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 '91 London Monarchs21 – 0 Barcelona DragonsDan CrossmanMonarchs, SafetyWembley Stadium, London, United Kingdom61,108June 6, 1992World Bowl '92 Sacramento Surge21 – 17 Orlando ThunderDavid ArcherSurge, QBOlympic Stadium, Montreal, Canada43,7891993League suspended1994June 17, 1995World Bowl '95 Frankfurt Galaxy26 – 22 Amsterdam AdmiralsPaul JustinGalaxy, QBOlympisch Stadion, Amsterdam, Netherlands23,847June 23, 1996World Bowl '96 Scottish Claymores32 – 27 Frankfurt GalaxyYo MurphyClaymores, WRMurrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, United Kingdom38,982June 22, 1997World Bowl '97 Barcelona Dragons38 – 24 Rhein FireJon KitnaDragons, QBEstadi Olimpic, Barcelona, Spain31,100June 14, 1998World Bowl '98 Rhein Fire34 – 10 Frankfurt GalaxyJim ArellanesFire, QBWaldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany47,846June 27, 1999World Bowl '99 Frankfurt Galaxy38 – 24 Barcelona DragonsAndy McCulloughGalaxy, WRRheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany39,643June 25, 2000World Bowl 2000 Rhein Fire13 – 10 Scottish ClaymoresAaron SteckerClaymores, RBWaldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany35,860June 30, 2001World Bowl IX Berlin Thunder24 – 17 Barcelona DragonsJonathan QuinnThunder, QBAmsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands32,116June 22, 2002World Bowl X Berlin Thunder26 – 20 Rhein FireDane LookerThunder, WRRheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany53,109June 14, 2003World Bowl XI Frankfurt Galaxy35 – 16 Rhein FireJonas LewisGalaxy, RBHampden Park, Glasgow, United Kingdom28,138June 12, 2004World Bowl XII Berlin Thunder30 – 24 Frankfurt GalaxyEric McCooThunder, RBArena AufSchalke, Gelsenkirchen, Germany35,413June 11, 2005World Bowl XIII Amsterdam Admirals27 – 21 Berlin ThunderKurt KittnerAdmirals, QBLTU arena, Düsseldorf, Germany35,134May 27, 2006World Bowl XIV Frankfurt Galaxy22 – 7 Amsterdam AdmiralsButchie WallaceGalaxy, RBLTU arena, Düsseldorf, Germany36,286June 23, 2007World Bowl XV Hamburg Sea Devils37 – 28 Frankfurt GalaxyCasey BramletSea 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
Team Won Played Winning years Runner-up years Frankfurt Galaxy 4 8 1995, 1999, 2003, 2006 1996, 1998, 2004, 2007 Berlin Thunder 3 4 2001, 2002, 2004 2005 Rhein Fire 2 5 1998, 2000 1997, 2002, 2003 Barcelona Dragons 1 4 1997 1991, 1999, 2001 Amsterdam Admirals 1 3 2005 1995, 2006 Scottish Claymores 1 2 1996 2000 Hamburg Sea Devils 1 1 2007 London Monarchs 1 1 1991 Sacramento Surge 1 1 1992 Orlando Thunder 01 1992 Cologne Centurions 0 0 Birmingham Fire 0 0 San Antonio Riders 0 0 Montreal Machine 0 0 New York/New Jersey Knights 0 0 Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks 0 0 Ohio Glory 00
Results by country Team Won Played 10 18 2 3 1 4 1 3 1 2 0 0
Hosting cities City hosted Years hosted Düsseldorf 4 1999, 2002, 2005, 2006 Frankfurt 3 1998, 2000, 2007 Amsterdam 2 1995, 2001 London 11991 Montreal 11992 Edinburgh 1 1996 Barcelona 1 1997 Glasgow 1 2003 Gelsenkirchen 12004
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