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1995

 

1995 comeback
After revamping itself into an exclusively European circuit, the WLAF re-launched in 1995 . The league consisted of the three existing European teams from the original format as well as three new teams in Amsterdam, Düsseldorf (Rhein) and Edinburgh (who would compete as Scotland).

The 1995 Uniforms

The 1995 WLAF relaunch featured uniforms with a significantly different look to what is traditionally associated with American football. Instead of the full-size numbers centred on the front of the jersey, the team logos took precedence, with a smaller number over the right collarbone area.  The Monarchs reverted to the traditional look in 1997 and the rest of the league followed a year later. Uniforms were made by Fab-Knit for Reebok. 

 

January 17, 1995

Forty-two European players from eight countries across Europe are selected by World League teams.

February 20, 1995
37 players are allocated from NFL teams. Shaumbe Wright-Fair, running back out of Washington State, is the first player chosen in the 1995 draft. He was selected by the Rhein Fire. NFL teams allocate 37 players to World League teams. The New Orleans Saints send an NFL-high seven players to the World League.  
February 21, 1995
Two-Day draft in Dallas concludes. 276 players are selected. 
March 1, 1995
World League of American Football opens training camp in Atlanta, Georgia.
 
March 1-3, 1995
Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach Bill Walsh conducts quarterback passing camp at Falcons' Suwanee complex. 
March 12, 1995
16 players are selected in a supplemental draft.  
March 27, 1995
Teams depart Atlanta training camps for European bases.  
April 3, 1995
Jim Criner, a World Bowl winner as assistant coach of the Sacramento Surge in 1992, takes over from Lary Kuharich as head coach of the Scottish Claymores.  
April 8, 1995
1995 World League season kicks off with Frankfurt Galaxy beating the London Monarchs 45-22 in front of 28,021 at the Waldstadion. League newcomers Amsterdam Admirals beat Barcelona Dragons 17-13 in their debut game.
April 9, 1995
The Scottish Claymores play their first game in Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh. The visiting Rhein Fire win in the last minute by 19 points to 17.

WORLD LEAGUE'S LORY HOPES TO SCORE END RUN AROUND SOCCER

         

LONDON-Marc Lory, a French native, has a tough job-selling his adopted sport to soccer-loving Europeans who find the gridiron a dull and dreary place.

The World League's two-month-long season kicked off this month, three years after the league was suspended by then-owner National Football League due to a lack of interest by the American public. This time, the NFL partnered with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Together, they have agreed to invest $40 million overall for four years to try to make the league a success.

"The World League is about marketing," Mr. Lory said.

Mr. Lory, 44, a hard-driving entrepreneur who is also a pilot, paraglider, ice climber and mountain climber, relishes a challenge. Earlier in his career, he was president and co-owner-simultaneously-of his own investment consulting company, called Invec Inc. and another company, Emile Henry, that imported French cookware.

He found time to also do a stint as a McKinsey & Co. consultant in Paris and learn five languages: English, Spanish, German, French and Russian.

"I like it when it gets hard and stressful," said Mr. Lory, whose job, then, should be very satisfying.

Already he is changing the rules. In order to attract more fans in the target 16-23 age group, the World League created a more pass-oriented, higher scoring version of football than is played in the U.S. That meant changing a few rules, such as adding a one-inch tee for kickers.

"We want the opposite of what soccer is, which is, nothing really happens," he said.

Another problem is awareness. The News Corp. connection helps, with its Fox Broadcasting unit stepping in to negotiate TV deals insuring that 20 hours of World League games, much of it live, are on European TV sets each week throughout the season.

Mr. Lory has sponsors shouldering some of the promotion load, assembling an impressive list of deals that will play a key role in the promotion. He had a hand in signing Reebok International, Coca-Cola Co. and Quaker Oats' Gatorade to three-year agreements as primary sponsors, contributing cash and product.

Reebok designed and made the uniforms for the league and provides free shoes in exchange for free commercial time in World League broadcasts.

More limited secondary sponsor deals were inked with Fruit of the Loom and sporting equiment marketers Wilson and Riddell. Wilson gave the World League thousands of color posters explaining the game of football and prominently featuring the Wilson logo.

Under the guidance of the league, each team also has inked deals with local sponsors in its area. Ford Motor Co. in Barcelona is giving cars to the Barcelona team, which in turn will make its cheerleaders available to work at the Ford booth during a Barcelona auto show in May.

An 11th-hour deal with MTV Europe, still being finalized, calls for an as-yet-unnamed sponsor to give cash to MTV in exchange for the World League, providing MTV with 240 one minute highlight segments featuring hard-hitting football action mentioning both MTV and the sponsor. The clips will function as commercials for the World League, the sponsor and MTV, at no cost to the league.

"We believe as a team it is better to have several high-muscle partners than a buy-sell type of relationship," Mr. Lory said.

Conventional advertising is also playing a role. Each team has access to a stock World League commercial, and each is spending about $3 million on advertising, with the teams themselves deciding where the money should be spent locally. The creative and media buying accounts are held by different agencies around Europe for World Leage teams and local shops have the option not to use the stock footage at all.

==================================================================

Marc G. Lory

Birth: 1951.

Education: Undergraduate degree in marketing from Haute Ecole Commerce, near Paris; MBA, University of Chicago.

Career: Currently president and chief executive officer of the World League of American Football. President and chief executive officer of Orlux Distribution Inc., a Santa Monica, Ca.-based company that distributes Vuarnet sunglasses in the U.S. and Mexico from 1990-1994. President and co-owner of Invec Inc. and Emile Henry Inc., Santa Monica-based companies whose primary businesses were investing in real estate and distributing French cookware, respectively, in 1993. Previously consultant with McKinsey in Paris. Before that, assistant to the executive director of Unicef in New York.

Family: Single.

Hobbies: Mountain climbing, ice climbing, paragliding, piloting aircraft.

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May 7, 1995
The World League creates history as London Monarchs kicker Don Silvestri kicks football's first four-point field goal, awarded for successful attempts from 50 yards or more.  
April 30, 1995
Amsterdam clinches a place in World Bowl '95 after a 31-0 victory at the Scottish Claymores ensures that they will win the first half of the World League's split-season.
May 7, 1995
The World League creates history when London Monarchs kicker Don SIlvestri kicks football's first ever four-point field goal, awarded for attempts from 50 yards or more. Silvestri hit a 52 yarder. This proved to be the winning margin to beat the Scottish Claymores 11-10 in pro football's first battle of Britain.
June 10, 1995
Paul Justin passes for a World League record 435 yards and three touchdowns as Frankfurt beats Barcelona 44-20 in Spain to win the second half of the season and advance to the World Bowl in Amsterdam.
June 17, 1995
Paul Justin throws for 308 yards and 3 touchdowns as Frankfurt beats Amsterdam to win the World Bowl 26-22 in front of 23,847 at Amsterdam's Olympic Stadium. The game is broadcast to 52 countries. 
July 13, 1995
Oliver Luck is named as the leagues President being promoted from general manager of the Rhein Fire, formerly of the Frankfurt Galaxy.  
July 20, 1995
Michael F. Keller, former general manager of the 1992 World Bowl Champion Sacramento Surge is named as general manager of the Scottish Claymores.  
August 1, 1995
World League veteran Bill Peterson is appointed general manager of the Amsterdam Admirals.  
September 3-4, 1995
NFL season kicks off with 72 former WLAF players on rosters around the league
November, 1995
Manfred Burgsmuller, one of the most famous names in German soccer history, is signed to kick for the Rhein Fire.  
December 14, 1995
Punter Darren Bennett (now of the San Diego Chargers) becomes the first former WLAF player to be selected for the Pro Bowl on 4 February 1996 in Honolulu


1995 Results & Standings
Week 1
Teams1st2nd3rd4thOTFinalDateAttendance

Barcelona Dragons @ Amsterdam Admirals

17
0
0
3
0
7
0
3
 17
13
04-08-957,186
London Monarchs @ Frankfurt Galaxy7
0
14
6
24
0
0
16
 45
22
04-08-9528,021
Rhein Fire @ Scottish Claymores0
7
10
0
0
6
7
6
 17
19
04-09-9510,346
Week 2
Frankfurt Galaxy @ Amsterdam Admirals0
7
14
0
0
0
0
5
 14
12
04-15-955,32

London Monarchs @ Rhein Fire

7
3
0
10
0
7
0
3
 7
23
04-15-9515,892
Scottish Claymores @ Barcelona Dragons0
0
7
0
0
7
3
0
 10
7
04-17-9516,500
Week 3
Rhein Fire @ Barcelona Dragons3
3
15
6
7
7
7
14
 32
30
04-22-9517,900
Scottish Claymores @ Frankfurt Galaxy0
7
0
0
7
0
7
13
 14
20
04-22-9525,182

Amsterdam Admirals @ London Monarchs

7
7
3
3
0
7
0
0
 10
17
04-23-958,763
Week 4
Barcelona Dragons @ London Monarchs0
3
7
9
3
14
14
13
 24
39
04-30-9510,287
Frankfurt Galaxy @ Rhein Fire7
0
14
0
0
20
0
0
 21
20
04-30-9519,181
Amsterdam Admirals @ Scottish Claymores0
7
0
6
0
15
0
3
 0
31
04-30-959,306
Week 5
Rhein Fire @ Amsterdam Admirals6
3
21
0
3
7
0
0
 30
10
05-06-958,153
Barcelona Dragons @ Frankfurt Galaxy3
3
14
3
0
0
7
14
 24
20
05-06-9530,698
London Monarchs @ Scottish Claymores0
4
0
0
7
0
3
7
 10
11
05-07-9510,481
Week 6
Amsterdam Admirals @ Barcelona Dragons6
0
9
20
11
0
8
14
0
6
34
40
05-13-9518,369
Frankfurt Galaxy @ London Monarchs7
7
0
10
0
10
0
0
 7
27
05-14-958,912
Scottish Claymores @ Rhein Fire0
3
3
14
17
3
7
7
6
0
33
27
05-14-956,981
Week 7
Scottish Claymores @ Amsterdam Admirals6
7
7
6
7
0
10
0
 30
13
05-20-9510,423
London Monarchs @ Barcelona Dragons6
14
3
6
6
0
7
7
 22
27
05-20-9518,850
Rhein Fire @ Frankfurt Galaxy14
7
0
13
7
14
7
7
 28
41
05-20-9533,112
Week 8
Barcelona Dragons @ Scottish Claymores0
3
7
3
3
0
3
10
 13
16
05-27-957,523
Amsterdam Admirals @ Frankfurt Galaxy7
0
7
3
7
7
7
3
 28
13
05-27-9528,368
Rhein Fire @ London Monarchs0
0
3
7
24
0
7
7
 34
14
05-29-9512,342
Week 9
London Monarchs @ Amsterdam Admirals7
0
0
0
7
0
3
7
 17
7
06-03-958,469
Barcelona Dragons @ Rhein Fire10
7
11
17
0
0
0
7
 21
31
06-03-9512,323
Frankfurt Galaxy @ Scottish Claymores7
7
0
23
9
0
8
7
 24
37
06-04-956,840
Week 10
Frankfurt Galaxy @ Barcelona Dragons0
3
13
13
0
7
7
21
 20
44
06-10-9521,380
Scottish Claymores @ London Monarchs0
0
3
7
6
10
0
5
 9
22
06-10-9511,783
Amsterdam Admirals @ Rhein Fire0
7
6
0
6
7
13
23
 25
37
06-10-957,961
WORLD BOWL 1995 at Amsterdam
FRANKFURT GALAXY
vs Amsterdam Admirals
0
0
6
7
14
0
6
15
 26
22
06-17-9523,847

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