(American) football fans get their fix in England

The Chiefs are playing at home today. Four and a half thousand miles from Kansas City and eight miles from the center of London, but it still counts as a home game.

And you could be forgiven for thinking that it’s no different that a regular NFL game, despite the fact that it’s being played in Wembley Stadium. There are fireworks, T-shirt cannons, cheerleaders and $25 hot dogs. But tailgating? No thanks, we’re British.

“Not even for the Chiefs?” cries my editor. Not even for the Chiefs. Wembley, England’s national stadium, is a suburban ground. There is no parking suitable for busting out the grill. Londoners do not drive vehicles suitable for busting out the grill.

So visiting members of Chiefs Kingdom hold pregame court at the Green Man — a pub located about a five-minute walk from Wembley. Crammed inside are fans not just of the Kansas City Chiefs, but seemingly anyone who has ever owned an NFL jersey.

“This is weird,” says a fan in a red jersey, pointing to the garden outside the pub. “Drinking with fans of the Steelers, the Dolphins, the Lions. ... I even saw one guy in a Raiders outfit.”

It’s easy to forget that the UK does not have ready access to NFL games, so when these teams come to town, no matter who you back, it’s just good to be able to watch some football. So what if the Chiefs are lagging in the standings? So what if you’re a Cowboys fan? For many, the league’s International Series is like a series of four Super Bowls in the span of one month.

And that could be too many. Perhaps football fatigue has set in. Today, in comparison to previous years, Wembley is not a sellout. Scalpers are finding it difficult to sell tickets for the last game in the series.

“They’re going for less than face value, mate,” one tells me.

One Chiefs fan, decked out in a bright red suit, yellow tie and a wide smile, was having trouble giving tickets away.

“I came here on Thursday, I fly back out on Tuesday, and I’ve got two spare tickets I don’t know what to do with,” he tells two girls at the Green Man.

They’re traveling through Europe and made sure their itinerary included the Chiefs’ game in London. He pauses to reassess his options.

“Do you ladies want to join me, front row at the 50-yard line?”

Inside the stadium, it’s clear how diverse the fans are. Germans in Packers shirts, Norwegians in Patriots gear, a KC crowd from the north of England. Dutifully following orders to wave their flags, to make some noise and to stand for the national anthem, the audience at Wembley seems a little sedate.

People take their seats and are reluctant to move once they’re in them. Eyes are glued to the field — away from the stands, on the concourse and in the stadium bars, there are no TV screens showing the action. No sideshows, no kids’ entertainment.

The game is out there, guys, on the field. Sit up straight and watch the football. Occasional bursts of music and cheerleaders’ routines jolt the crowd awake, but there’s no real noise until the Chiefs score their first touchdown. And another, and another.

Fireworks go off. High-fives are shared, beers are knocked over, more hot dogs are eaten. A wave makes at least three laps around the stadium before dying down as everyone returns to watching the game. The scoreboard, the “big screen,” is not so big here, so it’s important to pay attention to the field. At Wembley, when you watch a game, you watch the game.

We leave before the final whistle. The Chiefs have a good 20-point lead at this point, so we amble slowly away from the stadium toward the Tube, London’s underground railway.

The Fan Plaza, the officially sanctioned fun zone that went some way toward making up for the lack of tailgating, is being packed away. It won’t be seen in London for another year.

The sun sets on Wembley. The approach to the ground swells with enthusiastic Chiefs fans savoring a home victory away from home. Neutral fans are just pleased to have gotten their football fix, and the odd Lions fan leaves gracious in defeat but happy, like so many on this side of the Atlantic this month, to have been able to watch a real football game in the flesh.

This story was originally published November 1, 2015 at 8:34 PM with the headline "(American) football fans get their fix in England."