AFTER years of planning and development, the World League of American Football (the forerunner to the NFL Europe League) exploded onto the sporting scene with a unique 17-day extravaganza in Orlando, Florida that will long be remembered by those involved.

Rather than have a host of meetings, player workouts and the inaugural draft spread over many months - as most other sports leagues had done in the past - the World League crammed all those activities into the space of two and a half hectic weeks.

League meetings were followed by player trials and workouts, and those in turn were followed by the first World League draft as more than 1,000 World League personnel converged on Orlando from February 8-24 in 1991.

The man charged with making sure everything ran smoothly was Les Miller, the World League's special events coordinator for the Orlando meetings and the draft.

"It was a monumental task," said Miller, a former director of scouting for the NFL's San Diego Chargers. "It was a mind-boggling thing to put together.

"Everybody affiliated with the World League was in Orlando. All three league offices (New York, Dallas and London), all 10 franchises, all the sponsors. They were all together, face-to-face, for the first time."

First on the agenda were a series of meetings for World League officials and owners as they attempted to introduce policies that would shape the future of football around the world. League president Mike Lynn also made his first state of the World League address in Florida.

Joe Bailey, the World League's chief operating officer, said: "Decisions which were made during that time period will have a significant impact on the future of the league.

"We were making history, breaking new ground in the globalization of American football."

Next came the grading of players, although much research had been carried out on potential candidates before they even set foot in Orlando.

Whereas the annual NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis features the top 350 prospects in the country, the World League invited 710 hopefuls to Orlando - 65 for each of the 10 teams and 60 for Team Dallas, the 11th team which served as a practice squad throughout the 1991 season.

Another 40 players were added via the Operation Discovery programme initiated to find the best amateur players in Europe.

The American players were made up of young prospects who spent time with NFL or Canadian Football League teams, either on regular season rosters or during training camp.

"We started out by looking at the draft classes of 1990, '89 and '88," Miller explained. "Guys who made it in the NFL for a year or two, or who made it to the final cut before the season. You'd be surprised how many players fall into that category."

Lynn, the former general manager for the Minnesota Vikings, was confident there would be more than enough good players for the World League.

"Our colleges produce 10,000 football players every year," he explained. "Of those, 2,000 are high-quality players. Of those, only 336 get drafted by the NFL, and many of them don't last. So don't tell me we'll have trouble finding talent."

Lynn would be proved right in time. The 1991 season produced NFL starters such as London Monarchs quarterback Stan Gelbaugh, Monarchs safety Dedrick Dodge, who won Super Bowls with San Francisco and Denver, and San Antonio Riders quarterback Jason Garrett, who is still going strong in the NFL with the New York Giants.

The World League received over 4,000 applications from players looking for a chance to prove themselves at a high level and get back in the NFL. It was a tough task for Miller to weed through the hopefuls and find those talented enough to be invited to Florida for the first draft.

Miller said: "One of the misunderstandings of this league was that we'd simply be having open tryouts for any guy off the street who wanted to play football.

"But it was a tremendous undertaking to zero in on the 66 running backs, or 44 quarterbacks, or 22 punters we signed to come to Orlando."

When the players arrived in Orlando they were put through their paces and required to take physical exams, make themselves available for interviews with team executives, and work out for the coaches and general managers.

The draft concluded the events in Orlando and that in itself was unique. Players were drafted by position, with each of the 10 clubs being granted first choice in one of the 10 sections.

The New York/New Jersey Knights kicked off proceedings on February 14, 1991, by grabbing tackle Caesar Rentie, a 290-pounder from the University of Oklahoma, with the first pick in the offensive lineman draft.

The regular draft concluded 10 days later on February 24, although a supplemental draft was held on February 28 and unearthed future gems such as Gelbaugh, Barcelona defensive end Bruce Clark, and the Monarchs pairing of WR Andre Riley and RB David Smith.

Lynn loved the positional drafts and admitted it was another way the World League could tout itself as a groundbreaking organisation. "I have been sequestered in NFL draft rooms," he said. "This was the most exciting draft I've ever been involved with and the kind of innovative approach that will become the hallmark of the World League."

History would suggest the Monarchs got the best out of the inaugural World League draft as they went on to dominate the 1991 season and win the first World Bowl.

However, some would argue that football fans in Europe and around the world were the winners as the initial Orlando meetings and draft kick-started a product that has grown in strength with each passing year.