American football doesn't start any fires in London

Fireworks, lights, sparkle, glitz, glamour, beer, excitement, passion, hot dogs, music, superstars, exhilaration, big – American.

Last weekend the National Football League (NFL) of America rolled into London and dominated the spiritual home of English sport like nothing else. Red, white and blue didn’t just drape the inside of the stadium, but outside there was a remarkable ‘Tailgate Party’ serving beer, food, American Football-influenced fairground-esque attractions, a mock stadium and a live music stage.

Merchandise stalls hawked the wares of all the NFL franchises showing this event was not just about the San Francisco 49ers and the Denver Broncos, but was an opportunity for every fan of the sport in Britain to celebrate the game.

The scale of the event was unreal – something not seen in the UK even at the biggest sporting occasions – yet this was just a regular season game.

Hundreds of figures decorated the parameter of the pitch from TV crews, cheerleaders, a drumming band brought especially from San Francisco and of course the players – the huge squads took a side of the pitch each dwarfing ‘soccer’s’ technical areas as just about big enough for the huge Gatorade containers.

It is a shame the players – those competing in the sport – are the ones mentioned last, as amongst the razzmatazz the game is lost.

As flames reach to the sky and multi-platinum musicians are rolled on-and-off the pitch the spectacle overshadows the actual event.

When only an hour of actual play is scheduled, but it takes getting on for four hours to complete, there is something wrong – especially at the scheduled cheerleader displays with two minutes remaining of each quarter irrespective of the momentum of the teams or how close the game may be.

A further gripe is the number of players used. Huge squads are rotated for every play depending on the situation, with the sportsmen competing clearly labelled as only possessing a single discernable skill – to tackle, to run, to throw, to catch, to kick or to get in the way – as was the case of the 6’3” Denver Bronco who ticks scales over the 24-stone mark.

There were some awesome moments in the game – spectacular fakes, unbelievable catches, huge hits and incredible excitement – and when there was a few quick phases and a flow to the game it was exciting to watch. But these occasions were far too far apart and often lost as your eyes were caught by the shiny added extras around the side rather than the grind of the main event.

American Football is an institution in the States as families attend with BBQs on the back of their pick-ups and treat it as a day out, and perhaps my nonselence about it is ingrained with the British vs. American psyche as I expect most of our cousins across the pond view 11-men dressed in white and standing on a field all day, for five days, with breaks for lunch and scones a tea-time as somewhat peculiar.

When the NFL came to Wembley it was incredible event – the atmosphere was like no-other and the excitement was phenomenal – but the game was forgotten.

P.S – 49ers won 24-16.