World League of American Football

NFL Europe was originally founded in the spring of 1991 as the World League of American Football. The original WLAF was an American football league partially backed by the National Football League and, like the current NFL Europe, was a spring developmental league. Originally, the ancestor to NFL Europe had 10 teams: six American teams, three European teams, and one Canadian team. The top two teams in the World League of American Football met at the end of the season in the World Bowl.

The original WLAF was less than popular in the United States, and only marginally more so in Europe, and suspended operations in 1993 prior to the season. However, the National Football League still liked the idea of a spring developmental league, and after revamping itself into an exclusively European circuit, the World League was formed. World League, re-launched in 1995, consisted of 6 European teams, 5 of which are members of the present-day NFL Europe, although one team has moved from its original city. The London Monarchs moved to Berlin in 1999, becoming the Berlin Thunder. The one original team that no longer exists is the Barcelona Dragons. In 2002, the team became an official section of FC Barcelona, adopting the name FC Barcelona Dragons, but folded after the 2003 season when Barça dropped its sponsorship. A new German franchise, the Cologne Centurions, took the Dragons' place in the league in 2004. In 1998, the World League changed its name to NFL Europe.

Players in NFL Europe are predominantly assigned by NFL teams who want these younger, "developmental" players to get additional game experience and coaching. The expenses of these players and their coaches while living in Europe are assumed by the league.

Rules unique to NFL Europe included assigning increasing point value to field goals based on length, and a requirement that at least one player of European extraction participate in at least every other series of downs.

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Teams

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