Vikings complete ‘uncharted’ commute from Dublin to London, get settled in England

WARE, ENGLAND – The Vikings’ laborious travel party — consisting of nearly 200 coaches, players and staffers — made the trip from Dublin to London without much of a hiccup, completing the NFL’s first international commute to play back-to-back games in other countries.

That doesn’t mean the trip was easy or without surprise.

A bird flew inside coach Kevin O’Connell’s hotel room at Hanbury Manor — an 18th-century home and country club north of London — on Tuesday a little before 7 a.m.

“Had to try to figure out a way to help it out,” O’Connell said. “It was very small, and it did not understand it had to fly out the same window it came in. So, it just kept hitting the window over and over.”

Months of planning preceded tens of thousands of pounds of equipment being transplanted from Eagan to Dublin and now Wade, England, where the Vikings will practice Wednesday, Thursday and Friday before playing the Cleveland Browns on Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in North London.

O’Connell’s Vikings are accustomed to the quick, 60-hour trip overseas. That’s how they tackled London trips in 2022 and 2024.

This time, it’s a 10-day international road trip.

“You’d like to think we’re adjusted, time adjusted and all that,” he added.

The Vikings stayed Sunday night in Ireland following their loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The team held meetings and reviewed the film before departing Monday afternoon for London.

Chad Lundeen, the team’s vice president of operations and facilities, and a small scout team of employees left for London immediately after the game in Dublin. They left Ireland about 15 hours in advance of the rest of the team to help finalize details and set up for the week at Hanbury Manor.

Two waves of trucks and ferries — by land and by sea — were required to break down the team’s Dublin operations, starting before Sunday’s kickoff at Croke Park.

One truck left Saturday night for a ferry, set up by logistics company Rock-It Cargo, which was scheduled to arrive in London on Sunday. Another truck was to be unloaded onto a ferry after Sunday’s loss and was scheduled to arrive Monday before the team.

A two-country tour required two customs manifests that require every nut and bolt owned by the Vikings to be declared, citing the countries of origin.

The Vikings and Delta also needed to create a flight from Dublin to London, because it was not among the airline’s standard commercial routes.

The NFL recently ended its Virgin Airlines partnership, and the league has asked all teams to source their own airline, according to Paul Martin, the Vikings’ director of operations.

Martin said it was natural to turn to Delta, which has a hub at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport and an existing relationship with the team.

While London treks have become smoother over time — the NFL has a full-time staff in the U.K. and built practice fields for teams — there’s always something that pops up.

On Tuesday, former North Dakota offensive lineman Matt Waletzko, who went to Rocori High, was headed to England to join the practice squad.

Signing a free-agent offensive lineman means making sure he has a valid passport and a uniform. Parson, the team’s equipment director, said they packed blank jerseys with numbers and letters in case they needed to tailor a new uniform.

While Ben Hawkins, the team’s nutritionist, needed to pack many American staples to satisfy players’ tastes, the Vikings also have some London flavor on tap via food trucks at their makeshift headquarters.

“One’s going to be like a wings truck, a fish and chips truck,” Hawkins said. “Just local, fun things the guys can enjoy.”

The Vikings are also trying to establish new fans in London. They’re among nine teams with U.K. marketing rights through the NFL, which means they have a larger footprint for setting up fan experiences in the city. A year after taking over Outernet London, in the touristy West End, the Vikings are pivoting to Battersea Power Station, a decommissioned coal plant that is now a commercial space 10 minutes by train from Central London.

There will be a Vikings-branded boat docked outside the venue, providing a stage for live entertainment. The team transported historical exhibits from the Vikings Museum at the team’s Eagan headquarters and will set them up for fans in London.

“The hope is to reach a local audience,” Wyatt said, “that we haven’t necessarily tapped into just yet.”