The1997 World League of American Football season was the fifth campaign of theWLAF professionalAmerican football league, and the third under its six-teamEurope-only format.World Bowl '97 was won by theBarcelona Dragons, whose quarterback wasJon Kitna, then on the roster of theSeattle Seahawks in theNFL.[1]
TheAmsterdam Admirals moved their home games to the newAmsterdam ArenA.
During the regular season the 7–3Rhein Fire finished ahead of the 5–5Barcelona Dragons in the standings. Barcelona, however, had had a 4–1 start to qualify for the World Bowl as midseason leaders, also gaining the right to host the World Bowl. In the second half of the season, with little to play for, Barcelona went 1–4. This was instrumental in a rule change for the following season, namely that the end-of-season league leader and runner-up would contest the World Bowl, not the midseason leader.
In week 1Frankfurt travelled toLondon and lost 14–7, suffering what Frankfurt's coachErnie Stautner called "the worst game I've seen offensively in all the years I've been in football".[2]In week 4 the Dragons beat London, who suffered the "most spectacular collapse in World League history" according to Nick Halling, in giving away a 23-point lead.[3]
The Fire, with a 10–7 win in London on June 15, 1997, secured first place in the league as the only team with a winning record.[4]
| World League of American Football | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | Home | Road | STK |
| Rhein Fire | 7 | 3 | 0 | .700 | 206 | 146 | 3–2 | 4–1 | W3 |
| Barcelona Dragons | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 236 | 209 | 2–3 | 3–2 | W1 |
| Scottish Claymores | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 134 | 154 | 2–3 | 3–2 | L2 |
| Amsterdam Admirals | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 156 | 160 | 4–1 | 1–4 | W1 |
| Frankfurt Galaxy | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | 147 | 142 | 3–2 | 1–4 | L1 |
| London Monarchs | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | 116 | 184 | 2–3 | 2–3 | L1 |
Barcelona beat Rhein Fire 38–24 at theEstadi Olímpic de Montjuïc inBarcelona,Spain on Sunday, June 22, 1997.[6]World Bowl '97 was the fifth championship game of theWorld League of American Football. 31,100 fans were in attendance as the Dragons won their first and only World Bowl title in franchise history.Jon Kitna was givenMVP honors after completing 23 of 31 attempts for 401 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
For 1998 the World League of American Football was rebranded "NFL Europe".
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