The Montreal Machine were the sole Canadian team in the

World League of American Football NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally ...

(WLAF), a springtime developmental professional league set up by the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

(NFL) that played in 1991 and 1992. There were also three European teams and six North America-based teams. Like all WLAF teams, the Machine played American rules football, 11 players per side on a 120-yard field, rather than Canadian rules football of 12 players per side on 150-yard field. The Machine filled a void created by the folding of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a c ...

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes ( French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the East Division of the Cana ...

in 1987. It was the first American football team in Canada since the Montreal Beavers, Toronto Rifles and Victoria Steelers, which all played in the

Continental Football League The Continental Football League (COFL) was a professional American football minor league that operated in North America from 1965 through 1969. It was established following the collapse of the original United Football League, and hoped to becom ...

in 1967. The NFL had also played two international preseason games in Montreal in 1988 and 1990 during the Alouettes' absence. After two years, the Machine, and the entire WLAF, were put on "hiatus" by the NFL. In 1995, the three European-based franchises (and three more) were reconstituted as the World League (later known as

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally ...

); the North American teams were folded. The Machine played their home games at the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

in Montreal, which also hosted what would be the WLAF's last game in its original incarnation,

World Bowl '92 World Bowl '92 (also referred to as World Bowl II) was the second championship game of the World League of American Football (WLAF), played on Saturday, June 6, 1992 at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 43,789 witnessed the matchup betw ...

. A crowd of 43,789 watched the

Sacramento Surge The Sacramento Surge was a professional American football team that played in the World League of American Football (WLAF) in 1991 and 1992. The team played its first season at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, and the second season in Hornet Stad ...

defeat the

Orlando Thunder The Orlando Thunder was a member of the World League of American Football from 1991 to 1992 (known as NFL Europe from 1995 onwards). The team played their games in the 70,000 seat Florida Citrus Bowl, and was coached by Don Matthews in 1991 and ...

, 21-17. The Machine's average game attendance was 31,888 in their first year of play, well above the league average and above expectations. It dropped to 25,254 in their second (and final) year, still in line with league average. The end of the WLAF's North American operations was soon followed by the CFL commencing its own U.S. expansion experiment, which lasted for three seasons. The subsequent demise of the CFL's U.S. teams coincided with pro football's return to Montreal in 1996 when the third and current incarnation of the

commenced play. The Alouettes had been revived by the owners of the

Baltimore Stallions The Baltimore Stallions (known officially as the "Baltimore Football Club" and previously as the "Baltimore CFL Colts" in its inaugural season) were a Canadian Football League team based in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States, which played ...

, the most successful of the CFL's American franchises, who upon shuttering their U.S.-based team relocated their football organization to Montreal.

Season-by-season

1991 season

Personnel

Staff

Roster

Results

*Week 1: Sat. Mar. 23 - 8:00 pm EDT - (W) Montreal 20 @ Birmingham Fire 5 (Legion Field - 52,942) USA/TSN-RDS *Week 2: Mon. Apr. 1 - 8:00 pm EDT - (L) Montreal 10 vs. Barcelona Dragons 34 (Olympic Stadium - 53,238) USA/TSN-RDS *Week 3: Mon. Apr. 8 - 8:00 pm EDT - (W) Montreal 23 vs. Birmingham Fire 10 (Olympic Stadium - 27,766) USA/TSN-RDS *Week 4: Sat. Apr. 13 - 8:00 pm EDT - (L) Montreal 0 vs. New York/New Jersey Knights 44 (Olympic Stadium - 34,821) USA/TSN-RDS *Week 5: Sat. Apr. 20 - 2:00 pm EDT - (L) Montreal 7 @ London Monarchs 45 (Wembley Stadium - 35,294) TV EURO/TSN-RDS *Week 6: Sat. Apr. 27 - 3:00 pm EDT - (L) Montreal 7 @ Frankfurt Galaxy 17 (Waldstadion - 25,269) TV5/TSN-RDS *Week 7: Sat. May. 4 - 8:00 pm EDT - (W) Montreal 26 @ Sacramento Surge 23 (OT) (Hughes Stadium - 17,326) USA/TSN-RDS *Week 8: Mon. May. 13 - 8:00 pm EDT - (W) Montreal 15 vs. Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks 6 (Olympic Stadium - 20,123) USA/TSN-RDS *Week 9: Sun. May. 19 - 12:30 pm EDT - (L) Montreal 10 @ San Antonio Riders 27 (Alamo Stadium - 20,234) ABC/RDS *Week 10: Mon. May. 27 - 8:00 pm EDT - (L) Montreal 27 vs. Orlando Thunder 33 (OT) (Olympic Stadium - 23,493) USA/TSN-RDS

1992 season

Personnel

Roster

Results

*Week 1: San Antonio Riders 17, Montreal 16 *Week 2: Montreal 31, Orlando Thunder 29 *Week 3: Sacramento Surge 14, Montreal 7 *Week 4: Montreal 31, Ohio Glory 20 *Week 5: Orlando Thunder 16, Montreal 8 *Week 6: New York/New Jersey Knights 34, Montreal 11 *Week 7: Sacramento Surge 35, Montreal 21 *Week 8: Birmingham Fire 23, Montreal 16 (OT) *Week 9: London Monarchs 45, Montreal 13 *Week 10: New York/New Jersey Knights 41, Montreal 21

References

{{Defunct Quebec Sports Sports teams in Montreal American football teams established in 1991 American football teams disestablished in 1992 NFL Europe (WLAF) teams Defunct American football teams in Canada 1991 establishments in Quebec 1992 disestablishments in Quebec