The Minnesota Vikings are on account of face the New York Jets on Sunday in entrance of a packed Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, however their first London go to greater than 40 years in the past was quite a bit much less well-liked.
When the Vikings confronted St Louis Cardinals for a pre-season warm-up at Wembley in August 1983, it was the primary skilled American soccer sport in Europe. The stadium was barely a 3rd full.
It was a case of an excessive amount of too quickly for a promoter hoping to capitalise on the new-found recognition of a sport that had solely been proven recurrently on British tv for lower than a yr.
Because the NFL’s first common season sport abroad in 2007, world curiosity in American soccer has continued to develop.
London hosts three video games in October, however in 1983 the game was seen by some in Britain as extra of a novelty.
Forward of the sport, the BBC’s Nicholas Witchell was despatched alongside to Wembley to observe the Vikings practice on the hallowed turf. He was in for a shock.
“Simply look what’s occurred to it,” he stated.
“The goalposts are peculiar, there are humorous white strains all throughout the pitch and an infinite crimson, white and blue crest in the course of it; then there are the gamers.”