All Star Austrian LB Dustin Illetschko signs with Spanish champions, the Badalona Dracs

Spain’s defending and 10-time champions, the Badalona Dracs, have signed all star Austrian linebacker Dustin Illetschko.

The Dracs had played and won five games in Spain’s top league in 2020 before the pandemic forced cancellation of the remainder of the season. Badalona won the 2019 Spanish title, their fourth in a row.

Illetschko, a 6′, 230 pound native of Vienna, Austria, had signed to play for the Frankfurt Universe in 2020 before the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He spent the 2019 season with the Potsdam Royals in the German Football League North, where he was the fifth leading tackler in the GFL recording 144 tackles in 14 games. In 2018, he returned to his home club, the Dacia Vienna Vikings and recorded 45 tackles in 10 games, good for fifth overall in the Austrian Football League. He spent the 2016 and 2017 seasons with the Universe and in the course of  the two seasons amassed 214 tackles and was name Defensive Player of the Year in 2017.

He arrived in Frankfurt after playing one season with the Finnish champion Helsinki Roosters in 2015 where he earned Maple League All Star honors. He was named Austria’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2014 after helping the Vienna Vikings win the Austrian crown.

Illetschko on his finest memories as a player:

“I have had some wonderful experiences. One of the best memories I have was in 2013 when I was able to win two titles with the Vikings in one year: the Austrian Bowl and the Eurobowl with a 15-0 record. Winning Finland’s Maple Bowl in 2015 with the Roosters is also an unforgettable experiences.  I also have to mention the home game with the Universe against Schwäbisch Hall in 2016 in front of 8,000 fans. Despite a bitter loss, that game is definitely one of my personal highlights. But the bitterest defeat, and yet one of the highlights of my career was playing for Austria and losing in the European Championship final to Germany.”