Army v Navy: How do the US and UK games compare?
The Army v Navy rugby union showdown at Twickenham is the pinnacle of the military sporting calendar, providing many thrilling and emotional moments during the past decades.
But across the pond, there is an Army v Navy game in American football that is just as exciting and perhaps even bigger.
Let's take a look at how the Army v Navy rugby union game in the United Kingdom compares to its American equivalent, Army v Navy American football.
When were the Army v Navy games first played?
The first "official" Army v Navy rugby match was held in 1907, but it is said that the first Army v Navy meeting actually took place in 1878 at the Kennington Oval for the Military Benevolent Fund.
After the formation of the Army Rugby Union and the Royal Navy Rugby Union, the match in 1907 is widely considered to be the first official clash between the reds and the navy blues, but only players who were officers were eligible to play.
After the First World War, the game returned in 1920 and was played at Twickenham for the first time, having previously been played at Queen's Club.
The women's Army v Navy game was introduced in 2003 and since 2022, the women's game has been played at Twickenham as a double header alongside the men's game.
In the United States, the Army v Navy game is played between the Army Black Knights and the Navy Midshipmen and is among the most traditional and long-standing rivalries in college football.
The Army and Navy first clashed in 1890 on The Plain at West Point and the two sides have played annually since then, except on 10 occasions when the game was called off.
How many people attend the games?
In 2022, the Army v Navy American football game clocked a crowd of 69,117 spectators at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The stadium, the largest in the American Athletics Conference, has a seating capacity of 71,896.
The John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia has hosted the Army v Navy game more times than any other stadium with a total of 41 games played, mostly thanks to its 102,000-seat capacity.
London's Twickenham stadium, the home of England Rugby, can seat up to 82,000 people and the Army v Navy game has drawn crowds of over 80,000 people, including a crowd of 81,577 in 2017.
The games often attract high-profile figures - the Army v Navy game in the United States has been attended by 10 sitting US presidents.
The first was Theodore Roosevelt, who attended the game in 1901 and 1905, whereas Harry S. Truman attended every game in his eight-year term except in 1951.
George W. Bush and Donald Trump attended three times during their terms and John F. Kennedy attended both games during his presidency in 1961 and 1962, before he was assassinated 15 days before the 1963 game.
Presidents who attended the game once include Woodrow Wilson (1913), Calvin Coolidge (1924), Gerald Ford (1964), Bill Clinton (1996) and Barack Obama (2011).
In 2018, Prince Harry attended the Army v Navy game at Twickenham as patron of the match charity, Invictus Games Foundation.
He laid the wreath on the eve of the centenary of the First World War Armistice and met the descendants of two England captains who died in the war.
Who provides the TV coverage?
Before 2022, the Army v Navy rugby men's and women's matches were broadcast live on BFBS and Forces TV and in previous years, the game was covered live on Sky Sports.
Since last year, the game has been shown on Forces News' YouTube and Facebook as well as BFBS TV for the British military community overseas, with more than 100,000 viewers recorded across all of these platforms.
BFBS is the parent company of Forces News.
BFBS Radio also provides full coverage of both matches for those overseas and in the UK.
The Army v Navy American Football game has been broadcast live on American network CBS since 1996 and the network is contracted to cover the game until 2028.
In 2022 CBS coverage of the game averaged around 8.1 million viewers, but it did suffer a dip in viewers because of a clash with the France v England quarter-final of the FIFA World Cup.
How do their kits compare?
In the UK, the Royal Navy have always played in an all-navy blue jersey, shorts, and socks. This has been the case except in 1955 when the sailors reportedly wore white shorts.
The British Army sport their traditional colours of a red jersey, white shorts, and red socks, however in the very first meeting in 1878, the Army played in white.
While the British Army and the Royal Navy wear their traditional colours, the US Army traditionally sports a kit with black, gold, and grey, and the US Navy wears navy blue and gold.
However, for the Army v Navy game, the traditional kits are left in the locker room in favour of unique themed uniforms - a much-anticipated factor of the Army v Navy game.
In 2022, the US Army's uniform honoured the 1st Armoured Division on the 80th anniversary of Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of French North Africa in the Second World War.
It featured a light brown jersey with a gold number, which also included mud splatters to look like the armoured vehicles used on operations in North Africa.
Inspired by the 1st Armored Division, we will honor their fighting spirit and will to win. #GoArmy | #IronSoldierspic.twitter.com/v9i4TWD8gK
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) November 28, 2022
In the same year, the US Navy wore astronaut-themed uniforms to honour the 54 United States Naval Academy graduates who went on to become astronauts.
The uniform was designed to replicate a spacewalk suit, and it included NASA’s famous "meatball" logo on the arm.
One side of the helmet featured an astronaut on a spacewalk with the other side featuring the NASA logo, and their boots were designed to look like the shoes worn in space.
One small step for man...One giant leap for Navy Football.#GoNavy | #RollGoats | @NASApic.twitter.com/JCywlEcjiA
— Navy Football (@NavyFB) November 21, 2022
When will the next games take place?
Since 2009, the US Army v Navy game has traditionally been on the second Saturday of December. It is typically the last game played in NCAA Division I (D-I) football.
This year the game will be played on 9 December at the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
In the UK, the Army v Navy game is usually the final meeting of the Inter Services championships which usually takes place in the spring.
The 2023 meeting is set to take place at Twickenham Stadium on 13 May.
You can find out how to watch the Army v Navy rugby showdown LIVE on Forces News YouTube and Facebook here.
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