Touchdown UK
American football: Before, during and after Britain's Golden Decade
by
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"Much is made of the invasion of American popular culture in the 1950s and 1960s, which has been well celebrated and documented. But certainly the 1980s saw a similar trend.
Growing up in this decade it seemed that everything magical, desirable and fashionable was coming from across the pond. Everything that seemed to matter was American.
America gave us Transformers, Madonna, The A-Team, Dallas, Ronald Reagan and the 1984 Olympics. In comparison, Britain had Johnny Briggs, Bananarama, Howard’s Way, Albion Market, Maggie Thatcher and It’s A Knockout.
Britain’s biggest sport was football and it was going through a dreadful time, so something bright, fresh and interesting from the US was going to have a pretty good chance of succeeding.
So was American football just another branded product riding the 80s crest of a wave?
Officially licensed NFL products began to appear all over Britain – caps, bags, balls, mugs, Huddles cuddly toys, duvet covers, stickers, posters, ring binders and those classic Pony NFL trainers. It was just the tip of a merchandisers dream and fans could show their colourful support for their team in just about any means they wanted to.
NFL Properties, who are responsible for merchandising the NFL, said there was virtually no revenue generated from the sale of merchandise in Britain in 1983. By 1990, that figure was nearly $50 million, with Britain accounting for more than three-quarters of all European merchandise sales."
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About the Book
Think of the 1980s and one sport springs to mind - American football!
When Channel Four first screened the sport in November 1982, they kick-started a decade-long boom in the sport in the UK.
Touchdown UK looks at the history of the sport before that historic first screening, what happened to make the sport so popular between 1983-1993 and what happened when the excitement died down.
Author Nick Richards has spoken to players, coaches and Air Force men who have played the game in the UK and focuses mainly on that ten year period when no sport in the country could touch gridiron for its sheer glamour.
About the Author
American History graduate Nick Richards has been following sport since he was seven. He is in his 25th season of watching Norwich City and has watched sport all over the world. His favourite team in the NFL are New England Patriots.
Nick, who is 34 and lives in Bury St Edmunds, will be speaking at the third annual USAFE reunion in Las Vegas this September and is currently working on a history of the USAFE football years in his second book, Heroes On The Scrimmage