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England could play games around country if Wembley gets NFL team

Last updated on .From the section Footballcomments726

Wembley Stadium
The famous twin towers were replaced with an arch as part of the redevelopment

England could play games around the country if Wembley gets an NFL team.

The Football Association is keen to boost revenue, while the NFL would like a team in London.

However, NFL UK managing director Alistair Kirkwood said it is "still not at the stage" where London could sustain one of its franchises.

The Football Association is obliged to hold matches at Wembley until 2017, while the NFL has previously suggested it would like a team there by 2021.

England played at grounds including Old Trafford, Villa Park, Stadium of Light, St James' Park, St Mary's and Leicester before the rebuilt Wembley opened in 2007.

The national team's recent friendly against Norway drew a crowd of 40,181 at Wembley.

England's last five home friendlies
3 September 2014: England 1-0 Norway (40,181)
30 May 2014: England 3-0 Peru (83,578)
5 March 2014: England 1-0 Denmark (68,573)
19 November 2013: England 0-1 Germany (85,934)
15 November 2013: England 0-2 Chile (62,693)

The previous lowest crowd for an international at the new stadium was the 48,876 for a friendly against Sweden in 2011.

In contrast, the first of three NFL games to be held at Wembley in 2014 - Miami Dolphins' 38-14 win over the Oakland Raiders - was played in front of 83,436 fans.

The other two games - Atlanta Falcons v Detroit Lions and Jacksonville Jaguars v Dallas Cowboys - have also sold out.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 live, Mr Kirkwood said: "We're very interested in exploring the idea of a British-based franchise and seeing if we can pull it off.

"Fan growth has grown considerably in recent years. But we've seen in all forms of sport, having something that's considered national really transforms your potential popularity."

However, he warned that there are significant issues to be overcome if the NFL is to have a London franchise.

England concede against Spain in February 2007
England lost 1-0 to Spain at Old Trafford in February 2007 in their most recent home match away from Wembley

"It's not just about the logistics of where a team might come from or whether it would be a new team, it's also scheduling, air travel, a tonne of other logistics," he explained.

"If we were to finish it off, it would be a big project realised."

Club England chief executive Adrian Bevington suggested on Twitter last month that it could be eight or nine years before the cost of rebuilding Wembley was recouped and England might be able to tour the country again.

"Wembley has to be paid for. The reality is that the FA has to put [an] events calendar on to do this. When [we are] debt free in 8/9 years, [we will have] more choice," he wrote.external-link

Last year, Wembley managing director Roger Maslin said he was confident the stadium could stage a whole season of eight NFL games.

"Football is our priority. But yes, I'm absolutely confident that if the NFL wanted to have franchise here then we could absolutely do it," he said.

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726 comments

  • Comment posted by John B, at 07:53 9 Oct 2014

    Great news. Now can we also get rid of the ridiculous idea of playing FA cup semi-finals at Wembley when both sides are from the North West?

  • Comment posted by richym, at 07:24 9 Oct 2014

    All England's games should be played in different English football grounds, its the ENGLAND team, not LONDON team. The FA is far too London-centric, no surprise there.

  • Comment posted by Rob Hughes, at 07:52 9 Oct 2014

    They should have built a new National stadium near the NEC in Birmingham instead of wasting millions rebuilding Wembley as it would then be in the middle of the country, accessible by all of the motorway networks and even had room for car parking. Wembley is a nightmare to get to, has no parking facilities, but this countries obsession with London means it will never happen.

  • Comment posted by Its-Me-Again, at 07:36 9 Oct 2014

    The land in Wembley should have been sold off for business use, and the national stadium could have been built closer to the centre of the nation for less money ... would have made more sense.

  • Comment posted by JasonEssex, at 08:12 9 Oct 2014

    Typical FA waffle, we can't fill wembley because tickets are massively overpriced to watch a team which realistically ranks outside the top 10 consistently. We don't bother investing in a decent youth system (like the Germans / Belgium / Spanish) because we don't want to upset the rich clubs and use excuses like the fans are more interested in the clubs than the national team.

  • Comment posted by U11264858, at 08:09 9 Oct 2014

    Can the deal include FA cup semi finals as well, 99% of fans want them moved from Wembley permanently, not just 2018.

  • Comment posted by Ted Bovis, at 07:38 9 Oct 2014

    They only consider this now that low attendances are hurting them financially.

    Says it all. They couldn't care less until the cash dries up.

  • Comment posted by Nick Ebrell, at 10:25 9 Oct 2014

    Hold on hold on. They knocked down the most iconic stadium in the world to give England the best stadium possible blah blah... and now THE FA want to kick England out for a more profitable foreign sport? Boost revenue? Is there a richer FA in the world? Wow. Just wow. And lets not believe they don't have the odd £16,000 watch either.

  • Comment posted by Old Bob, at 07:24 9 Oct 2014

    Wembley is a nightmare to get to for anyone outside of London.
    Play the matches all over the country and make our national team accessible to all.

  • Comment posted by NorthernSceptic, at 07:31 9 Oct 2014

    For every game England games should be like cricket tests... rotating round suitable grounds - St James, Old Trafford, Elland Road, Villa Park, Wembley

    Then it can be seen to be an ENGLAND team not just a London Team

  • Comment posted by Think Tank, at 08:03 9 Oct 2014

    @32 david r

    "England should play at Wembley, it is the national stadium and in the nations capital."

    Shame then it wasn't the nation's capital that paid for it!

  • Comment posted by Mark Bacon, at 07:29 9 Oct 2014

    About time this was sorted out. It's the England football team, not the London football team.

    I live 50 miles from Wembley and i can get to Sheffield in the same time. There are some stunning grounds in this country to share the burden of internationals, especially up North.

  • Comment posted by tt, at 07:27 9 Oct 2014

    Wembley has lost its magical appeal now that cup semi-finals and Johnston paint final etc etc are played there.
    England will do much better and have more enthusiastic fans at real football stadiums around the country. Arsenal could stage a London Venue, Manchester Newcastle up north, villa park in the midlands.
    great news for real football fans.

  • Comment posted by U16111077, at 08:06 9 Oct 2014

    England games played at stadiums across England would sell out because fans still have passion for the national team. Unlike the majority of players & FA that only care about the money!

  • Comment posted by U14441235, at 08:00 9 Oct 2014

    @32. david r

    "England should play at Wembley, it is the national stadium and in the nations capital".

    Typical London centred tosh. This the "England" team we are discussing not the "London" team. It is right and proper that the team should play in other venues in England, and give all English fans the chance to watch, without having the expense of trekking to Wembley.

  • Comment posted by U16154921, at 11:32 9 Oct 2014

    I'm an American who likes both NFL and football (soccer - I won't insult you calling it that).

    1) NFL here in the States is struggling. It has have empty stadium issues at Jacksonville - which will be the team to move, a bit like how Wimbledon moved to MK. It's horrid, but that would be the plan.

    2) Football in the States is on a massive rise. MLS is selling out games.

    So this story is ironic..

  • Comment posted by U16063887, at 11:55 9 Oct 2014

    I like the idea of England playing over the country as it gives people that live outside London a chance to see them (England is bigger than just London!)

    I don't think an NFL team would work in England. It might do for a while but then the novelty will wear off and people will realise they are just watching a softcore version of rugby and stop going

  • Comment posted by U16115807, at 11:28 9 Oct 2014

    To all those lamenting that Wembley is a nightmare to get to from outside of London.

    I can assure you that it is a nightmare to get to from ANYWHERE!

  • Comment posted by pegasus, at 08:40 9 Oct 2014

    86.Kingsroad121
    so we should first of all hire managers on the colour of there skin. are you drunk. managers working in a predominantly white ethnic country will on average be white. for instance. Norway/Denmark/Sweden have zero black managers. are they also racists???. whereas Nigeria have no white managers...racist also. People in sport excel through ability , not colour.

  • Comment posted by Dawko, at 23:17 9 Oct 2014

    People in Britain are not interested in NFL.
    The 83,436 fans are probably regretting that they ever went to watch such utter rubbish.
    This is not the USA and we do not want to be like the USA
    Stop trying to force their rubbish onto us.

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