The New England Patriots completed the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history, while hundreds of NFL fans packed into the Liverpool Guild of Students to watch it happen.
The Patriots’ extraordinary 34-28 win in overtime against the Atlanta Falcons in Houston turned out to be a big screen hit at the Guild.
Before the comeback, no team had won a Super Bowl after being more than 10 points behind, but at one stage in the proceedings New England were facing a 25 point deficit.
The crowd slowly subsided in the early hours of Monday morning after the Falcons had taken what seemed like an unassailable lead following three first half touchdowns.
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However, the Patriots scored 19 unanswered points in the fourth quarter which took the game to the first ever overtime in Super Bowl history.
Not many of the fans who turned out for the event were still watching by the end, but the lucky few stayed up to see the Patriots win the toss and storm up the pitch for James White to score the all-important touchdown and seal the destiny of the 51st Super Bowl.
Venezuelan Sebastian Arocha, 19, said: “I was supporting the Atlanta Falcons tonight for lots of reasons. I went to multiple games this season including games against the Patriots, but I can’t support them because Tom Brady cheated [in 2016] and deflated some balls. I don’t like unsportsmanlike behaviour, so I could never support them now.”
Jordan Irving, 20, from Halifax, said: “You can never be sure in American Football. Even though I’m a Falcons fan, you have to look at it in both ways – we scored that many points in the first half so it was always going to be possible that they [the Patriots] could do it in the second half.”