London Monarchs
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London Monarchs logo
The London Monarchs were a franchise in NFL Europe and its predecssor league, the World League of American Football. The WLAF operated in 1991 and 1992 and included six U.S. teams, one Canadian team, and three European-based team, including the Monarchs, that was formated in three divisions (North American West, North American East, and European Divisions). The WLAF suspended operations prior to the 1993 season, but was revived in 1995 as the World League, featuring six European-based teams, again including the Monarchs. The World League was renamed "NFL Europe League" in 1998. This league plays its games in the spring so as not to conflict with the traditional American football season of fall and early winter.
In 1991 and 1992 the Monarchs played their home games at famed Wembley Stadium. In the 1991 season the team won the first World Bowl at Wembley, beating the Barcelona Dragons, the only team to have beaten them in the entire season. In these early days of the World League, Wembley was often full to capacity for Monarchs games, but dwindling interests forced the team to shift its home ground to White Hart Lane, home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Because the pitch at White Hart Lane is laid out for association football, special dispensation had to be applied for to use a shortened field and it was granted: the pitch at White Hart Lane measured 93 yards. In 1998, the Monarchs were forced to remove from White Hart Lane. They renamed themselves the "English Monarchs" and travelled the country, playing home games at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, Ashton Gate (home of Bristol City F.C.) and Alexander Stadium, an athletics stadium in Birmingham. This venture failed to raise interest in the franchise, and for the 1999 season it was relocated to Berlin and renamed Berlin Thunder, where it remains today.
Like other WLAF/NFL Europe teams, most of the Monarchs' players were young American "developmental" players assigned from teams in the National Football League. The league paid these players' salaries, as well of that of the coaches, who tended also to be Americans, though there were exceptions - in the early Monarchs Walter McKone was a team therapist and Stewart Parkinson a team manager. A few players of European extraction also participated, primarily as kicking specialists, although league rules required the participation of at least one player of European extraction on every other series of four downs. The league's points leader in 1991 was Philip Alexander, kicker with the Monarchs, who years later went on to manage Crystal Palace soccer club. One exception to the 'kicker phenomenon' was Victor Ebubedike who played as running back for the Monarchs for a number of years, and who became the first European to score a touchdown (versus the Orlando Thunder) in 1991. Famous players for the Monarchs included William Perry and Brad Johnson, a quarterback who would go on to win Super Bowl XXXVII with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Also of note was Dedrick Dodge, a special teams maven, who went on to win a number of Super Bowl rings with teams including the Denver Broncos.