 | |
| Founded | 1991; 34 years ago (1991) |
|---|---|
| Closed | 2003; 22 years ago (2003) |
| Based in | Barcelona,Catalonia, Spain |
| Home field | Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys,Mini Estadi |
| Mascot | Gregori |
| League | World League of American Football (NFL Europe) |
| Colors | Dark Green, Scarlet Red, Gold, White |
| Franchise record | Regular Season: 59–51–0 Postseason: 2–4 |
| Personnel | |
| Head coach | Jack Bicknell |
| Championships | |
| World Bowls (1) | World Bowl '97 |
TheBarcelona Dragons were anAmerican football team that was a part of theWorld League of American Football and later in the resurrectedNFL Europe. Their home field inBarcelona was theEstadi Olímpic de Montjuic, the1992 Olympic Stadium, and later theMini Estadi.
The Dragons were successful on the field, making it to 4World Bowls (1991,1997,1999,2001) and winningWorld Bowl V in 1997.
The team was made part of theFC Barcelona organization in2002 as the "FC Barcelona Dragons", which saw them move mid-season from the city's Olympic stadium to FC Barcelona's second stadium, the Mini Estadi, with its capacity of 15,276.
Despite these efforts, the franchise's fan support decreased and the team began to struggle financially. After the2003 season, the Dragons were discontinued and they were replaced in the league by theCologne Centurions.
For the entire duration of the Dragons' history they had only one head coach, "Cowboy"Jack Bicknell. His nickname was translated by his adoptive city toEl Caballero (with its additional connotations of "Knight" or "Gentleman" inSpanish).
From 1991 to 2002,Seymour "Red" Kelin was responsible for Defensive Coordinating duties. Bicknell and Kelin had been coaching together since their days atBoston College, where they helped lead the Eagles to aCotton Bowl Classic victory in 1984.
In 2021,an unrelated entity of the same name was founded to participate in the inaugural season of the newEuropean League of Football. This new team has announced theEstadi Municipal de Reus as their home field for their participation in this new league.
The Dragons lost the inauguralWorld Bowl 21–0 to theLondon Monarchs in 1991. The game was played atWembley Stadium in front of more than 60,000 fans.
That was to be the first of four World Bowl appearances for the Dragons, with the second bringing their first success in 1997. In an extremely tight group stage that year, the Dragons finished second with a .500 record, and then beatRhein Fire 38–24 in the final.
That would prove to be the Dragons' only trophy, but they made it to the World Bowl twice more, losing 38–24 toFrankfurt Galaxy in 1999, and 24–17 toBerlin Thunder in 2001. In both years they had finished top of the regular season standings.
| Season | League | Regular season | Postseason | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win/Loss | Finish | Won | Lost | Win/Loss | Result | |||
| 1991 | WLAF | 8 | 2 | 0 | .800 | 2nd(European) | 1 | 1 | .500 | Lost toLondon Monarchs inWorld Bowl '91 | |
| 1992 | WLAF | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 1st(European) | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost toSacramento Surge in semifinal | |
| 1993 | WLAF suspended operations from 1993 to 1994 | ||||||||||
| 1994 | |||||||||||
| 1995 | WLAF | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 3rd(League) | – | – | — | Out of playoffs. | |
| 1996 | WLAF | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 4th(League) | – | – | — | Out of playoffs. | |
| 1997 | WLAF | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 2nd(League) | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | World Bowl '97 champions | |
| 1998 | NFLE | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | 4th(League) | – | – | — | Out of playoffs. | |
| 1999 | NFLE | 7 | 3 | 0 | .700 | 1st(League) | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost toFrankfurt Galaxy inWorld Bowl '99 | |
| 2000 | NFLE | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 3rd(League) | – | – | — | Out of playoffs. | |
| 2001 | NFLE | 8 | 2 | 0 | .800 | 1st(League) | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost toBerlin Thunder inWorld Bowl IX | |
| 2002 | NFLE | 2 | 8 | 0 | .200 | 6th(League) | – | – | — | Out of playoffs. | |
| 2003 | NFLE | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 4th(League) | – | – | — | Out of playoffs. | |
| Total | 59 | 51 | 0 | .536 | 2 | 4 | .333 | ||||
| # | Name | Term | Regular season | Postseason | Achievements | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GC | Won | Lost | Ties | Win/Loss | GC | Won | Lost | Win/Loss | ||||
| 1 | Jack Bicknell | 1991–2003 | 110 | 59 | 51 | 0 | .536 | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | World Bowl '97 championship NFL Europe Coach of the Year (2001) |
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| Related articles | |
