1991 WLAF season

1991 WLAF season
1991 WLAF season
Duration	March 23, 1991 – May 27, 1991
World Bowl '91
Date	June 9, 1991
Venue	Wembley Stadium, London
Champions	London Monarchs
WLAF seasons seasons
	1992 →

The 1991 WLAF season was the inaugural season of the World League of American Football and was the first transatlantic sports league. The regular season began on March 23, and concluded on May 27. The postseason ran from June 1 until June 9, when the London Monarchs defeated the Barcelona Dragons 21–0 in World Bowl '91 at Wembley Stadium in London, England.

Attendances

Average game attendance was 25,361.^[1] At London, Barcelona, Frankfurt and Montreal, attendances surpassed early expectations.^[2] The Monarchs' home attendance led the league, with an average of 40,481 in the regular season.^[3] The dress rehearsal for the World Bowl, London v Barcelona at Wembley in week 10, attracted 50,835 fans,^[4] while the same week Frankfurt v Sacramento received a bigger crowd, 51,653,^[4]^[3] with around 10,000 more fans turned away.^[3] The World Bowl was attended by 61,108.^[4]

Regular season

Week 1

Date	Visiting team	Final score	Home team
Saturday, March 23	London Monarchs	24–11	Frankfurt Galaxy
	Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks	3–9	Sacramento Surge
	Montreal Machine	20–5	Birmingham Fire
Sunday, March 24	New York/New Jersey Knights	7–19	Barcelona Dragons
Monday, March 25	San Antonio Riders	34–35	Orlando Thunder

Week 2

Date	Visiting team	Final score	Home team
Saturday, March 30	Sacramento Surge	10–17	Birmingham Fire
Saturday, March 30	Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks	20–58	Orlando Thunder
Sunday, March 31	New York/New Jersey Knights	18–22	London Monarchs
Monday, April 1	Frankfurt Galaxy	10–3	San Antonio Riders
Monday, April 1	Barcelona Dragons	34–10	Montreal Machine

Week 3

Date	Visiting team	Final score	Home team
Saturday, April 6	Orlando Thunder	12–35	London Monarchs
	Barcelona Dragons	26–14	Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks
	Frankfurt Galaxy	27–17	New York/New Jersey Knights
Sunday, April 7	Sacramento Surge	3–10	San Antonio Riders
Monday, April 8	Birmingham Fire	10–23	Montreal Machine

Week 4

Date	Visiting team	Final score	Home team
Saturday, April 13	Frankfurt Galaxy	10–16	Sacramento Surge
Saturday, April 13	New York/New Jersey Knights	44–0	Montreal Machine
Sunday, April 14	Orlando Thunder	13–33	Barcelona Dragons
Monday, April 15	San Antonio Riders	37–15	Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks
Monday, April 15	London Monarchs	27–0	Birmingham Fire

Week 5

Date	Visiting team	Final score	Home team
Saturday, April 20	Montreal Machine	7–45	London Monarchs
	Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks	28–30	Frankfurt Galaxy
	Barcelona Dragons	14–22	San Antonio Riders
Sunday, April 21	Birmingham Fire	31–6	Orlando Thunder
Monday, April 22	Sacramento Surge	20–28	New York/New Jersey Knights

Week 6

Date	Visiting team	Final score	Home team
Saturday, April 27	Montreal Machine	7–17	Frankfurt Galaxy
	Barcelona Dragons	29–20	Sacramento Surge
	Orlando Thunder	6–42	New York/New Jersey Knights
Sunday, April 28	Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks	10–35	London Monarchs
Monday, April 29	San Antonio Riders	12–16	Birmingham Fire

Week 7

Date	Visiting team	Final score	Home team
Saturday, May 4	Birmingham Fire	6–11	Barcelona Dragons
	Frankfurt Galaxy	17–14	Orlando Thunder
	Montreal Machine	26–23	Sacramento Surge
Sunday, May 5	New York/New Jersey Knights	42–6	Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks
Monday, May 6	London Monarchs	38–15	San Antonio Riders

Week 8

Date	Visiting team	Final score	Home team
Saturday, May 11	San Antonio Riders	7–17	Barcelona Dragons
	London Monarchs	22–7	New York/New Jersey Knights
	Sacramento Surge	33–45	Orlando Thunder
Sunday, May 12	Birmingham Fire	3–10	Frankfurt Galaxy
Monday, May 13	Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks	6–15	Montreal Machine

Week 9

Date	Visiting team	Final score	Home team
Saturday, May 18	Montreal Machine	10–27	San Antonio Riders
Saturday, May 18	London Monarchs	45–21	Sacramento Surge
Sunday, May 19	Frankfurt Galaxy	10–3	Barcelona Dragons
Monday, May 20	Orlando Thunder	20–14	Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks
Monday, May 20	New York/New Jersey Knights	14–24	Birmingham Fire

Week 10

Date	Visiting team	Final score	Home team
Saturday, May 25	Sacramento Surge	24–13	Frankfurt Galaxy
	Birmingham Fire	28–7	Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks
	San Antonio Riders	9–38	New York/New Jersey Knights
Monday, May 27	Barcelona Dragons	20–17	London Monarchs
Monday, May 27	Orlando Thunder	33–27	Montreal Machine

Standings

European Division
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	DIV	STK
London Monarchs	9	1	0	.900	310	121	1–1	L1
Barcelona Dragons	8	2	0	.800	206	126	1–1	W1
Frankfurt Galaxy	7	3	0	.700	155	139	1–1	L1

North American East Division
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	DIV	STK
New York/New Jersey Knights	5	5	0	.500	257	155	3–0	W1
Orlando Thunder	5	5	0	.500	242	286	3–1	W3
Montreal Machine	4	6	0	.400	145	244	1–2	L2
Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks	0	10	0	.000	123	300	0–4	L10

North American West Division
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	DIV	STK
Birmingham Fire	5	5	0	.500	140	140	2–0	W2
San Antonio Riders	4	6	0	.400	176	196	1–1	L1
Sacramento Surge	3	7	0	.300	179	226	0–2	W1

^[5] ^[6]

Postseason

Bracket

Semifinals			World Bowl '91

1	London Monarchs	42

4	New York/New Jersey Knights	26
			London Monarchs	21

			Barcelona Dragons	0
3	Barcelona Dragons	10

2	Birmingham Fire	3

All-World League team

Offense

Position	First team	Second team
Wide receiver	Jon Horton, London Gene Taylor, Barcelona Byron Williams, Orlando	Dana Brinson, London Monty Gilbreath, NY/NJ Carl Parker, Sacramento
Tackle	Steve Gabbard, London Mike Withycombe, Orlando	Scott Adams, Barcelona Theo Adams, London
Guard	Paul Berardelli, London Gary Frank, Frankfurt	John Guerrero, Orlando Barry Voorhees, Barcelona
Center	Doug Marrone, London	Curtis Wilson, Sacramento
Quarterback	Stan Gelbaugh, London	Scott Erney, Barcelona
Running back	Tony Baker, Frankfurt Ricky Blake, San Antonio	Judd Garrett, London Eric Mitchell, Orlando Eric Wilkerson, NY/NJ

^[7]

Defense

Position	First team	Second team
Defensive end	Bruce Clark, Barcelona Mark Mraz, Frankfurt	Donnie Gardner, San Antonio Shawn Knight, Sacramento
Nose tackle	Roy Hart, London	Darrell Phillips, Birmingham Mike Teeter, Frankfurt
Outside linebacker	Danny Lockett, London Tracy Simien, Montreal	Marlon Brown, London Ron Sancho, NY/NJ
Inside linebacker	John Brantley, Birmingham Tim Walton, San Antonio	Ron Goetz, Barcelona Pete Najarian, Sacramento Ken Sale, London
Cornerback	Anthony Parker, NY/NJ Corris Ervin, London	John Holland, Birmingham Richard Shelton, Montreal
Strong safety	Greg Coauette, Sacramento	Tim Broady, Frankfurt
Free safety	John Miller, Birmingham	Dedrick Dodge, London

^[7]

Specialists

Position	First team	Second team
Kicker	Phil Alexander, London	Björn Nittmo, Montreal
Punter	Chris Mohr, Montreal	Kirk Maggio, Birmingham
Special teams	Erroll Tucker, Orlando (PR)	Richard Shelton, Montreal (PR)
Operation Discovery	Phil Alexander, London	Victor Ebubedike, London

^[7]

References

^ "League History". WLAF. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
^ Stellino, Vito (April 7, 1991). "WLAF attendance surpassing early hopes in Europe and Canada". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c Eichel, Larry (June 8, 1991). "In Europe, WLAF's Game Was More Than Football". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on October 29, 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c "WLAF History: 1991". WLAF. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
^ Associated Press (May 28, 1991). "WLAF standings". The Item. Sumter, South Carolina. p. 4B. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
^ "1991 WLAF Standings". The Football Database. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c "1991 All-World League Team". The News. Boca Raton, Florida. May 25, 1991. p. 5D. Retrieved August 2, 2012.

[1] "League History". WLAF. Retrieved 26 May 2014.

[Stellino-2] Stellino, Vito (April 7, 1991). "WLAF attendance surpassing early hopes in Europe and Canada". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 26 May 2014.

[Eichel-3] Eichel, Larry (June 8, 1991). "In Europe, WLAF's Game Was More Than Football". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on October 29, 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.

[wlaf1991-4] "WLAF History: 1991". WLAF. Retrieved 26 May 2014.

[5] Associated Press (May 28, 1991). "WLAF standings". The Item. Sumter, South Carolina. p. 4B. Retrieved August 2, 2012.

[6] "1991 WLAF Standings". The Football Database. Retrieved August 2, 2011.

[All-WL-7] "1991 All-World League Team". The News. Boca Raton, Florida. May 25, 1991. p. 5D. Retrieved August 2, 2012.

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