Gridiron stars Super Bowl over Wembley

Touchdown! American football arrived at Wembley Stadium this weekend as thousands of die-hard fans turned out for the first competitive NFL fixture ever to be held outside the US.

Scantily-clad cheerleaders lined the turf and the Star-Spangled Banner was played alongside the English national anthem as the New York Giants beat the Miami Dolphins 13-10.

More than half a million people applied for the 81,000-ticket game, with 7,000 making do with watching the match on big screens in the Arena next door.

And with the success of the sell-out game there were calls for the Super Bowl to come to London.

Robert Alderman, 47, a human resources manager originally from Croydon but now living in Miami, said: "It's such a momentous occasion that I had to come back. I've been impressed by the turn-out at Wembley. They could easily hold a Super Bowl here."