World Bowl '91 (also referred to as World Bowl I) was the first annual

World Bowl 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 ...

, the championship game of the

World League of American Football NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

. It took place on June 9, 1991 at

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

. The game featured a matchup between the Barcelona Dragons and 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 ...

. The Monarchs won 21–0 in front of 61,108 fans.

Background

The teams finished the 1991 season with the two best records in the WLAF. The Monarchs' 9–1 mark qualified them for the playoffs as European division champions, while the Dragons finished 8–2 and qualified as a wildcard. The Monarchs' only blemish on their record came at the hands of the Dragons, 20–17, at

in the last week of the regular season. For both of the Europe-based finalists, the road to the World Bowl went through North America. The Dragons travelled to Birmingham and knocked off the Birmingham Fire (North American West champions), 10–3, while the Monarchs stopped North American East champion New York-New Jersey, 42–26. (Despite having a better record than the Knights, the semifinal game was held at

Giants Stadium Giants Stadium (sometimes referred to as Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands) was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and primarily hosted sporting events and ...

due to a scheduling conflict with an association football match at

). The two starting quarterbacks, Barcelona's Scott Erney and London's Stan Gelbaugh, knew each other well: they played high school football less than five minutes away from each other, at Mechanicsburg Area Senior High and Cumberland Valley High School, respectively.

Game summary

Barcelona started the game with excellent field position, as London

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

Dana Brinson fumbled the opening kickoff, and the Dragons took over on the Monarchs 18-yard line. However, the Monarchs defense shut down the Dragons offense, and London recovered a muffed field goal attempt (the first of 6 Dragon turnovers on the day). The teams traded possessions, with London taking over just before the end of the first quarter. Monarchs

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Stan Gelbaugh, who had finished the season as the league's offensive

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

, hit Jon Horton with a 59-yard touchdown pass to give the Monarchs a 7–0 lead at the close of the 1st quarter. On the Dragons' next possession, quarterback Scott Erney was intercepted by Dan Crossman, who returned his second pick of the game for a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

. Crossman would add another interception later in the second quarter, setting up a 14-yard pass from Gelbaugh to Judd Garrett, giving London a 21–0 lead and all the offense it would need. Barcelona tried, but could not come back in the second half, as the hometown Monarchs won in front of a raucous London crowd. The crowd was also treated late in the game by the entry of

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

Victor Ebubedike Victor Ebubedike (born 1 February 1966), also known as Victor X Ebubedike and Victor Muhammad, is an English former gridiron football player who played as a running back for London Ravens, from 1983 to 1990, then onto the NFL Europe's London ...

, born in London and a member of the Monarchs as per WLAF rules; he would gain 3 yards on his only carry of the game. The Monarchs' win turned out to be the only shutout in

history. Judd Garrett finished the day with 13 receptions, a World Bowl record that would never be surpassed. Dan Crossman's 3 interceptions easily earned him the World Bowl MVP award, the only time a defensive player would be so honored.

References

{{NFL on ABC World Bowl 1991 in American football 1991 in sport in London June 1991 sports events in the United Kingdom American football in London