Green Smoke

By Nic, Alasdair Mackay, Anth Cook & Steve Rowe

We sat there feeling a bit down because, as with many of our Jets fan meet-ups, events, and tailgating sessions, the pre-game festivities were absolutely incredible. We were gathered at the Hippodrome on a Sunday evening, and the Jets had just lost to the Vikings at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. We discussed the game, the morning’s tailgate with Gang Green UK, and of course, the stadium itself.

I’m Nic, and if you’re a regular reader of the Green Smoke blogs, you’ve likely come across a fantastic piece by John Bradley about the comparisons between the legendary Wembley Stadium and the multi-purpose stadium that serves as the home of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (also known as Spurs). John was there that evening alongside myself, Anth Cook, Alasdair Mackay, and Steve Rowe, and our conversation started with the difficulties of exiting Spurs’ stadium and the locale, and it ended with us all discussing the best stadiums we’d visited to watch the Jets play around the world.

Now, let’s be realistic, I tell them; “we’re extremely lucky to have it in London. Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is a modern, state-of-the-art building, and it’s impressive. One side of the stadium is dedicated to the soccer team, with dressing rooms and facilities specifically designed for them. Whilst the other side is designed for the NFL, featuring a large, purpose-built locker room for players, as well as rooms for officials and cheerleaders.” The stadium also has its own broadcast, media, and medical facilities. And let’s not forget that beneath the revolutionary retractable grass pitch also lies an artificial field, providing the NFL with its own playing surface as well.

As of the end of the 2024 London season, the city has hosted 39 games, with 26 of them taking place at Wembley Stadium, in addition to three at Twickenham Stadium, the home of England rugby. Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is widely regarded as the home of the NFL in the UK, and this partnership between the two organisations has been extended through the 2029/30 season, promising even more games at the stadium in the future. Speaking of ‘Twickers,’ I’ve been there for a game, and whilst it’s good for tailgating space, I felt the arena was antiquated and not suited for the gridiron. I am glad it’s not there anymore.

Alasdair chimes in with, “They built it so the Jets could come,” much to the bemusement of some. That movie reference is a bit old school now; have you seen Field of Dreams? If not, it is a movie about a farmer who builds a baseball field (with stands) instead of useful and money-spinning crops—then a load of people turn up to watch a game with legendary players. That same farmer later becomes GM of the Browns in the movie Draft Day, by the way. He goes on to elaborate, “It is an odd concept, when you think about it—building a place for random people you don’t know to come watch a game that draws them together; thousands of complete strangers bound by a co-existence that defines what kind of mood they are in for the rest of the week. Or month. But a stadium is a central part of any city, any town, in any country in the world. The first place I look for on a map of a place I know I am planning to visit is the stadium. I went to Melbourne and made sure I took in the MCG; to Gothenburg and made my wife walk past the IFK stadium; and, of course, I have made the journey out to MetLife Stadium to watch the Jets. I’ve seen us lose a dull game 9-6 and win a home opener over the Patriots, with more than a few emotions in between. I don’t actually hate MetLife Stadium. I know a lot of Jets fans aren’t keen, but I think once you get there, the facilities are good. There is a huge mall within spitting distance, a huge car park filled with memories of great tailgates, and there isn’t a bad view in the house. It’s not the worst place I have watched the Jets, but it’s not the best either.”

Anth brings the drinks to the table; having caught the conversations from the bar, he enquires, then what is?

Alasdair raises his glass of orange juice, takes a sip, looks into it, and pauses for a second… Let’s start with the negative so we can finish on a positive note for once, he says. “I can’t stand Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium. I’ve been there a few times now—twice for the Jets—and I can’t stand going there. I can walk from my house in East London to the stadium itself in about an hour and a half. On public transport, it seems to take about an hour and twenty. It is truly marooned in a place I would never visit if I didn’t have to, and it is not well managed or policed. The last two times I have been inside the stadium, I have been allotted an entrance gate nowhere within the same stratosphere as my actual designated seat. You go through three rounds of security and ticket checks, only to look up at the signage and discover that it has no correlation to the number on your ticket at all. And so the long walk around the stadium to find your staircase begins. I can only assume that this is designed to make you stop and buy stuff on your journey around the concourse, but it is stupid and a colossal waste of my time. I am going to watch the Jets—I have already decided how I want to waste my time. Once you get in your seats at Tottenham, the view is impressive. That bit, they got right. The concourse is terrible, however. It is overcrowded with a lot of staff standing around doing nothing and far less actually trying to get the queues moving. Many of the kitchens and bar areas seem to be broken far more often than they should be in such a newly built stadium, and there doesn’t seem to be anywhere to position yourself to comfortably consume whatever food item you have just overpaid for. And then there is the exit. Every time I leave that ground, it is a struggle to find a bus stop or taxi that will take you as far away from the experience as possible.”

Can’t argue with that, I think, and I ask him where else he’s seen the Jets, and he tells us that he made a good decision last summer to venture to the land of country music, oversized trucks, and cowboy boots to see Gang Green in Tennessee. “I would have had a great time in Nashville even if there was no Jets game on; but, fortunately, I got the best of both worlds, and the Nissan Stadium played its part superbly. Halftime is when I generally check the concourse of any stadium too, and I was not disappointed in Nashville. Even our area, way up in the sky, was stacked with different food options—to the point where all three of us, me and my two mates, got different things. And each of us could have gone back for something else. Once the game finished (and the Jets had won), we made a smooth and short walk back into the centre of town, and the celebrations could truly begin.”

Taking in what he said about the short walk back to the centre of town, I think about the arduous trip back to the city from the MetLife and also when I went to Oakland and tried to take the BART after a game at the Coliseum. In 2023 the Jets visited Las Vegas, and I went to see how ‘The Death Star’ measured up. So I talk about how the tailgating by the Raiders fans was top-notch, and the food? *chef’s kiss* It was really good to meet up with fellow Hippodrome watch party attendees Nigel and Dave over there too, which made it more enjoyable. Prior to game day, I went on a tour of the stadium, and it is a very impressive piece of work! From the location that makes it easy to leave afterward and head back to your hotel or the Strip to other features such as its impressive Vegas-inspired design, climate-controlled environment, high-tech features, excellent sightlines, a massive merchandise store, and diverse food options. Yes, food on a game day is important to me, even at halftime, and the fact that two games I have been to saw the stadiums (Coliseum and MetLife) run out of soft drinks and chips didn’t bode well. The live band was a nice touch instead of sound bites of music tracks, and having Ice Cube light the Al Davis Memorial Torch was cool; it would’ve been nice to see him perform live at halftime, but that had occurred a few weeks earlier. All in all, I would rate the Allegiant Stadium, home to the Raiders, as probably the best I’d been to and a few notches above Spurs’ one in the modern era due to the points that Al raised. Some nods of agreement met this, and then Anth spoke about his travels.

He talked about how the Superdome is famed for its atmosphere as is New Orleans and “oh boy it doesn’t disappoint!”, the Stadium is a 10 min walk from the French Quarter where many choose to ‘tailgate’ as Nola has ‘To Go’ drinks policies. His first trip to the states for a game though was a divisional round one for the Baltimore Ravens against the Titans and he goes on to tell us that tailgating was incredibly lively and with great food, entering the stadium was really easy, the concessions were very reasonable and the food portions were large too. At this point I’m now reaching for the menu for that talk of food has made me peckish, Steve’s doing the same and the temptation to grab a sandwich from the Heliot steakhouse is becoming overwhelming. We’ve yield and head off to the restaurant.

“Long before I made the trip with my wife Metra”, he says, “I had been in contact with a group of Jets fans known then as Troop 16H and this group was set up by a selection of military veterans, and with me being a Royal Air Force veteran I was accepted into their online group forum.

I had made arrangements with a couple of the members to find them and introduce ourselves once there, then they would then take good care of us. We were travelling to NYC on right after Boxing Day, stayed in Murray Hill and we caught the bus from Port Authority out to Giants Stadium. I remember watching the stadium rise above the buildings on the way there, it was very exciting. By then, I had been a Jets fan since the early 80’s and here I was on my way to an actual game! I did not know any other Jets fans in the UK or anyone else who had been to a game in America so this was a very important part of my fan journey.

Upon arrival at the stadium we made our way to 16H in the parking lot. It didn’t take long as there was very loud music blasting out of huge speakers on one of two old US Army lorries. During the tailgating, Metra had been kept entertained by all sorts of people talking to her about the UK and how she became a Jets fan etc. It was the most perfect first-time experience for us both and before long, it was now time for the ceremonial burning of the opposition’s jersey.

Walking down the steps inside the stadium and saying hello to everyone, we found our seats near the 50-yard line about five rows from the front. I sat down and said hello to the guy next to me. I was surprised when he replied in a strong cockney accent “alwight my son”, He was from Tottenham originally but was now married to a Californian girl who was a Raiders fan. The game got under way, and I then realised how massive this stadium was, and how noisy it was. I cannot compare the MetLife to Giants stadium mainly because I was too drunk to take in anything other than the noise and the game. It was over all too quick from what I can remember but it was an incredible experience being at my first game, watching Chad throwing the ball, Washington scoring a touchdown and the Jets beating the Raiders”

Many additional Jets fans enter the Hippodrome as Steve and I leave the eatery and although we suffered an international defeat, the atmosphere from all was still one of camaraderie and appreciation for each other. And even though the city of London will be turned Gang Green again later in 2025, so many of us Brits will still venture across the pond to the MetLife and beyond. After all, we’ve come this far in life with the Jets, so what’s a few thousand miles more?