Wembley Watch
All our articles connected to the 2011 (and previous) International Series games that take place at Wembley Stadium here in the UK.
The next scheduled game is the Chicago Bears @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers, October 23rd 2011 at 6pm.
International Series 2011: Chicago Bears @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Apr 19th
Singletary And McDaniels, Back In Work
Jan 19th
As you probably know the coaches of the two teams that met at Wembley this year were both fired before the end of the season. Well, they’re now both back in work.
Mike Singletary is the new Linebackers coach at the Minnesota Vikings and Josh McDaniels is the new OC for the St. Louis Rams. These are good moves for both players. Big Mike will be able to do what he does best; work with – and improve – the linebackers and McDaniels gets to concentrate on offensive play without that pesky defence or game management clouding his view. Here’s wishing them the best for 2011.
Although there are plenty of stories still to watch with these two teams (such as the quarterback position for both teams) this will probably close out our NFL International Series coverage for the 2010 season, it’s been a great season and despite the fate of these two teams (and their coaches!) we had a good game to remember. Here’s hoping 2011 sees a game coming our way too… in fact, here’s hoping 2011 sees any games.
NFL International Series: 2010 Teams Retrospective
Jan 4th
When the teams for the Wembley Games are announced, there’s always a lot of talk and hype around what great teams they are, the Super Bowls they’ve won; the players they have or have had in the past, the rich and storied history of the clubs.
NFL International Series 2010
Well for both the 49ers and the Broncos, 2010 will be a season that they’ll want to forget. Both teams have fired their coaches in the past few weeks, both have changed quarterbacks (several times in the 49ers case) and both will see big changes across the board after their poor showings and records this year.
Wembley Food and Drink Prices – November 2010
Nov 16th
We took a moment to record the prices when we visited Wembley for this year’s International Series game.
Prices are up – as you would expect. You can click the picture to the right for a bigger version, but they’re summarised below.
Carlsberg: £4.30
Soft Drinks: £3.00
Water: £2.20
Sandwiches: £3.90 – £4.70
Salads: £4.50 – £4.90
Pies: £4.60
Crisps: £1.00
Chocolate: £1.20
There is plenty of other food options too, this was taken purely from one of the stalls.
NFL International Series: The Good and Bad of 2010
Nov 1st
So it’s all over for another year (or maybe longer) and after a long day, which we thoroughly enjoyed (other than a few minor complaints, see below), what memories will we take away?
The Good
The Stadium
Let’s start with the obvious! Wembley is a seriously impressive stadium, but when decked out for an NFL match it looks even better. I’m talking about inside the stadium itself rather than some of the surrounding area, which is still a work in progress. It’s truly a credit to the country.
Wembley Stadium, NFL Style
International Series: Spring Forward, Fall Back
Oct 29th
With just two days to go until this weekend’s match at Wembley I’d imagine most people already have their plans in place. And so I’m sure nearly everyone has realised this by now, certainly as it’s the 4th year it has been the case – but the clocks turn back one hour this Saturday Night/Sunday Morning.
Because the US change their clocks a week later than us, we have 1 precious Sunday where the London game can start at 5pm and be in line with the US games, which start at 6 UK Time every other week of the season.
So when the tickets say “Kick Off 5:00PM” they’re talking about GMT, not British Summer Time. If you don’t put your clocks back you’re going to be there early.
Actually, that’s not such a bad thing, is it?
NFL International Series – Anthem Singers and Honorary Captains
Oct 28th
If you missed the official announcements the I’m pleased to tell you the following…
Jeff Beck will be playing God Save The Queen, and Michelle Williams (Destiny’s Child, Strictly Come Dancing) will be turning out The Star Spangled Banner. Personally I find the US anthem incredibly stirring (especially given that most of it is about dastardly English soldiers *shakes fist*) and given the response it’s received in previous years I guess I’m not alone.
The captains are, as I think we all knew, Jerry Rice and John Elway. They’ll be accompanied by UK sportsmen Mo Farrah (for Denver) and Ben Ainslie (for the 49ers). This is the perfect mix of NFL legends and UK representation. Seeing Jerry Rice and John Elway in the flesh will be pretty awesome, and both Ainslie and Farrah are inoffensive enough to not get booed like John Terry. It’s perfect.
NFL International Series – Denver Broncos @ San Francisco 49ers – Prediction
Oct 27th
The time is finally here! This is not just a regular season game to us NFL fans here in the UK, this is like Christmas time…err…on Halloween. These International Series games at our national stadium Wembley have meant so much to us, we know we are going to love this one and we also hope there are many more to come.
Mike Singletary
I had been unsure if this years UK game at was going to be as close as we had all hoped. However, it seems that the San Francisco 49ers are on the up and Denver are heading in quite the opposite direction.
The Denver Broncos travel to London on Friday, electing to get their prep in at home before taking in the London sights and distractions. You can catch up with their movements here http://blog.denverbroncos.com/jsaccomano/london-calling-2/
I caught up with the Denver v Oakland game last night, I had been warned by Andrew that the first half was a bit of a horror show and it really was. Denver’s defence had more holes in it than my first car! It wasn’t just the defence either, Mac favourite – Kyle ‘I stole my hair from the 80′s’ Orton didn’t have much joy leading the offensive charge and was under more pressure than Gordon Brown was to smile during the election build up.
NFL International Series: Meet Your Starting Quarterback
Oct 27th
Troy Smith
I have to be honest and say that I don’t know much about this other Smith, beyond the broadstrokes I know he won the Heissman, can scramble, had limited use at Baltimore and that he’s not practised with the firsts at the 49ers. Also that I can’t find a decent picture of him as a 49er.
There are worse places to make a debut though, than at a neutral venue. As I said in an earlier post, Josh Freeman has developed well after taking over for Josh Johnson in last year’s game – it’d be nice to see Troy’s career take-off in a similar way. We wish him the best of luck.
Image Credit: Keith Allison
NFL International Series 2010: Wembley Watch – Morning Update, Wednesday 27th
Oct 27th
A quick update and some team news. As injury statuses are updated later today, we’ll get a clearer picture of where things are.
San Francisco 49ers
Alex Smith‘s status is still unknown. A scan has confirmed that he’s got a seperated shoulder, the extent of it hasn’t been revealed. It’ll be later today when a status is given to him, but he was in a sling yesterday so it doesn’t look good.
Nate Clements and Delanie Walker are both expected to play. Eric Heitmann is still out.
EDIT – I really should have waited. Troy Smith has been announced as the starting QB for the 49ers. Hopefully he’ll go on to do as well as Josh Freeman (who also made his debut at Wembley) is doing.
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