The Birmingham Fire were a professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team based in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

. They were a member of the North American West division of the

World League of American Football NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

(WLAF) and played their home games at

Legion Field Legion Field is an outdoor stadium in the southeastern United States in Birmingham, Alabama, primarily designed to be used as a venue for American football, but occasionally used for other large outdoor events. Opened in 1927, it is named in ho ...

. The club was a charter member of the WLAF, and was under the ownership of Gavin Maloof. Led by head coach

Chan Gailey Thomas Chandler Gailey Jr. (born January 5, 1952) is a former American football coach. Most recently in 2020, he was the offensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). Gailey has previously served as the head ...

, the Fire saw moderate success as they compiled an overall record of twelve wins, nine losses and one tie (12–9–1) and made the playoffs in both seasons they competed. The franchise folded in September 1992 when the NFL placed the league on an indefinite hiatus.

Formation

In June 1989, WLAF president

Tex Schramm Texas Earnest Schramm Jr. (June 2, 1920 – July 15, 2003) was an American football executive who was the original president and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys franchise of the National Football League (NFL). Schramm, usually referred to ...

and other league officials met with Birmingham leaders to discuss the possibility of fielding a team at Legion Field. At that time Schramm stated that Birmingham was under consideration for a franchise based on its past support of the

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...

Vulcans Vulcans, sometimes referred to as Vulcanians, are a fictional extraterrestrial humanoid species in the '' Star Trek'' universe and media franchise. In the various ''Star Trek'' television series and films, they are noted for their attempt t ...

of the

World Football League The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 and most of its second in 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest t ...

and the

Stallions A stallion is a male horse that has not been gelded (castrated). Stallions follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cresty" neck ...

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

. The following July, the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) owners voted to approve the formation of the WLAF in an effort to expand the sport outside of the United States. At the time of the announcement the league was envisioned to have twelve teams with

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

and

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

as being already selected for franchises. Birmingham was identified as a contender for one of the final four franchises along with

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

and

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

. On April 18, 1990, Birmingham became the second city in the United States officially awarded a franchise after the

Orlando Thunder The Orlando Thunder was a member of the World League of American Football from 1991 to 1992 (known as NFL Europe from 1995 onwards). The team played their games in the 70,000 seat Florida Citrus Bowl, and was coached by Don Matthews in 1991 and ...

to compete in the inaugural WLAF season. At the time of the announcement, Schramm reiterated past support for professional football in Birmingham was a major reason for its selection for a franchise. A group headed by former

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

president Gavin Maloof was revealed as owners of the Birmingham franchise in November 1990. At that time the league reaffirmed it would begin play in March 1991 with ten teams, and that Birmingham would compete as a member of the North American West division with the

Sacramento Surge The Sacramento Surge was a professional American football team that played in the World League of American Football (WLAF) in 1991 and 1992. The team played its first season at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, and the second season in Hornet Stadiu ...

and the

San Antonio Riders The San Antonio Riders were a professional American football team that played in the WLAF in 1991 and 1992. The team played at Alamo Stadium in San Antonio in 1991 and then were forced to move to Bobcat Stadium on the campus of Southwest Texas S ...

. On December 6,

Michael Huyghue Michael L. Huyghue (born September 21, 1961; pronounced "hewg") is a sports lawyer and businessman and former commissioner of the United Football League, having served in that capacity since the league's founding in 2007. He was previously a mem ...

was introduced as

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

, and at the time of his being hired, he was the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

general manager of a professional football team. On December 21, 1990,

was introduced as the first head coach of the Fire.

1991 season

In February 1991, the WLAF held its inaugural draft, and unlike the

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

, the WLAF version was carried out with individual positions being drafted over a period of several days. Offensive linemen were drafted on February 14; running backs, punters and placekickers on February 16; quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends on February 18; defensive linemen on February 20; linebackers on February 22; and defensive backs on February 24. The most notable player drafted by the Fire was the selection of Brent Pease with the first overall pick in the quarterbacks draft.

Training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

started shortly thereafter, and in mid-March the Fire lost to San Antonio in a controlled scrimmage at

San Marcos, Texas San Marcos ( ) is a city and the county seat of Hays County, Texas, United States. The city's limits extend into Caldwell and Guadalupe Counties, as well. San Marcos is within the Austin–Round Rock metropolitan area and on the Interstate 35 ...

. The Fire played their first game on March 23 against the

Montreal Machine The Montreal Machine were the sole Canadian team in the World League of American Football (WLAF), a springtime developmental professional league set up by the National Football League (NFL) that played in 1991 and 1992. There were also three Euro ...

at Legion Field. Although they lost 20–5, an attendance of over 53,000 resulted in the start of the game being delayed 21 minutes to allow fans into the stadium as only two gates were open at the time. The next week, the Fire won their first game against the

. The 17–10 win only drew 16,000 spectators, but the featured a 99-yard

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

return for a touchdown by John Miller. The team then alternated pairs of wins and losses over their remaining eight regular season games. The first pair of losses came on the road against Montreal and at home against the

London Monarchs The London Monarchs were a professional American football team in NFL Europe and its predecessor league, the World League of American Football (WLAF). The Monarchs played their final season in 1998 as the England Monarchs. In 1999, they were re ...

. In their first all-time road game, Birmingham lost to the Machine 23–10 before 27,766 fans at

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

. One week later, they suffered their only

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

of the season in their 27–0 loss against eventual

World Bowl The World Bowl was the annual American football championship game of the World League of American Football/NFL Europe. The World Bowl was played each year from 1991 to 2007 (except 1993 and 1994). The game was conceived as the final of the NFL-r ...

champion London. Birmingham then rebounded with a 31–6 road win at the

and a 16–12 with at home against San Antonio to even their overall record at 3–3. The Fire then lost both of the games played in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, and as a result their record dropped to 3–5. The first loss came against the

Barcelona Dragons Two American football franchises have been referred to as the Barcelona Dragons: * Barcelona Dragons (NFL Europe), active in NFL Europe between 1991 and 2003; * Barcelona Dragons (ELF) The Barcelona Dragons are an American football team based in ...

in an 11–6 defeat and against the

Frankfurt Galaxy Two American football franchises have been referred to as the Frankfurt Galaxy: * Frankfurt Galaxy (NFL Europe), active in NFL Europe between 1991 and 2007 * Frankfurt Galaxy (ELF) The Frankfurt Galaxy is an American football team in Frankfurt, ...

in their 10–3 loss at the Waldstadion. In their final home game of the season, Birmingham defeated the

New York/New Jersey Knights The New York/New Jersey Knights was a franchise in the World League of American Football for the 1991 and 1992 seasons. They played in the North American East division, which they won in the 1991 season. They were coached by Mouse Davis, an archit ...

24–14 to put the team in contention for the last playoff spot as they entered the final week of the regular season. In their regular season finale the Fire defeated the

Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks The Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks were an American football team headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina that played for one season in 1991 in the World League of American Football (WLAF). The name was inspired by the Wright brothers' flights on t ...

28–7, and clinched a spot in the first WLAF playoffs as the winners of the North American West division with a 5–5 record. In the WLAF semifinals, Birmingham lost for the second time in the season to Barcelona 10–3 at Legion Field to finish their inaugural season with a final record of 5–6. In the buildup to their playoff game in the months that followed, the Fire started their effort to host

World Bowl '92 World Bowl '92 (also referred to as World Bowl II) was the second championship game of the World League of American Football (WLAF), played on Saturday, June 6, 1992 at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 43,789 witnessed the matchup betw ...

at Legion Field. In the formal request for the event, team ownership indicated they were willing to undertake a $12 million renovation of the facility that would increase the seating capacity from 72,000 to 80,000, add luxury skyboxes and a giant TV scoreboard. Ultimately the league awarded the game to Montreal in December 1991. Michael Huyghue resigned as general manager on June 20 to take a position in the WLAF front office.

1992 season

In December 1991, Rick Nichols was hired from the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...

to serve as general manager of the Fire. In February 1992, the league held its second annual draft and Birmingham made 29 selection during its two days. In addition to those players drafted, an additional six players were allocated to the Fire from NFL teams that retained their overall rights. By March, the team was again in training camp, but this season had an official preseason game to play against the

. In this game, the Fire lost 14–13, and in a first in professional sports the loss could be utilized as a potential tiebreaker in order to determine playoff eligibility. The Fire opened the season for the second consecutive year with a loss in their opening game by the score of 20-6 at Sacramento. They then rebounded by going undefeated over the four games that followed. After a 17–10 victory in their home opener against San Antonio, Birmingham earned their first all-time win in Europe with a 17–7 win at

. The next week, Birmingham tied London 17–17 at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

. The draw was both the first in the history of the World League, and remained as the only one until

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

battled to a 17–17 tie as part of

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

in 2006. The Fire returned from Europe and defeated Sacramento 28–14 in a rematch of their week one matchup. In week six, Birmingham lost 17–10 on the road to division rival San Antonio before they ended the regular season on a four-game winning streak. Against

, the Fire withstood a fourth quarter comeback and defeated the Dragons for the first time in franchise history 19–7. The next week, Birmingham defeated Montreal for the first time and also won their first overtime game with their 23–16 victory over the Machine. A failed

two-point conversion In gridiron football, a two-point conversion or two-point convert is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point conversion immediately after it scores a touchdown. In a two-point conversion attempt, the team that just scored must run ...

gave the Fire a 24–23 victory over Orlando and a comeback, 27–24 victory at the

Ohio Glory The Ohio Glory were a professional American football team in NFL Europe. They played one season (1992) in the World League of American Football, which later became NFL Europe. Columbus, Ohio was awarded the WLAF franchise after the Raleigh-Dur ...

in the final game of the season allowed Birmingham to qualify for the playoffs as a wild card. In their semifinals appearance, numerous turnovers resulted in a 45–7 defeat at Orlando to finish the season with a record of 7–3–1.

Season-by-season records

Dissolution

In August 1992, Maloof sold the franchise back to the league. At that time league officials asked former

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

quarterback

Bart Starr Bryan Bartlett Starr (January 9, 1934 – May 26, 2019) was an American professional football quarterback and head coach for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Alab ...

to help find a new ownership group in Alabama. On September 17, 1992, the NFL decided to place the WLAF on an indefinite hiatus. The owners stated that the decision was made to shutter the league at that time in an effort to save money to settle potential class action lawsuits brought about by players in the wake of

Plan B free agency In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

being declared illegal. The NFL stated that when the league was reestablished it would be focused on European markets with no more than one or two teams envisioned for play in the United States.

Life after the WLAF

After the dissolution of the franchise, several of its former coaches and front office personnel moved onto other endeavors. Chan Gailey was named the head coach at

Samford University Samford University is a private Christian university in Homewood, Alabama. In 1841, the university was founded as Howard College by Baptists. Samford University describes itself as the 87th oldest institution of higher learning in the United Sta ...

in January 1992 to replace the departed

Terry Bowden Terry Wilson Bowden (; born February 24, 1956) is an American college football coach, currently the head coach at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Bowden was previously head coach at Salem University (1983–1985), Samford University (1987 ...

. When he left to re-enter the NFL after only one season with the Bulldogs, he was replaced by former Fire offensive line coach

Pete Hurt Pete Hurt (born September 22, 1956) is an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Samford University in Homewood, Alabama from 1994 to 2001, compiling a record of 42–39–1. Hurt has also been the head football coach ...

. Gailey went on to become the head coach of the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. The teams have also been nicknamed the Rambl ...

and the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

. Former owner Gavin Maloof joined his brother in the late 1990s to become owners of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

. In 1995 World League returned after a two-year hiatus, and the Fire nickname was resurrected in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

as the

Rhein Fire Rhein may refer to: Places * Rhine, a major river in Europe (german: Rhein, link=no) * Rhein, a village in the municipality of Morsbach in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany * Rhein (Ostpreussen), a former name of the town Ryn in Poland Ships * SM ...

. Professional football returned to Birmingham in 1995 when the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL) awarded what became the

Birmingham Barracudas The Birmingham Barracudas were a Canadian football team that played the 1995 season in the Canadian Football League. The Barracudas were part of a failed attempt to expand the CFL into the United States. Franchise history In the beginning Ins ...

as part of their

CFL USA The Canadian Football League (CFL), the sole major professional sports league in the United States and Canada to feature only teams from Canada, has made efforts to gain further audience in the United States, most directly through expansion in ...

expansion. The Barracudas only played the one season and folded, and Birmingham's next football team, the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

Birmingham Thunderbolts The Birmingham Thunderbolts were a short-lived springtime American football team based in Birmingham, Alabama. This team was part of the failed XFL begun by Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment and by NBC, a major television network in ...

, met the same fate. In 2019, Birmingham served as the home of the now defunct

AAF AAF may refer to: Aviation * Aigle Azur (ICAO code), a French airline * Apalachicola Regional Airport (IATA code), in Apalachicola, Florida Corporations * American Air Filter, today a part of HVAC-equipment-maker Daikin Military * Albanian Arm ...

Birmingham Iron The Birmingham Iron were a professional American football franchise based in Birmingham, Alabama, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which played one season from February 2019 to April 2019. They played thei ...

References

External links

BirminghamProSports.com
{{Birmingham Alabama Pro Football NFL Europe (WLAF) teams American football teams in Birmingham, Alabama Defunct American football teams in Alabama American football teams established in 1991 American football teams disestablished in 1992 1991 establishments in Alabama 1992 disestablishments in Alabama