TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had another sell-out crowd for Monday night’s game against the New York Giants.
Cheering the team on during the Bucs’ 30-10 win was a group of fans from the United Kingdom.
“I’m just so pleased to finally be able to come back,” Bucs fan David Cambridge told ABC Action News sports anchor Kyle Burger. “The last 18 months have been torture.”
Cambridge, who is from Hemel Hempstead, a town just north of London, has been a die-hard Tampa Bay fan since the 1980s. He’s also one of the founding members of the Bucs UK fan club — a 500-member group that does not miss a game.
“Primetime games you are talking about a 1:20 a.m. start,” he said. “The fans back in the U.K. will be staying up late. They’ll be a lot of coffee drunk.”
The BucsUK club typically travels to Tampa to watch a few games every season.
“Not being able to come here in the greatest season in Bucs history was pretty tough to take,” Cambridge said.
International fans missed all of the 2020 Super Bowl season because of COVID-19 travel restrictions. When the United States recently opened its borders to international travelers, Bucs UK members immediately booked their tickets.
“It means everything,” Tim Lewis, of Wales, said. “I was tailgating and had tears in my eyes.”
“It’s absolutely amazing. It’s great to follow the Buccaneers on the telly but there is nothing like the experience at Raymond James Stadium,” Cambridge said.
A few members of the group are hoping to see another Bucs win in person while in the States.
“Some of them are actually on Wednesday are driving up to Indianapolis for next weekend,” Cambridge said. “Driving up to take in an extra game.”
They already traveled 5,000 miles from the U.K. What’s another 15-hour drive to see the Bucs visit the Colts?
