# 1997 Barcelona Dragons season

The 1997 Barcelona Dragons season was the fifth season for the franchise in the World League of American Football (WLAF). The team was led by head coach Jack Bicknell in his fifth year, and played its home games at Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. They finished the regular season in second place with a record of five wins and five losses. In World Bowl '97, Barcelona defeated the Rhein Fire 38–24. The victory marked the franchise's first World Bowl championship.

## Offseason
### World League draft

1997 Barcelona Dragons World League draft selections :
| Draft order | Draft order | Player name | Position | College |
| Round | Choice | Player name | Position | College |
| 1 | 3 | Oliver Barnett | DE | Kentucky |
| 2 | 9 | Corey Mayfield | DL | Oklahoma |
| 3 | 16 | P. J. Killian | LB | Virginia |
| 4 | 21 | Butler By'not'e | CB | Ohio State |
| 5 | 28 | Hugh Hunter | DE | Hampton |
| 6 | 33 | Carlos Yancy | CB | Georgia |
| 7 | 40 | Tristan Moss | CB | Western Michigan |
| 8 | 45 | Santo Stephens | LB | Temple |
| 9 | 52 | Tony Covington | CB | Virginia |
| 10 | 57 | Keith Conlin | OT | Penn State |
| 11 | 64 | Dante DePaola | CB | California |
| 12 | 69 | Henry Fields | RB | McNeese State |
| 13 | 76 | Jeff Wilner | TE | Wesleyan |
| 14 | 81 | Tyrone Rush | RB | North Alabama |
| 15 | 88 | Cornell Thomas | DE | West Georgia |
| 16 | 93 | Eric Carter | CB | Knoxville College |
| 17 | 100 | Vincent Landrum | LB | McNeese State |
| 18 | 105 | Ricky Blake | RB | Alabama A&M |
| 19 | 112 | Jason Pohopek | LB | Boston College |
| 20 | 117 | Vince Stewart | DT | Penn State |
| 21 | 123 | Robert Dougherty | QB | Boston University |

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Results | Results | Game site | Attendance |
| Week | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Final score | Team record | Game site | Attendance |
| 1 | Saturday, April 12 | 7:00 p.m. | at Rhein Fire | W 27–12 | 1–0 | Rheinstadion | 17,150 |
| 2 | Sunday, April 20 | 3:00 p.m. | at Scottish Claymores | W 20–7 | 2–0 | Murrayfield Stadium | 14,877 |
| 3 | Saturday, April 26 | 7:30 p.m. | Frankfurt Galaxy | L 10–17 | 2–1 | Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc | 13,102 |
| 4 | Sunday, May 4 | 3:00 p.m. | at London Monarchs | W 37–32 | 3–1 | Stamford Bridge | 10,110 |
| 5 | Sunday, May 11 | 7:30 p.m. | Amsterdam Admirals | W 28–21 | 4–1 | Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc | 14,152 |
| 6 | Saturday, May 17 | 7:30 p.m. | London Monarchs | L 7–9 | 4–2 | Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc | 13,514 |
| 7 | Saturday, May 24 | 7:00 p.m. | at Amsterdam Admirals | L 21–26 | 4–3 | Amsterdam ArenA | 13,289 |
| 8 | Saturday, May 31 | 7:30 p.m. | Rhein Fire | L 23–38 | 4–4 | Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc | 13,670 |
| 9 | Saturday, June 7 | 7:00 p.m. | at Frankfurt Galaxy | L 17–29 | 4–5 | Waldstadion | 40,743 |
| 10 | Saturday, June 14 | 7:30 p.m. | Scottish Claymores | W 46–18 | 5–5 | Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc | 10,523 |
| World Bowl '97 ||||||||
| 11 | Sunday, June 22 | 7:00 p.m. | Rhein Fire | W 38–24 | 6–5 | Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc | 31,100 |

## Standings

World League of American Football :
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | Home | Road | STK |
| Rhein Fire | 7 | 3 | 0 | .700 | 206 | 146 | 3–2 | 4–1 | W3 |
| Barcelona Dragons | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 236 | 209 | 2–3 | 3–2 | W1 |
| Scottish Claymores | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 134 | 154 | 2–3 | 3–2 | L2 |
| Amsterdam Admirals | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 156 | 160 | 4–1 | 1–4 | W1 |
| Frankfurt Galaxy | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | 147 | 142 | 3–2 | 1–4 | L1 |
| London Monarchs | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | 116 | 184 | 2–3 | 2–3 | L1 |

## Game summaries
### Week 1: at Rhein Fire

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Barcelona | 7 | 14 | 6 | 0 | 27 |
| Rhein | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 12 |
at Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany
* Date: Saturday, April 12
* Game time: 7:00 p.m. CEST
* Game attendance: 17,150

### Week 3: vs Frankfurt Galaxy

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Frankfurt | 0 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 17 |
| Barcelona | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
at Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc, Barcelona, Spain
* Date: Saturday, April 26
* Game time: 7:30 p.m. CEST
* Game attendance: 13,102
* Referee: Ron Winter

### Week 5: vs Amsterdam Admirals

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Amsterdam | 0 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 21 |
| Barcelona | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 28 |
at Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc, Barcelona, Spain
* Date: Sunday, May 11
* Game time: 7:30 p.m. CEST
* Game attendance: 14,152

### Week 7: at Amsterdam Admirals

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Barcelona | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 21 |
| Amsterdam | 0 | 17 | 0 | 9 | 26 |
at Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands
* Date: Saturday, May 24
* Game time: 7:00 p.m. CEST
* Game attendance: 13,289

### Week 8: vs Rhein Fire

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rhein | 7 | 14 | 7 | 10 | 38 |
| Barcelona | 0 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 23 |
at Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc, Barcelona, Spain
* Date: Saturday, May 31
* Game time: 7:30 p.m. CEST
* Game attendance: 13,670

### Week 9: at Frankfurt Galaxy

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Barcelona | 10 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| Frankfurt | 0 | 21 | 2 | 6 | 29 |
at Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany
* Date: Saturday, June 7
* Game time: 7:00 p.m. CEST
* Game attendance: 40,743

### World Bowl '97

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rhein | 3 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 24 |
| Barcelona | 14 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 38 |
at Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc, Barcelona, Spain
* Date: Sunday, June 22
* Game time: 7:00 p.m. CEST
* Game attendance: 31,100
* Referee: Phil Luckett