The 1991 Birmingham Fire season was the first for the franchise in the inaugural season for the World League of American Football (WLAF). The team was led by head coach Chan Gailey, and played their home games at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. They finished the season with an overall record of five wins and six losses (5–6), as the North America West division champions and with a loss against the Barcelona Dragons in the WLAF semifinals.
The Fire franchise was established in April 1990, and by November 1990 league officials announced play to begin in March 1991. With former Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Chan Gailey selected as head coach, the league held its inaugural draft in February 1991. Birmingham opened the season with a home loss to Montreal followed by a win over Sacramento. The Fire then alternated pairs of wins and losses for the remainder of the season in which the three European team dominated. Although they finished with a record of only 5–5, the Fire qualified for the playoffs as the better of the two mediocre North America division champions, having beaten the 5-5 Knights who had to face the mighty 9-1 London Monarchs. In their WLAF semifinal, Birmingham lost 10–3 to wild card winner Barcelona Dragons; their 8–2 record was only good enough for 2nd in Europe behind London even after having beaten the Monarchs at Wembley.
Offseason On April 18, 1990, Birmingham became the second U.S. city that was awarded a franchise after the Orlando Thunder to compete in the inaugural WLAF season. At the time of the announcement, league president Tex Schramm said that past support for professional football in Birmingham was a major reason for its selection for a franchise. In November, officials announced the league would begin play in March 1991 with ten teams. At that time it was also revealed that Birmingham would compete as a member of the North American West division with the Sacramento Surge and the San Antonio Riders. On December 21, 1990, Chan Gailey was introduced as the first head coach of the Fire.
Draft In February 1991, the first WLAF Draft was held in Orlando, Florida. Unlike the NFL draft, the WLAF version was carried out with individual positions being drafted over a period of several days. Offensive linemen were drafted on February 14; running backs, punters and placekickers on February 16; quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends on February 18; defensive linemen on February 20; linebackers on February 22; and defensive backs on February 24. In addition to those players drafted, each team had four European-born players assigned to their squad in a program called Operation Discovery. Players assigned through this program to the Fire were Pepe Moscatelli and Sergio Vissa from Italy and Andreas Motzkus and Hans-Ulrich Riecke from Germany.
+ Offensive linemen Position Selection Player College Offensivelinemen 2 Bill Anderson Iowa 19 R. C. Mullin Southwestern Louisiana 22 Jason Kuipers Florida State 39 Buddy King Southern Miss 42 Michael Pavik Virginia Tech 59 Paul Yniguez Kansas State 62 Charles Odorne Texas Tech 79 Rich Schonewolf Penn State 82 Michael Tanks Florida State 99 Bill Doyen West Virginia Tech 102 Stu Milberg Connecticut
+ Running backs, placekickers and punters Position Selection Player College Running backs 9 Joe Henderson Iowa State 12 David Clark Dartmouth 29 Steve Avery Northern Michigan 32 Harvey Reed Howard 49 Charles Sanders Slippery Rock 52 Byron Sanders Northwestern State Placekickers 4 Win Lyle Auburn 17 James Campbell Eastern Kentucky Punters 7 Kent Elmore Chattanooga 14 Kirk Maggio UCLA
+ Quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends Position Selection Player College Quarterbacks 1 Brent Pease Montana 20 Joe Pizzo Mars Hill 21 Eric Jones Vanderbilt 40 Gene Benhart Western Illinois Tight ends 10 Phil Ross Oregon State 11 Mark Hopkins Central Michigan 30 Curt Jones Utah Widereceivers 8 Willie Bouyer Michigan State 13 Gary Cooper Clemson 28 William MacKall Tennessee–Martin 33 Tyrone Watson Tennessee State 48 Melvin Patterson Stephen F. Austin 53 Harry Mehre William & Mary 68 Gerald Mitchell Vanderbilt 73 Dale Amos Franklin & Marshall
+ Defensive linemen Position Selection Player College Defensivelinemen 5 Darrell Phillips LSU 16 Tony Bowick Chattanooga 25 Otis Moore Clemson 36 Arthur Walker Colorado 45 Pellom McDaniels Oregon State 56 Okland Salave'a Colorado 65 Chris Parker West Virginia 76 Flint Fleming North Dakota State 85 Ted Hennings Northern Illinois
+ Linebackers Position Selection Player College Linebackers 6 Paul McGowan Florida State 15 John Brantley Georgia 26 Maurice Oliver Southern Miss 35 Steve Hyche Livingston 46 Steve Thompson UC Davis 55 Chad Thorson Wheaton 66 James DuBose Wake Forest 75 Randy Cockrell Virginia Tech
+ Defensive backs Position Selection Player College Defensivebacks 3 Anthony Newsom Stephen F. Austin 18 Tracy Sanders Florida State 23 Alex Armenteros Bethune-Cookman 38 John Holland Sacramento State 43 John Miller Michigan State 58 Patrick Williams Arkansas 63 Derrick Richey Texas A&M 78 James Henry Southern Miss 83 Mark Fogle Angelo State 98 Arthur Hunter Central State 103 Kevin Dent Jackson State 118 Albert Burks Kentucky
Regular season
Schedule Week Time Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Source 1 March 23 7:00 p.m. Montreal Machine L 5–20 0–1 Legion Field 52,942 2 March 30 7:00 p.m. Sacramento Surge W 17–10 1–1 Legion Field 16,500 3 April 8 7:00 p.m. at Montreal Machine L 10–23 1–2 Olympic Stadium 27,766 4 April 15 7:00 p.m. London Monarchs L 0–27 1–3 Legion Field 18,500 5 April 21 12:00 p.m. at Orlando Thunder W 31–6 2–3 Florida Citrus Bowl 21,249 6 April 29 7:00 p.m. San Antonio Riders W 16–12 3–3 Legion Field 8,114 7 May 4 1:00 p.m. at Barcelona Dragons L 6–11 3–4 Montjuic Stadium 31,490 8 May 12 12:00 p.m. at Frankfurt Galaxy L 3–10 3–5 Waldstadion 28,127 9 May 20 7:00 p.m. New York/New Jersey Knights W 24–14 4–5 Legion Field 31,500 10 May 25 2:00 p.m. at Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks W 28–7 5–5 Carter–Finley Stadium 16,335
Game summaries
Week 1: vs. Montreal Machine
In what was their first all-time game, the Fire were defeated by the Montreal Machine before 52,942 fans at Legion Field. Late in the first quarter, Birmingham's James Henry fumbled a punt that Montreal recovered at the 11-yard line of the Fire. Four plays later, the Machine took an early 3–0 lead after Björn Nittmo connected on a 22-yard field goal. Just as their first scoring drive started with a Birmingham special teams mistake, their second did as well. In the second quarter, a bad snap that went over the head of Fire punter Kirk Maggio gave the Machine possession at the Birmingham 17-yard line. Keith Jennings then scored the first touchdown of the game on a two-yard pass from Kevin Sweeney to give Montreal a 10–0 halftime lead. The Machine extended their lead to 13–0 after a 36-yard Nittmo field goal in the third before the Fire scored their first points in the fourth quarter. In the fourth, Birmingham scored first on a 35-yard field goal by Win Lyle and then were later awarded a safety after Montreal's Kevin Sweeney called for intentional grounding in the end zone to cut the lead to 13–5. However, Elroy Harris scored on a one-yard touchdown run with only 1:42 left in the game to seal the 20–5 Montreal victory.
In the loss, the Birmingham defense only allowed 179 yards of total offense, with only 33 yards coming through the air. On offense, the Fire gained 231 yards of total offense, with only 79 yards coming on the ground. Due to the larger than expected crowd, the start of the game was delayed 21 minutes to allow fans into the stadium as only two gates were open at Legion Field. With the loss, the Fire began their season at 0–1.
Week 2: vs. Sacramento Surge
Against the Sacramento Surge, the Fire recorded their first all-time victory with their 17–10 win in near freezing conditions before 16,432 fans at Legion Field. After a scoreless first quarter, the Fire took a 10–0 lead in the second only to have the Surge tie the game 10–10 at halftime. Birmingham scored on a 35-yard Win Lyle field goal and a 35-yard Joe Henderson touchdown run; Sacramento scored on a 20-yard Mike Elkins touchdown pass to Sam Archer and on a 25-yard Kendall Trainor field goal. Birmingham then scored the game-winning touchdown in the third quarter when John Miller intercepted an Elkins pass and returned it 99-yards for a touchdown and a 17–10 Fire lead. Sacramento did have a chance late in the fourth quarter to tie up the game. With a first-and-goal from the Fire two-yard line, Elkins threw four incomplete passes to turn the ball over on downs with 1:13 left in the game. With the win, the Fire evened their season record at 1–1.
Week 3: at Montreal Machine
In what was their first all-time road game the Fire were defeated by the 23–10 Montreal Machine, for the second time in three weeks, before 27,766 fans at Olympic Stadium in Montreal on a Monday night. The Machine took a 13–0 lead early in the first quarter after Richard Shelton scored a pair of defensive touchdowns. The first came on the first offensive play of the game when Shelton recovered a Joe Henderson fumble caused by Adam Bob and returned it 26-yards for a 7–0 lead. About five minutes later, Shelton intercepted a Brent Pease pass and returned it for a touchdown and a 13–0 lead after Björn Nittmo missed the extra point.
Birmingham responded in the second quarter with a 55-yard Pease touchdown pass to Stacey Mobley and a 20-yard Win Lyle field goal to cut the Montreal lead to 13–10. The Machine then scored late on a 39-yard Nittmo field goal to make the halftime score 16–10 in favor of the home team. A 41-yard Elroy Harris touchdown run late in the third was the final points of the game scored in the 23–10 Machine victory. In the game Birmingham outgained Montreal 181 to 39 in passing yardage and Montreal outgained Birmingham 154 to 73 in rushing yardage. With the loss, the Fire dropped to 1–2.
Week 4: vs. London Monarchs
Against the London Monarchs, the Fire were outgained in total offense 404 to 112 yards and were shut out 27–0 at Legion Field. The Monarchs took a 10–0 lead into halftime after David Smith scored on a six-yard touchdown run in the first and Phil Alexander connected on a 27-yard field goal in the second quarter. The Fire defense then shut out London in the third quarter, but 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter secured the Monarchs' victory. In a span of 2:43, London quarterback Stan Gelbaugh threw touchdown passes of 33 and 13-yards to Andre Riley in the fourth quarter. Alexander then scored the final points of the game with his second 27-yard field goal of the game.
In the fourth quarter, Birmingham starting quarterback Brent Pease was replaced with back-up Eric Jones. Pease finished the game having completed 10-of-27 passes for 65 yards and Jones finished having completed 4-of-9 passes for 35 yards. With the loss, the Fire dropped to 1–3.
Week 5: at Orlando Thunder
In their second road game of the season, the Fire defeated the Orlando Thunder 31–6 at the Florida Citrus Bowl. J. J. Flannigan fumbled the opening kickoff for Orlando, which was recovered by Arthur Hunter for the Fire at the Thunder 13-yard line. The Orlando defense managed to hold the Fire after a goal line stand gave possession back to the Thunder at the Birmingham two-yard line. Three plays later, Myron Jones was tackled by Darrell Phillips for a safety and a 2–0 Birmingham lead. On the drive that ensued, the Fire scored their first touchdown of the game after Stacey Mobley threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Brent Pease on a trick play for a 9–0 lead. Birmingham then extended their lead to 24–0 at halftime with a pair of second-quarter touchdowns. The first came on a 21-yard Pease pass to Willie Bouyer and the second when James Henry intercepted a Kerwin Bell pass and returned it 77-yards for a touchdown.