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The Tea Bowl: The game that stopped the war

The story of two war time American Football games played in front of huge crowds in London

October 2019 and the NFL is hosting its first-ever game at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. It鈥檚 the first arena designed specifically for the NFL outside of the US. More than 60,000 people watched two of the league鈥檚 most iconic franchises make history as the Oakland Raiders beat the Chicago Bears 24-21.

American football has seen a huge growth in popularity in the 12 years since the first NFL game was played in London

But 75 years ago, with D-Day looming, 50,000 people watched an American football game featuring NFL and Canadian Football League stars at White City in London

Anthony Wootton has the story of the Tea Bowl and Coffee Bowl: The games that briefly stopped World War II

Photo: Private First Class Frank Dombrowski (left) of the United States and Major William Denis Whitaker (Canada), rival captains of the teams playing in the Canada-United States "Tea Bowl" football game at White City Stadium, London, England. Credit: Library and Archives Canada/Department of National Defense

Release date:

Duration:

25 minutes