TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-1) didn’t have a very good game on Sunday, falling to the Denver Broncos 26-7.
But for the 115 fans who traveled from across the ocean, it was still a fantastic weekend at Raymond James Stadium.
“The atmosphere is incredible,” said David Cambridge, a Bucks fan from the UK. “It’s a really entertaining experience. For us who watch football in the UK, it’s a sport. Here it’s an event. It’s just fantastic.”
The Bucs UK Fan Club is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Founded in 1984 with just six members, the fan club is the longest running NFL fan club in the UK.
“It started out as a newsletter that compiled coverage from the US,” said Gareth James, a founding member of Bucs UK. “It was put together by the guy who founded the club, and he would send it out to members so we could keep up to date with what was going on.”
These fans could have rooted for any team in the NFL, but they chose to root for a franchise that had lost its first 26 games.
James became a Buccaneers fan in 1981 when he was 10 years old, after buying a Creamsicle T-shirt.
“I didn’t know who they were, but I thought the colors were cool. Creamsicle orange was nice,” he said. “Then I found out how bad they were back then. The first few years I rooted for them, they were 2-14. I thought they’d get better eventually.”
The Buccaneers have certainly improved with two Super Bowl wins.
Currently, the club has about 500 members.
“I’ve been a Buccaneers fan since 2007,” Alan Taylor said, “I came to a game on a family trip and had a great time, so I’ve been back every year since then.”
These fans are passionate. They have to be. They tune in to every game, no matter what time Tampa Bay kicks off.
“Primetime doesn’t even start here at 1:30 a.m.,” Cambridge says. “We get up and watch it live. It finishes at 5 a.m. and we’re off to work two hours later.”
“It’s great, these are true fans,” Buccaneers chief operating officer Brian Ford said. “We’ve built friendships over the years. These fans are just like any regular Buccaneers fan. They’re passionate and we’re very grateful.”