NFL in London

National Football League in London

NFL Tottenham

London-Sports Bars

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So you’re coming to London and you want to watch sports like you do in the US?
Is there anything like it here?
No.
Sadly, you are out of luck.
But we do have advice to help you out.

The UK and London particularly are woefully underserved when it comes to sports bars.
While some of the UK chains have made some efforts to modernise, they are still a few dreadful decades away.
Bad food, violent fans, drugged out patrons, and horrible service are just some of the things you can look forward to.
(which is why most people watch at home!)

So if you do want to catch a night of sports-where should you head?

We have a few tips to help you out in your excursions.

NCAA Football
Looking to watch NCAA football when you are over from the states?
Good luck!
Very few places will actually show the games, and due to time zones-most of the big games don’t air in the UK til the wee hours.
One of the problems with NCAA football is that it takes place on a Saturday-a traditional ‘football’ day for Brits, that continues on til at least 7pm.
After that the bar becomes a ‘bar’, with the music pumping up to 11, and punters drunkenly enjoying their weekend.
Trying to get them to switch on a college game with sound would be like asking a Brit ‘where in France are you from?’
The other problem with college football is that it’s only played on 1 TV network over here-BT Sport ESPN.
That means you can only watch 1 game at a time. Sometimes this game was played a few hours ago.
There was an ESPN Player app-but it crashed more times than Robert Downey Jr. in the 90s’.
Belushi’s Londonbridge is perhaps the only London location that shows college sports.
But again, it will be packed, will only show one game, and it will close before the game ends.

Wings & Food
First thing you will notice when you try chicken wings in the UK is how tiny they are.
Like seriously tiny.
You’ll then notice that British people like to mess around with a whole whack of flavours that are downright gross.
Peri-Peri? Mango Cream? Geez-louise, pass the Frank’s Red Hot sauce.
Burgers are also cooked in a mandatory fashion-which means over-cooked, over-sauced and on a flaky bun.
We have yet to find a good burger in London after 15 years, but hopefully one day!
McDonald’s is consistent and has free wifi.

If you are looking to watch some sports-here are a few places we would recommend for this weekend.

Princess Alexandra
Located in leafy Crouch End, this pub is close to Tottenham Stadium and is open late.
While not on a direct tube line-it is a celebrity haunt, so you never know who you might find.

MeatHouse
Right near Kings Cross Station, this place has meat, meat and more meat. They have a few tvs for the games, and a great feast of a menu.

Sports Bar & Grill-Farringdon
This sports bar chain is under new owners, so they are starting to change them around. While it is a chain, we like this one because of their manager Martin. Classy, funny guy, who makes the trip worthwhile.

London-Travel

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If you’ve never been to London before, it can seem a bit daunting to get around.
When you come from North America, the first thing you notice is that the cars drive on the other side-and crossing the street involves second guessing your inherent nature.

Londoners move across the city like cockroaches on a buttered floor, get in their way, or God forbid-stand on the left side of the escalator, and you will get a simmering look of disdain like no other.

We have a few tips to help you get around.

Apps
Unless you’re Amish-you probably have a smart phone or someone in your group does.
This is good.
You should download a London Tube Map, Citymapper, and if you have Uber in your local city-use that as well. (it works over here).
Citymapper will help you plan how long it takes to get to places and back. You can add in your destination/ hotel etc as a homebase to make getting around easier.
The Tube map is necessary for getting around this crazy city.
As you can see from the image above-sometimes it’s easier to walk, especially if you’re in Central London.

Tottenham/ White Hart Lane
If you’re heading to one of the NFL games at Tottenham Stadium (aka White Hart Lane) you will be heading to North-East London.
While this might have been a butt-ache several years ago, recent new travel lines and station have made this easier to get to.
White Hart Lane station is on the Overground (orange lines on map) north of Liverpool street station.
Luckily there are also loads of London trains that also head north in that direction.
You can pretty much reach the stadium from Finsbury Park, Liverpool Street, and anywhere on the Victoria Line.
Just note that on Sundays the tube runs like an old dog, so you might have delays, closures and early closings.
The tube usually stops running at midnight, so have your Uber ready in case you need to go somewhere.

Enjoy London and have a safe trip.

TNF-Eagles vs Packers

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The Eagles steamed into Lambeau Field on Thursday to face the 3-0 Green Bay Packers.
With a beat up squad, limping WRs, one wondered if Carson Wentz would have the tools available to be able to keep up with the strong arm of Aaron Rodgers.

The Packers D has been phenomenal this season, scarring QBs from around the league with their insane pass rush.
One thing that the Packers D hasn’t been tested on, was a good running game.
Jordan Howard certainly showed them what that looked like, with an incredible amount of line-breaking first downs.

This loss for Green Bay certainly adds some hubris to the season, after a loss to the injury ravaged Eagles, and adds a certain jump in the step to all of the NFC North contenders who are looking to gain ground on the cheeseheads.

Not they have 10 days off to see what they can put together.
The Eagles are certainly happy after this.

Slam Newton

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Poor Cam Newton.
He has been playing like a grandpa lately, barely moving and throwing his balls all over the field.
Has he actually been injured?
Could he have taken a shot to the head?
Maybe.

Judging by his fashion sense, and penchant for outrageous hats, that could be a real clue.

He’s a great player, but his choices of outfits after some ridiculous loses puts his focus in jeopardy.
Is Cam really ready to go all the way, or is he ready to part company and move on to other avenues.
Like Fashion Avenue?

London-What to Avoid

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What should you NOT do in London if you DON’T want to get ripped off?
Jess from ‘Love & London’ on YouTube has created her master list of things to avoid while you are visiting the capital.

We are happy to share her list to any folks that might be visiting from the US, Canada, Europe or Asia, to make sure that you can have a safe and enjoyable holiday.

Some of the places Jess recommends if you don’t want to get ripped off?

Leicester Square
Unless you’re a pigeon, street urchin, or rickshaw driver, it’s best to avoid this tourist trap if you like your wallet.
Not only does it attract loads of thieves and charlatans, it is crazy expensive & it isn’t a very nice area to be at night.
Unless you like vomit and violence, then you’re good.

Pub Food
Some pubs have great pub food, and a lot have horrible, just horrible food. So bad that you will dream of Rotten Ronald McDonald. We agree with Jess to look for ‘authentic’ and ‘traditional’ in the window-and avoid these as everything will be frozen then microwaved.

West End Wierdness
London’s West End is home to the theatre and loads of great entertainment.
There are also a whole bunch of horrible, horrible places where you will want to leave as soon as you get in.
Again-Leicester Square is rife with this, as hucksters will ply their paper trying to entice you into some of their lascivious lounges.
The further you move into Covent Garden, the safer you are more likely to be.
Otherwise you will end up schucking loads of dough on an amateur comedy night, a horrible improv show, or even worse…a strip show based on a horrible movie.