It’s been 20 years since the Rams and Raiders fled Los Angeles for St. Louis and Oakland, and for every year that’s followed another stadium plan to bring the NFL back to the City of Angeles has appeared and vanished before our very eyes.

In fact, as we see now with the Rams angling to build a new stadium in Inglewood for a presumably triumphant return and the Raiders and San Diego Chargers teaming to build their own stadium together in Carson, specific sites have risen and died only to rise again. In the meantime, the same two teams that jilted us two decades ago for supposedly greener pastures now stand at the foot of a high-stakes boxing ring ready to slug it out to decide who returns.

It’s been a crazy ride, to say the least. From Hollywood Park to Dodgers Stadium to the City of Industry so many different stadium plans and bold promises have come and gone it’s impossible to keep them all straight.

So we won’t even try, and as as we build a timeline of events that seems destined to deliver the NFL back to Los Angeles by the 2016 season, let’s streamline it to current events that have set up Los Angeles as a viable landing spot for one or two of the Rams, Raiders and Chargers.

2008

The City of Industry emerges as the latest stadium proposal when long-time Los Angeles developer Ed Roski outline his Los Angeles Stadium plan

2010

With Roski’s plan moving along, the Anschutz Entertainment Group announces plans to build a football stadium adjacent to Staples Center

February 2011

AEG president Tim Leiweke announces a $700-million dollar naming rights deal with Farmers Insurance for the downtown stadium project, now knows as Farmers Field

August 2011

Farmers Field is officially green lighted by the The L.A. City Council in a 12-0 vote.

September, 2012

With Farmers Field chugging along  but no team team agreeing to move there – AEG head Phil Anschutz announces he is putting his company up for sale, a stunning development that cripples Farmers Field.

March 2013

AEG is officially pulled off the market, but Leiweke is out as president. Farmers Field is still alive, but t’s long-time health looks bleak.

January 2014

In a stunning, curious move that takes the NFL by surprise, St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke purchases a 60-acre parcel of land in Inglewood near the old Hollywood Park race track. No one is quite sure his intentions, but talk soon begins he is angling to build a stadium there.

October 2014

Despite little movement toward securing a team, The Los Angeles City Council agrees to extend AEG’s window to lure team for Farmer Field by six months.

December 2014

With the Rams, Chargers and Rams nearing the end of their leases – or closing in on ability to break free from them – and all three eyeing Los Angeles as a new home, the NFL announces it will not be accepting relocation applications for the 2015 season.

January 2015

In a stunning development, Rams owner Stan Kroenke announces he is partnering with California-based Stockbridge Capital Group to build an 80,000-seat NFL stadium in Inglewood on the old Hollywood Park site.

February 2015

The Chargers and Raiders, two old rivals, announce that they are joining forces to build a 68,000-seat stadium in Carson.