreement that included compensation, visa and residency paperwork and health insurance. He says no visa process was completed for him, the insurance never came, and he left before the season began, though he was still named as offensive coordinator during games. He also says the rest of the original coaching staff left too, and that he and others are still owed money. That's one person's account and I haven't seen the club's response, but it's exactly the kind of question a professionally run league should be able to answer.

The league's pages for Firenze, the Rams and the Lights list their current coaches and 2026 grounds, but I can't find any announcement of a head coach or venue for 2027 for any of the three.

The rescues kept the season going, and the new appointments are serious ones. But fans and players need more than headlines. They need stable finances, transparent ownership and clubs that know where they're playing next year. Fix the basics, and the rest can follow.