Soon the London-Packers will be able to drop “Green Bay” from their name and replace it with “International.”
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The International Packers held their final pep rally on Saturday. at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before the game against the New York Giants at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday. Packer fans packed Belushi’s London Bridge sports bar and lined up in a line that stretched around the corner for a long time.
“This team is well-known and well-liked by people. I’m amazed that my small town has this team and people are excited to see them,” said John Anderson, a Green Bay native and ESPN SportsCenter host who attended the pep rally. took “The Packers are living proof of how valuable they are to the NFL.”
International fans like the Packers for the same reasons as Americans: They have good players and they win a lot of games but, overwhelmingly, they are also fascinated by the team’s history, its tough early days and its public ownership, the only NFL of its kind. Contact Us
Watching cartoons led the English boy to Packers fandom
Alex Hardman of Manchester, England became a Packers fan 14 years ago after watching Scooby-doo cartoons. When one was asked what they should do next, they said they should watch the Green Bay Packers. That curious 7-year-old hardman, whose subsequent research on the team led him to the history and ownership structure, reminds many Europeans of how football teams are owned.
Hardman was thrilled to receive rare tickets for Sunday’s game. While 65,000 tickets seems to contradict that narrative, it’s pretty clear that the NFL could have sold twice that number, and fans would have acquired most of them.
Well, maybe a little too happy. Hardman’s team CEO and president, Mark Murphy, has a bone to pick despite his allegiance to the Packers. Hardman, a Manchester United soccer fan, hosted the Packers City in a soccer friendly at Lambeau Field in July.
Hardman said “it was very sad”.
Europeans also take their football seriously.
David Bakhtiari’s jersey is on
Benjamin McGee of Leeds, England, and Klaas Bosche-Plois of Aachen, Germany, stood at a table in Belushi’s basement bar and looked for all the world as if they had been friends most of their lives. In fact, they had just met.
Boche-Plois said he was drawn to McGee’s David Bakhtiari jersey. And by the way, Packers fans only ask “how are you doing?” Away from an immediate lifelong friendship.
“I’ve been waiting 12 years to see the Packers,” said Boche-Plois, who became a fan in 2011 after watching the Super Bowl. “I had to take a chance (getting the ticket). I got in line, got a ticket and didn’t think about the money.”
McGee was introduced to the Packers 12 years ago when his older brother Madden was playing NFL video games. He chose to play as a Packer, then his parents bought him an Aaron Rodgers jersey and that sealed the deal.
McGee also have tickets for the game, but next time they should play at Wembley Stadium, which is bigger.
“Or Munich. I want to see Munich,” cried his new friend.
Legacy of public ownership attracts many packers
Sergio De Lara of Madrid, Spain received a hand-me-down football jersey from his older brother, who was a fan of the San Francisco 49ers. One was a Packers jersey. He looked at the team’s history, and realized that they were committed to the fans’ love and long-term relationships.
Hardman sometimes says that “they have a very beautiful story.”
A group of friends from Newcastle, England, repeated the recurring theme of why they love the Packers: “The fans are the owners. I’m an owner, too,” said Liam Parr.
Mark Turnbull spoke of the party’s “beautiful rich history”. You can’t write better than this.
Gordon Bloomfield, changing it up a bit, became a fan about 30 years ago because of a young, strong-armed quarterback named Brett Favre. But then he regained his composure and added that you have to admire a big team in a small town that is still a member of the NFL.
Darrick McCluskey, who is in the US Army and stationed in Italy, looks forward to watching Packers games when the sun goes down. He usually stays up all night to watch the games in Italy.
Corey Conter of Los Angeles said he’s seen a Giant’s Bar a few blocks from Belushi’s, but “it didn’t have a line like that.”
Jamie Monte and Rob Myers of Madison were also among the lucky ones to get tickets.
“They were expensive. All right,” Myers said.
At one point, they were at the end of the line, around the corner from Belushi’s entrance, but not for long because the line just kept growing.
And while the international community is fully embracing the Packers, there may be a bit of a learning curve.
This is a replacement that is not on the books.