Surf Wiki
Save to docs
general/world-bowl

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

World Bowl

Championship of the WLAF/NFL Europe

Championship of the WLAF/NFL Europe

The World Bowl was the annual American football championship game of the World League of American Football, later called NFL Europe. The World Bowl was played each year from 1991 to 2007 (except 1993 and 1994).

The first World Bowl was played in 1991 in London. With the 1995 relaunch of the World League with the North American teams removed, all subsequent World Bowls were played in Europe between European clubs. The only World Bowl to take place outside Europe was World Bowl '92 in Montreal, Canada.

The World Bowl trophy was a globe made of glass measuring 35.5 cm (14 inches) in diameter and weighing 18.6 kg (41 lbs).

Overview

When the World League of American Football (WLAF) was founded in 1991, with teams in North America and Europe as well as expansion plans for Asia, the name World Bowl was appropriate. The name was kept after 1995 when the league limited itself exclusively to Europe.

From 1995 to 1997, the World Bowl venue was decided by the standings after five weeks of the 10-week season. In other years, the sites were predetermined before the season. The 2002 World Bowl was hosted in Rhein Fire's hometown of Düsseldorf as a farewell to the old Rheinstadion. After the new LTU Arena (now Merkur Spiel-Arena) was completed, the 2005 World Bowl was hosted there again. It would return in 2006, the first time that the game was played in the same site in consecutive years. As the city's Fortuna Düsseldorf team spent much of this time in lower tiers of the German soccer pyramid, Düsseldorf was the rare NFL Europe city in which American football held an arguably competitive position.

Nine World Bowls were played on Saturdays and six World Bowls were played on Sundays (1991, 1996–1999, 2000).

World Bowl (WLAF, NFL Europe, and NFL Europa Championships)

DateWinnerScoreRunner-UpMVPVenueAttendanceRefs.
June 9, 1991World Bowl '91GBR London Monarchs21 – 0ESP Barcelona DragonsDan Crossman
Monarchs, SafetyWembley Stadium, London, United Kingdom61,108
June 6, 1992World Bowl '92USA Sacramento Surge21 – 17USA Orlando ThunderDavid Archer
Surge, QBOlympic Stadium, Montreal, Canada43,789
1993League suspended
1994
June 17, 1995World Bowl '95GER Frankfurt Galaxy26 – 22NED Amsterdam AdmiralsPaul Justin
Galaxy, QBOlympisch Stadion, Amsterdam, Netherlands23,847
June 23, 1996World Bowl '96GBR Scottish Claymores32 – 27GER Frankfurt GalaxyYo Murphy
Claymores, WRMurrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, United Kingdom38,982
June 22, 1997World Bowl '97ESP Barcelona Dragons38 – 24GER Rhein FireJon Kitna
Dragons, QBEstadi Olimpic, Barcelona, Spain31,100
June 14, 1998World Bowl '98GER Rhein Fire34 – 10GER Frankfurt GalaxyJim Arellanes
Fire, QBWaldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany47,846
June 27, 1999World Bowl '99GER Frankfurt Galaxy38 – 24ESP Barcelona DragonsAndy McCullough
Galaxy, WRRheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany39,643
June 25, 2000World Bowl 2000GER Rhein Fire13 – 10GBR Scottish ClaymoresAaron Stecker
Claymores, RBWaldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany35,860
June 30, 2001World Bowl IXGER Berlin Thunder24 – 17ESP Barcelona DragonsJonathan Quinn
Thunder, QBAmsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands32,116
June 22, 2002World Bowl XGER Berlin Thunder26 – 20GER Rhein FireDane Looker
Thunder, WRRheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany53,109
June 14, 2003World Bowl XIGER Frankfurt Galaxy35 – 16GER Rhein FireJonas Lewis
Galaxy, RBHampden Park, Glasgow, United Kingdom28,138
June 12, 2004World Bowl XIIGER Berlin Thunder30 – 24GER Frankfurt GalaxyEric McCoo
Thunder, RBArena AufSchalke, Gelsenkirchen, Germany35,413
June 11, 2005World Bowl XIIINED Amsterdam Admirals27 – 21GER Berlin ThunderKurt Kittner
Admirals, QBLTU arena, Düsseldorf, Germany35,134
May 27, 2006World Bowl XIVGER Frankfurt Galaxy22 – 7NED Amsterdam AdmiralsButchie Wallace
Galaxy, RBLTU arena, Düsseldorf, Germany36,286
June 23, 2007World Bowl XVGER Hamburg Sea Devils37 – 28GER Frankfurt GalaxyCasey Bramlet
Sea Devils, QBCommerzbank-Arena, Frankfurt, Germany48,125
  • Note: Roman numerals were not officially used by NFL Europe until World Bowl IX. Before 2001, the games were titled with the current year, such as World Bowl 2000.

Team records

TeamWonPlayedWinning yearsRunner-up years
GER Frankfurt Galaxy481995, 1999, 2003, 20061996, 1998, 2004, 2007
GER Berlin Thunder342001, 2002, 20042005
GER Rhein Fire251998, 20001997, 2002, 2003
ESP Barcelona Dragons1419971991, 1999, 2001
NED Amsterdam Admirals1320051995, 2006
GBR Scottish Claymores1219962000
GER Hamburg Sea Devils112007
GBR London Monarchs111991
USA Sacramento Surge111992
USA Orlando Thunder011992
GER Cologne Centurions00
USA Birmingham Fire00
USA San Antonio Riders00
CAN Montreal Machine00
USA New York/New Jersey Knights00
USA Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks00
USA Ohio Glory00

Results by country

TeamWonPlayed
Germany1018
United Kingdom23
Spain14
Netherlands13
United States12
Canada00

Hosting cities

CityNo. hostedYears hosted
Düsseldorf41999, 2002, 2005, 2006
Frankfurt31998, 2000, 2007
Amsterdam21995, 2001
London11991
Montreal11992
Edinburgh11996
Barcelona11997
Glasgow12003
Gelsenkirchen12004

While the Olympic stadiums in Montreal, Amsterdam and Barcelona hosted World Bowls, the league never selected Berlin as a host town, though the city's Thunder played in the Olympiastadion from 2003 to 2007.

Other uses of "World Bowl"

The former World Football League, a short-lived 1970s competitor to the NFL, was the first to name its championship game the World Bowl. In World Bowl I, the only WFL World Bowl contested, the Birmingham Americans defeated the Florida Blazers 22–21 on December 5, 1974, at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. The game had been scheduled to be played at the Gator Bowl Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, but after the Jacksonville Sharks folded mid-season, the league decided that the team with the better record would host the game.

The proposed World Indoor Football League that was to begin play in 1988 also intended on calling its championship the World Bowl. It would have been played on August 29, 1988. However, the WIFL disbanded 11 days before its season was to begin.

References

References

  1. Reilly, Rick. (June 17, 1991). "One to Remember Football was king when London won the first World Bowl, way back in 1991".
  2. Weisman, Larry. (June 10, 2004). "Quarterbacks give World Bowl an NFL feel". [[USA Today]].
  3. (June 14, 2000). "American football: Stormin' thunder bowl 'em over". Daily Record.
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

world-bowl
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about World Bowl — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report