The second NFL international series game this year takes place on October 27th at Wembley stadium and will see the San Francisco 49ers play the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The 49ers are no strangers to the English capital as this will be their fourth appearance at Wembley.
San Francisco’s golden era spanned from the early eighties to the late nineties and it was in that period they made their first appearance in London.
On the 31st July 1988, three and a half years after they had come head to head in the Super Bowl, Dan Marino’s Miami Dolphins played the Niner’s in front of 70,000 at Wembley in the American Bowl.
Starting quarterback for the 49ers that day was Joe Montana but he was replaced by Steve Young early in the second quarter not having registered a score.
Dan Marino similarly was replaced by backup Ron Jaworski in the 2nd quarter but by that time Miami’s lead was 10-0. Lorenzo Hampton having ran in a Touchdown while Fuad Reveiz converted a field goal.
Young’s introduction immediately made an impact with his first drive ending in a 2-yard pass to current running backs coach Tom Rathman for their first score.
Another Touchdown ran in by Terrance Flagler gave the Niners the lead but a Reveiz field goal just before the break left Miami trailing by only a single point 14-13 at the half.
At the start of the second half the games first turnover saw Miami’s Jackie Shipp recover a Harry Sydney fumble and rush for 11 yards to put the Dolphins back in the lead. However, it was short lived as Doug Dubose ran over a 1 yard touchdown to restore the niners lead 21-20.
Both teams changed quarterbacks again in the last quarter with John Paye replacing Young and Dave Archer replacing Jaworski.
Don Shula’s change proved the most significant as with 1.28 left on the clock Archer ran 4-yards for Miami’s and the game’s final score to leave the scoreboard Miami 27 San Francisco 21.
Bill Walsh and the 49ers visit to Wembley ended in defeat but the season would end in better circumstances as they would beat the Cincinnati Bengals to claim their third Super Bowl crown.
Next…49ers take on the Super Bowl champs at Wembley.
All of the Ball 