Bears fans find home away from home in London

LONDON — It’s Friday night on posh Victoria Street in London, and Bears fans are crammed shoulder to shoulder, joyously chanting.

“Green Bay sucks! Green Bay sucks!”

Holding a microphone, former Bears cornerback Charles Tillman smiles.

“That they do,” he said.

The crowd at Greenwood Sports Pub, the official Bears pub, erupts in chairs. Soon the DJ will go back to spinning music, splicing in “Bear Down, Chicago Bears” for all to sing. The Bears have held events this week at the pub, sponsored by Choose Chicago, the city’s marketing arm. The Bears sent alumni, including Tillman and former kicker Paul Edinger, to mingle with fans.

The buzz feels authentic, though, with fans clad in dozens of different jerseys watching Bears highlights on TV screens. The line stretches out the door.

Outside, Georgina Kelle and her husband Chris can’t believe how welcoming British fans have been. They traveled from Lakeview to London — it’s her first trip — to celebrate their ninth wedding anniversary, which was Thursday, and to attend Sunday’s game against the Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

“There have been people who have walked up to us, clearly with British accents, saying how they’re happy that we’re here and ‘Welcome to the city’ and ‘Go Bears,’” she said.

Most — but not all —the fans at the pub were American. Mads Eg, from Copenhagen, first became a Bears fan at 13 when Devin Hester returned the opening kickoff of Super Bowl XLI. He watched the clips over and over on YouTube, starting a lifelong love affair with the Bears.

He was happy to fly less than two hours to come to London to attend the game. It was a lot shorter trip than when he went to Florida for a wedding and decided to take a detour to Soldier Field for a “Thursday Night Football” game.

“I was like, that must just be a short trip away — and I found out it was more than that,” he said, laughing.

He gathered at the pub to be among the Bears fans that live so far from his home.

“To get the whole experience of the game,” he said.

Greg Krueger has seen plenty of Bears games. His family has had season tickets since they played at Wrigley Field; he and his brother inherited them from their father and have been going to games for 30 years.

Recently retired, he decided to travel to London for the first time.

“Primarily it’s the experience,” he said from the restaurant inside a nearby hotel Friday. “Coming to England — I’ve never been here first and foremost, but the Bears game is an extra bonus. I’m retired now. I want to start traveling to NFL cities to see the Bears, and this is Step 1.”

It helps to have a team that’s more exciting than in recent years. He said he believes in rookie quarterback Caleb Williams and general manager Ryan Poles — though he’s concerned that the latter hasn’t figured out how to assemble a better offensive line.

“Every new quarterback, I’m optimistic,” Krueger said. “But I truly believe Poles is putting the right plan in place. For the first time in 10-15 years, they know what they’re doing.”

Georgina Kelle considers herself “cautiously optimistic” after years of well-earned skepticism.

“I actually expected kind of everything that we’ve done,” she said. “I expected the defense to step up. The offensive line needs to get moving. Caleb needs to get all those bugs out, because he’s new. I give him the benefit of the doubt for now.

“I loved [quarterback] Justin Fields but I don’t want a three-year trajectory that takes too much time. I think this is going to accelerate faster.”

If it does, she’ll be there Sunday to see it.

Earlier this week, Poles was asked what his message was for Bears fans.

“Make it as loud as possible,” he said. “Make it into a home game.”