Thetownend.com

Anyone a fan?... Anyone been to any of the Wembley games? Very tempted to go this year with tickets on general sale tomorrow at 10am. Anyone know if they completely sell out straight away? (I'm looking for upper-tier side line or upper end zone seats I reckon..)

Moved to sports forum.

I've been a few times. It's a bit too 'exhibitiony' for my liking but if you're just getting in to it, I recommend that you give it a go.

Tickets sell reasonably quickly and I'd avoid watching the Jaguars, it's just not a competition when they play due to their awfulness.

Been once last year but only because it was the Falcons and they are my team.

I'm with Contanza, it very touristy and nothing like the real gameday experience I got from 2 games I saw in the States. It's good for seeing a game if you haven't seen one live before though. Tickets go very quickly and it always sells out.

Ha thanks, I've been in the States and it's very much an exhibition there too (which I actually quite enjoy, to be fair), it's your typical American sport, I guess. And funnily enough I've got a slight affiliation with the Bills so it will be the Bills @ Jaguars match! - Still I don't really wanna pay more than £50 per ticket so fingers crossed on getting them straight away.

That's cool, thanks. I've been, just not over here  ;D

Tickets won't sell out straight away, you'll have no problems on that score. I would much rather see the 'real thing' Across The Pond but if it's on your door step you might as well go. The Falcons v Lions game was arguably the best they've had at Wembey although you may disagree if you are a Falcons fan  ;)

Yeah I get what you mean, although... plane tickets would be more expensive than £45  :D

Hopefully I'll be able to get the tickets I want tomorrow then! Here's hoping!

What do they do differently than in the USA as a matter of interest.

The had a couple of NHL games at the O2 a few years ago, and to be honest the game day experience was pretty damn close to stateside. The only real difference was obviously the crowd, a real euro mix of fans, whereas states side its (usually) almost exclusively home fans.

Having never been to a game here, it's hard to compare, but I've been to a couple of regular season matches plus a couple of college matches over in the states and they all seemed to have, very much, a carnival atmosphere. It was pretty spectacular.

Pretty much for the reasons you said for me.

At Wembley you are sat amongst 90% of people who don't care who wins as opposed to being sat amongst a passionate home crowd. Still good to watch a live game and a totally different perspective from watching on the box.

For me, that makes a huge difference. Imagine Swindon v Chesterfield being played at some stadium in the US with, say 300 Town fans, 100 Chesterfield fans and 10,000 neutral Yanks. I somehow think it would all be rather far removed from your typical Saturday County Ground experience.

I see what you're saying here, but don't we have an incredible amount of passionate NFL followers on this side of the pond?

I've never been to Wembley to watch NFL, but I did go to the Coliseum to see the Raiders pre-season this year. Never really fancied Wembley purely based on costs

I didn't think they looked too bad.. well, certainly the £37.50 or £45 ones.. plus the views aren't too bad anywhere in the ground. I'll give it a miss if I was only able to get the £70+ ones..

NBA is better than NFL. That is all.

Genuinely enjoy both.

in other words Netball > Girl rugby

;)

Don't forget rounders, which is also popular with the septics.

Went to Raiders v Dolphins this season and really enjoyed the experience and 'razzmatazz', game itself would've been a lot better if not so one-sided.
Seahawks tonight...go hawks! :-)

Absolutely true. But the point is that the vast majority don't care who wins.  At the Falcons v Lions game, most of the crowd (myself included) were cheering on the Falcons when they were going 21-0 up and then cheering on the Lions when they started to come back and eventually won 22-21. There's nothing wrong with that but it does make for a rather unusual exhibition type atmosphere for what is a serious regular season game (and the game itself is no different to what you would get in the US).

I wouldn't discourage anyone from going to Wembley, I've been to about 6 games there myself and enjoyed them. I'm just saying that I would much much rather go to a game over there, which is what I will be doing this year and therefore not bothering with any of the Wembley games (plus I don't find any of them particularly attractive this year - purely my own subjective opinion).

Tell that to Ndamukong Suh.
(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTpY4-khPtoS2pbxrBpKAzPcYx4HMwHiI6XAnibtBWGhB666Ba6)
or James Harrison...
(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTNkUYl-eT3luTBEFz6oH-RTLTYsN8WOovgvc2y1slt9zrHwttN)

I'm sure they would be fascinated to hear your opinion and would be keen to engage in a lively debate on the subject...  ;)  8)

That's cool, I'm glad you've enjoyed them. I've heard a lot of good things about the Wembley games, I've also heard a few negative things. I just hope I can get tickets in the category I'm willing to pay for :-) I'm sure it won't be an issue. I don't expext them to sell out completely tomorrow.... based on what, I don't know!!

Went to the Falcons game at Wembley this year, also been to a few games in the US.  Used to play the game when I was a lot younger and am a big fan.  A lot of people that slate the game just don't understand it.

Although it is an experience and spectacle watching it live, I prefer to watch on TV..  You can always get tickets for these games, even though they sell out, a lot of them are bought up by ticket companies or re-sold later on.  I bought my Falcons tickets 2 weeks before the game and there were thousands available.

Fantastic, that fills me with a bit more confidence. Thanks.

I wouldn't say there's anything actually negative about the games at all. If you're into the NFL you will enjoy it. And I guarantee 100% that you will get tickets.

Awesome, thanks :-)

Think that's a poor comparison! Went to Raiders v Seahawks a (fair) few years ago, and despite the cheerleaders we met the day before explaining how "crazy" the fans were it basically came down to a chant of "de-fence".. :)

Nah, I get the point really, I agree that a partisan crowd makes for a better atmosphere. I just wondered if they changed the 'NFL experience' that they provided compared to a home game.

I've been to quite a few games in the US when I lived there, and 3 games here in the last few years. Here are my thoughts...

1. Having a 85,000 crowd of "observers" doesn't make for a good atmosphere, unfortunately. I still think it's odd that there are so many people wearing shirts of teams that are not actually playing. So you don't get the same passion.

2. Choose a game that will be close. All of the games I went to were over before halftime.

3. Don't go unless you are prepared to embrace all the americanisms. It's the NFL,  so yes, there are lots of breaks.

4. Get there very early. They have a lot of things going on, 4 or more hours before the game.

5. Buy the best tickets you can. I bought the "cheap" ones the first time, and it was like watching it on TV, except without the commentary.

Hope that helps!

How do you do that exactly?  :hmmm:

Avoid the Jacksonville game

Well, stay away from the Jaguars for a start. 

Oh, the Jets will be terrible, too.

The Lions are probably the only really decent team coming to Wembly next season, although all 3 games look potentialy close on paper.

This Seahawks/Packers game is a car crash right now, I'd have backed Seahawks pretty heavily.

Cheapest Jets tickets are 80 quid, and they're up in the gods. Pissed off as I'm a Jets fan, even though we'll still be shit I want to see them!

£80? There are tickets up in the gods for £37.50-£45? They don't go onsale until 10am today though...

Tickets purchased... :-)

Been trying all day to get Jets tickets with no luck. Now says no tickets available, if you get the website to load at all. Not happy!

If you just want one, there is a bloke on theganggreen.com who has a £33 one he now doesn't need, I think. When I'm not on my phone I'll try find you the link if you like.

How did the Seahawks win that? Amazing game...

It was incredible but definately a case of the Packers losing it as opposed to Seahawks winning it I think.

Should be a cracking Superbowl, the 2 best teams got there and and it should be too close to all. Dont mind the Patriots but I love the whole attitude of the Seahawks organisation so I hope they win again.

Agreed - It was the Packers' to lose and somehow they conspired to do exactly that. The game should have been over at half time. Even then though, for the Packers to allow the Seahawks to recover the on side kick and then the two point conversion was beyond belief.

Still, should hopefully be a good Superbowl.

They won a coin toss.
Did great to get back into it but if the Packers win the coin toss for over time, they win that match. It's like a football penalty shoot out where the first to score wins?

Not exactly. If the Packers had held the Seahawks to a field goal they would have got the ball back and would have had the chance to level through a field goal of their own or score a touch down which would have won them the game.

Plus the Packers hadn't scored in any of their previous 7 drives, so even under the old 1st team to score rules I wouldn't have fancied their chances.

The momentum had well and truly swung

Genius FG fake though, what a time to play it...  Took some balls.

True dat  :nod:

Well that was a bit of a good ending.

Great Superbowl that.

Fucking Pats.

Way to go Pats !!

(as they say over there)

Shit playcall cost the Seahawks that game

Abso-fucking-lutely. Stupid call from Seattle.

.

This. One yard, just run the damn football!!!

One bleeding yard! What were they thinking? Lynch would have made that yard with his eyes shut! Great game though....half time show was fun too!

Not I'm excusing the play selection at all it was ridculous but apparently Lynch has had 5 run attempts from the 1 yard line this season and only got one TD out of them.

That must be the reason for the OC's play selection

Hadn't realised that but it was only the second down...would've thought they would have had a go?

Wilson would have been better off running it in himself if they thought Lynch would be targeted in the middle.  As a 49ers fan I am happy, but I don't like the Patriots for no logical reason I can think of.  They are my 21st Century Dallas Cowboys.

I thought it was a 1st down straight after that crazy catch but it was at stupid o'clock this morning so I don't trust my memory

The throwball was on in the gym and I watched the very end whilst the adverts were on during the fl72 show. That fumbly bumbly catch from the Hail Mary full of Grace throw was immense! The second best bit of throwball I've seen.

Then they seemed to go and fuck it all up by giving it to the white team.

Then the best bit of throwball I've ever seen, a mini ruck!

I hate yank sport, any sport where the actual game is secondary to razzmatazz and entertainment has to be shit. I went to an NBA game and the highlight was dropping pizzas with parachutes to fat families. I can't even remember who was playing and I got no pizza.

Great game.
Crap call.
F*ckin Pats!
Wanted both to lose!

Great game. The result was in doubt right up to last few seconds. Well done the Patriots.

Edit: For people questioning the play call, I would just point out that Wilson didn't just throw the ball straight into Butler's arms. The bloke actually had to make a play and he deserves credit for it. It's easy to say in hindsight that Lynch 'definitely' would have scored but I can certainly remember one occasion during the game where the Patriots stopped him on 3rd and 2. In fact, he lost a couple of yards so maybe that was part of their thinking.