Back to the future - The NFL has another go at cracking Britain

For the first time in their history, the NFL are trusting a country outside North America to host a regular season game of a sport whose foothold outside its borders has always shifted uneasily.

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American dream: Wembley will host the Miami Dolphins and the New York Giants

Gridiron, end zone, linebackers, quarterback. The terms are familiar, but how they are joined together is often lost in translation.

Football in Britain means Manchester United, the FA Cup and half-time pies. Stateside, it means the Washington Redskins, the Super Bowl and cheerleaders.

Never the twain shall meet, except, now that America has David Beckham and pre-season Chelsea tours, it is only fair that we should have NFL games.

They have been here before - between 1986 and 1993 pre-season exhibitions were held at the old Wembley - but this is new.

Consider that NFL sides have only eight home games a season and the enormity of shifting one across the Atlantic strikes home.

It is no coincidence that the Dolphins were chosen. Before the launch of Channel 4 in 1982, American football was alien to Britain.

Suddenly, the sport had a forum. Miami were the glamour team, reaching the first Super Bowl to be screened live on British television.

The name has endured. The 2007 Dolphins are simply enduring a nightmare season, having lost all seven games so far. They rarely sell out home games so were the natural home team for Wembley.

Visitors to Trafalgar Square, workers at Canary Wharf and commuters at Victoria Station have been greeted this week by a 26-foot animatronic version of defensive end Jason Taylor.

Embarrassment notwithstanding, he understands the need to commit to the cause.

He said: "Some of our fans were understandably disappointed because they were losing a home game, but I think most look at the opportunity that we have and the stage our team will be on.

"This kind of things makes us pioneers for this initiative of growing the league internationally. We can live with it once a year."

Not all those with Dolphin connections feel the same.

Legendary coach Don Shula, who led Miami to successive Super Bowl triumphs in 1972 and 1973, has chosen to attend his grandson's high-school fundraiser instead of the game.

The trick for the NFL is how to gauge Britain's saturation point.

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In 1991, the new World League of American Football was won by the London Monarchs in front of average 40,000 crowds at Wembley.

Seven years on, attendances were down to as little as 5,000, the team were called the England Monarchs, playing at venues as spartan as an athletics stadium in Birmingham and losing. They were disbanded.

Interest across Europe dwindled too.

The Scottish Claymores and Barcelona Dragons were other casualties. But the demand for tickets for Sunday's footie-fest was extraordinary, with half a million ticket requests received in the 72 hours after the game was announced.

If the Super Bowl were to be hosted in England in the future - as has been mooted - the NFL know they would be besieged.

They have committed themselves to taking eight regular season games abroad over four years if Sunday's experiment measures up.

London, with its charismatic venue and closest proximity to American time zones in Europe, is a natural choice, perhaps even for a return.

Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes, who grew up in Scotland with his US Navyman father and who, as a 10-year-old, was offered a place in Rangers boys side, is aware of the difficulties the sport faces in Britain.

The former Claymore said: "A lot of people in New York are wondering whether this is going to convert fans in London to the NFL. No, soccer is always going to be king.

"I just know from history that it didn't work. It's good for the league that we're doing this, but it will be what it is - one game.

"Once a year, there's curiosity. But outside of that?"

Unnecessary pessimism? No, realism, especially when Sunday's game clashes with Liverpool against Arsenal.

Sky Sports show more than 125 live NFL games a season, including HD coverage of the New York Giants v Miami Dolphins on Sunday.