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 ...

'91 (also referred to as World Bowl I) was the first annual championship game of the World League of American Football. It took place on June 9, 1991 at

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

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 game featured a matchup between 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 ...

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 or The Swamp) was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and it primarily hosted spo ...

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 Cumberland Valley High School (CV) is a public high school founded in 1954. It is located in the Cumberland Valley School District of Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. In the 2019–2020 school year, according to the National Cente ...

, respectively.

Game summary

Barcelona started the game with excellent field position, as London wide receiver

Dana Brinson Dana Brinson (born April 10, 1965) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the eighth round of the 1989 NFL Draft. He played ...

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 (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Am ...

Stan Gelbaugh Stanley Morris Gelbaugh (born December 4, 1962) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League for the Buffalo Bills, Phoenix Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks. He attained his greatest success in the World League of Ameri ...

, who had finished the season as the league's offensive MVP, 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. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

. 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 handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Th ...

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

, 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 London June 1991 sports events in the United Kingdom American football in London