A group of businessmen holding a secret meeting under the cover of darkness in the showroom of a car dealership may have a decidedly dodgy ring to it, but out of that unlikely venue and humble beginning came the NFL- arguably the most successful sports organization in the world today.

In September, 1920, representatives of 10 founding teams lounged around on car bonnets in Canton, Ohio, determining league rules, officials and a schedule for the inaugural season. Each team stumped up $100 to join what was then known as the American Professional Football Association and would later become the NFL.

Fourteen teams eventually participated in the 1920 season and the Akron Pros were crowned inaugural NFL champions after winning eight games and drawing three other matches.

"By in 1940s the NFL was in strong position but team rosters were decimated when Second World War cost the lives of 400,000 Americans."

Slow growth

The NFL went through a slow growing period in the 1920s and 1930s as professional football tried to establish a foothold in a sports market dominated by the more popular college game.

The sport's profile was raised in the 1930s by one of the game's earliest stars - Chicago Bears fullback Bronko Nagurski, who intimidated opponents with his physical style of play and led the Bears to NFL titles in 1932 and 1933.

1940-1960 War takes its toll

By the 1940s, the NFL was in a strong position but team rosters were decimated when the Second World War cost the lives of 400,000 Americans. Many players were called to join the armed forces and it wasn't until the 1950s that the NFL regained a position of strength on the sports scene.

Although NFL games were beginning to appear on television in the early 1950s, it was the 1958 NFL Championship Game - the first to be screened on national television - that put the NFL on the map.

The NFL arrives

The 1958 final between the Baltimore Colts - led by legendary quarterback Johnny Unitas - and the hometown New York Giants was a classic affair that was only decided in sudden-death overtime when the Colts scored a touchdown to secure a 23-17 victory.

1960-1990 A Super idea

The 1960s saw American football in the NFL become a much more specialized game with fewer players performing on offense and defense for an entire 60 minutes each weekend. The 1960s also saw an increase in televised NFL games and the stars of the sport were becoming household names across America.

The first Super Bowl took place in January, 1967, as the Green Bay Packers recorded a 35-10 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in the Los Angeles Coliseum. At that time, the Super Bowl was far from the extravaganza we know and love today, and the game was played with about 20,000 tickets remaining unsold.

Steelers dominate the 1970s

In 1970, the NFL merged with the rival American Football League and took on more of the format still seen today with the advent of the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference. The 1970s were dominated by the Pittsburgh Steelers, who won four Super Bowls in that decade. However, a mention must go to the Miami Dolphins, who went an entire year without losing a game in 1972 to record the perfect season, and then followed up with another championship in 1973.

49ers lead the way in the 1980s

Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers led the way for the NFL through the 1980s, blazing a trail to four Super Bowl wins during the decade. Along the way several records toppled, including Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino's 5,000-yard passing season and a single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards by Eric Dickerson, both in 1984.

Dallas dominates in the '90s

The Dallas Cowboys got the upper hand in the 1990s, winning three titles between 1993 and 1996. On the other side of the coin were the AFC's Buffalo Bills. Despite dominating their conference throughout the first half of the decade the Bills lost four consecutive Super Bowls between 1991 and 1994, the last two losses coming at the hands of the Cowboys. The decade ended with Denver's veteran quarterback John Elway winning the second of back-to-back Super Bowls and then retiring from the game as the sport headed into a new millennium.

Patriots go for the new millennium.

The New England Patriots took on the mantle of the Packers, Steelers, 49ers and Cowboys as the NFL headed into its next decade. The team came from nowhere to win Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002 against the heavily favored St Louis Rams with a young unheralded quarterback - Tom Brady- at the helm. Within four years Brady had led the Patriots to three Super Bowl victories, and in 2007 he took the team to within one game of a repeat of the Miami Dolphins record of going through a season undefeated. However, against all odds the New York Giants overcame their status as heavy underdogs to defeat the Patriots 17-14 in a game that has been described as having the most exciting Super Bowl finish of all time.