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Daily Commentary on the Dallas Sports Scene - By Bob Sturm - Sportsradio 1310, The Ticket - The Athletic Dallas - The Athletic - Bob Sturm
Above, is the greatest goal I think I have ever seen in person. David Beckham in his prime with a brilliant chip on my trip to Upton Park in 2002.
So, for no other reason than planning for another trip, I recently pulled that game out and posted it up for you. And, while I am at it, here are the 19 matches I have seen in the United Kingdom to date.
Huddersfield Town at Tottenham - 4/12/19
Chelsea at Liverpool - 4/13/19
Arsenal at Watford - 4/14/19
I imagine it would have to be a really boring day at your job to find this interesting, but that is why I named this post like I did. In fact, I was just looking through my ticket stubs the other day and was reminded of the day in February of 2004 when I had a chance to see Arsenal in person (with Spike Lee and the picture I took below)
Above, is the greatest goal I think I have ever seen in person. David Beckham in his prime with a brilliant chip on my trip to Upton Park in 2002.
So, for no other reason, I recently pulled that game out and posted it up for you. And, while I am at it, here are the 16 matches I have seen in the United Kingdom to date.
I imagine it would have to be a really boring day at your job to find this interesting, but that is why I named this post like I did.
In fact, I was just looking through my ticket stubs the other day and was reminded of the day in February of 2004 when I had a chance to see Arsenal in person (with Spike Lee and the picture I took below)
This morning, I wanted to recap my recent trip to England in a blog that will be read by some, bookmarked by others (for their own trip planning), and totally ignored by many. Figure out whatever category you belong in and carry on. It is all good.
For those new to my non-NFL/American Sports addictions, I have very few vices in this world. But, I make up for it with going completely over-board with my sports interests. In this particular case, my long-time love affair with world football is where I actually take trans-Atlantic journeys to feed. Somehow, my lovely bride has accepted the fact that once every few years I am going to leave for 5-6 days to watch as much English Football as I can get my hands on, and then come back even more obsessed with it.
This year, being the Liverpool fanatic that I have become, it was a rather easy target once we could sort out the available weekends of our traveling party. I wanted to see Liverpool, in their quest to win their first title since 1990, in a vital match and witness some level of history either way. I did. More on that later.
But, once you pick a weekend - for me, it was to see Liverpool in London at a ground that I have been led to believe in worth the experience by itself (Crystal Palace) - then you work with what is left on the schedule and make a full weekend out of it.
This was not difficult as that particular weekend, many London teams were all home at the same time. Below is a map showing all of the major stadiums in London (at least the ones that I am aware of - I am sure I am missing several). It is a massive city with a love for the beautiful game. If you are like me and want to see a ton of matches in a short amount of time, it is always best to make it a London-based trip, because obviously, the choices for enjoying the rest of your time there are endless in a city that is one of my favorites. I took the liberty to use pink font so that you could actually figure out what was what. It is clearly a very colorful map - but you get the idea, I hope.
The point of that exercise was to show you that with a 30 minute train/tube/taxi ride, you can get to 10 different stadiums from a nice central London hotel. So, the prospect of seeing 2-4 matches in one weekend is ambitious and expensive, but possible.
In our case, we had a number of options as West Ham, Arsenal, Chelsea, Millwall, and Crystal Palace were all home. I knew I would be a Selhurst Park, but the other thing you must know is that the times/dates are a little like college football in that they can get moved around with little notice for TV. But, unlike college football, they can also jump dates. So, when you are planning, they all say Saturday at 3pm kickoffs. But, about 3 weeks out, they all move for TV, and therefore Liverpool went to Monday (so, I had to get another day off work and change my plane tickets at that point), Arsenal and Chelsea both moved to Sunday, and Saturday was rather wide open with West Ham and Millwall as our choices.
Now, how do you get tickets? This is the question I get no less than once a week for the last decade. And the answer never changes - prepare for 2 things: difficulty and pricey. Now, this can all be modified by what you want to see, because there are plenty of places to watch football in England that are cheap and easy, and my trip to Southend United was both, but also a wonderful experience for sure. But, most of you are like me and suggest if you are going to travel that far you want to live what you see on TV at the famous grounds watching the biggest clubs in the most storied environments. I don't blame you, but that brings us back to difficulty and pricey.
I am lucky enough to have connections now after all of these trips, so I have an easier path that I use, but unfortunately, I cannot really help you in your trip. However, my connections have not covered all the matches I have seen and I will tell you that my trip to Old Trafford and my trip to Stamford Bridge in these last 2 trips were purchased just like you would - through the expensive outlets available to all. I used Stubhub UK for my Manchester United visit and paid about £175 (British pounds) each, then for Chelsea this time it was £195 through my hotel concierge. Very expensive, but I highly recommend you bite the bullet and buy them this way then look for a cheaper route and end up with counterfeit tickets. Trust me, you don't want this. I will elaborate more on this in a bit.
Now, on to the recap:
SATURDAY
West Ham hosting Tottenham would have been the preferred pick on this day, but Upton Park was proving difficult to get tickets, and therefore, we decided to call in a favor with a friend and his fantastic Millwall connections.
I don't know if you know anything about Millwall, but they are a very famous club that has not been in the top flight since 1990. But, they are well-known for many, shall we say, non-football reasons as demonstrated by fiction (Green Street Hooligans) and non-fiction works (Watch this documentary from 1977 if you really care). They are a fan base that lives by the slogan that "No one likes us and we don't care", which you kind of admire. But, just don't think your fan base is tougher than theirs. They have been defending that reputation for quite a while.
Honestly, our trip to the Den was certainly with a bit of trepidation, but we met nothing but nice people who were nervous because they needed to win a match to insure that they would stay up in the Championship for next season. I don't have time to give you a full relegation lesson right now, but know that the prospect of getting kicked down a level is the ultimate stomach punch to a side, and therefore, the tension was high on the last day of the season when my group sampled their match day scene.
They were playing Bournemouth, a much better side that day, but also a side that was secured in their finishing place, while Millwall needed all 3 points or they could be going down. Given that I had never witnessed a match with this much on the line, it was pretty cool to soak all of that in and to see the pitch invasion that followed which you can kind of see in this over-exposed selfie right at the end of the match (Below).
You may also note that I am dressed a bit nicer than one would expect from a t-shirt type, and that is because we were given access to their version of the Platinum level and spent time in the prematch in their hospitality suites. This allowed us the very odd opportunity to see the Millwall manager (the great Ian Holloway who I remember best for getting Blackpool into the Premiership a few years back) address the crowd of VIPs less than 10 minutes before kickoff. I found this to be so odd to imagine Rick Carlisle or Jason Garrett have to stand up in front of fans and explain his lineup and tactical ideas for the day and to encourage everyone to "stay on our side" and to know how important your support is to the club. It seemed like a real beating to have to explain yourself to the supporters while you should be worrying about the match, but over there it appears to be a major part of the gig.
It was only the 2nd time I had ever witnessed a match over there that was not part of the "Premiership", but the crowd was packed, the songs were loud, and it was a very intense display of football that I think anyone would enjoy.
Also, aside from those that ran out on to the field to challenge the authorities, I saw nobody get punched which in a way made me happy and safe, and in a way disappointed me because of their reputation which might have been part of the reason I wanted to see what all of the talk was about in the first place.
Anyway, I really enjoyed Millwall and wish them nothing but the best success in the Championship another year in 2014-15. They seem like a proud, loyal side that doesn't care what you think of them.
Easy in and out train access from London Bridge train station and we were back at our hotel in plenty of time to watch Everton and Manchester City as I hoped that Liverpool's neighbor could do them a solid and get LFC back in control of their own destiny after the very unfortunate slip (pun intended) against Chelsea.
It didn't really work out for me.
SUNDAY
The mission on Sunday hatched only because we had never been to Stamford Bridge. It really didn’t make sense otherwise, because most travelers would love to see West Brom at Arsenal and just be satisfied. But, even though there is a Gunner in our group, we can all agree that Emirates Stadium has all of the charm of Cowboys Stadium – except no awesome big screen and certainly no Sky Mirror.
It isn’t that the stadium isn’t nice – it is. Every seat has a great view of the action and of course, Arsenal is Arsenal, so the football is quite pleasing to the eye. But, the fan experience of feeling you are caught up in a wave of emotion never really hits there like it did at the old place. Did they make their new stadium too big and forsake the genius of Highbury? Maybe, but you should see the matchday revenues! They make tons of money and have luxury suites and the rich of London seem to really enjoy Arsenal, so if it isn’t broke….
Regardless, we saw Chelsea play at Arsenal in 2012 and if that match cannot produce a rowdy atmosphere, then West Brom in Week 37 is not going to work, either. And while it isn’t horrible, it just wasn’t enough to hold our interest.
When our ticket efforts to get into Chelsea (for Norwich City) were unsuccessful at first, we jumped on tickets to Arsenal (so as not to have no matches on Sunday), only to have some regrets that we were letting Stamford Bridge get away from us again. For me, this was my 6th trip to England and 5th to London, and I still have never been to the Bridge (which looks simply fantastic on television most matches). It didn’t take much persuading and after one of our group started quoting the principles of “YOLO”, we decided to pay our hotel’s absurd prices to get us into that match. Visa agreed to borrow us the cash at a small fee, and I must now apologize to the family about the college fund.
Anyway, this was going to be difficult because now we were actually going to try 2 matches in 1 afternoon – having tickets to both Arsenal (1:30pm) and Chelsea (4:00pm). On our 2012 trip, we did a 2 match day already (London is the best city in the world for a soccer fan with at least 10 large stadiums at various parts of the massive area) with Arsenal at 12:45pm and Queens Park Rangers at 5:30. But, as you can see, that is hardly a conflict with each match done in less than 2 hours. This one, with a 38 minute train ride in between was going to be most aggressive. But, knowing that we were only going to live once, we went for it. The video directly below is the shaky footage from my phone that documented the mission:
It started with taking the train from our hotel at King’s
Cross/St Pancras up to the Arsenal tube stop on the Piccadilly line at about
12pm.We tracked down our tickets
and enjoyed the Arsenal fan scene which is quite impressive and enjoyable with
lots of gatherings and pubs everywhere.Our seats were 3 rows from the top, but still in one corner with great
sight lines and a good look at everything there was to see.
As expected, West Brom was on the run most of the day, and Olivier Giroud put home a header in the 1st half of a corner from the shockingly diminutive Santi Cazorla to put Arsenal ahead. We saw many more chances, but at about the 65 minute mark (or 2:55pm) we decided it was time to make our move. We budgeted 5-10 minutes to get to the tube platform, then 38 minutes to get from Arsenal to Chelsea, and wanted to not risk getting there any later than 3:45 to allow for the congestion around the Bridge and getting to our seats by the time 4:00pm hit and the 2nd game started.
Our plans actually went perfectly. As you might imagine, leaving a match early allows for a completely empty scene outside the stadium and the trip to the tube was lonely except for all of the authorities wondering what we were up to as we arrived significantly earlier than they expected anyone to arrive. We jogged our way down to the platform at the Arsenal stop and jumped back to the southbound Piccadilly line.
2:59 the train pulls up and we hop in. Change at South Kensington at 3:25, new train arrives at 3:28 on the District line now down to Fulham Broadway which is the preferred stop for Chelsea Football Club. And no kidding, the Iphone app that told me 38 minutes nailed it right on the money. 3:37pm, we join the masses of blue-clad Chelsea fans and a brave group of Norwich City rowdies that are ready to try to cheer their team out of the relegation spot they find themselves in (thanks a lot, Sunderland!).
After the short walk with noise, singing, and smells of various foods in the air, we arrive on a cloudless London day at the Bridge at 3:43pm, stand in line, walk up the stairs, stand in a quick concession queue (Pork Shoulder/Stuffing/Apple Hoagie for 6 pounds– not that bad!), and then to our seats at 3:54pm or with 6 entire minutes to spare. I could not have been timed more perfectly, I do not believe.
Unfortunately, the match did not explode into the battle we had hoped as Chelsea’s title dreams died a few weeks earlier and then their Champions League campaigned also died on this same pitch at midweek. So, a less than inspired Chelsea side looked the part against a Norwich side that did not have the man-power to find the 3 points that they desperately needed to stay up. Some substitutes at the half (Eden Hazard and David Luiz) spiced it up quite a bit, but still no goals and a frustrated Bridge crowd was unhappy with a 0-0 draw that removed any miracles of a title completely off the board.
I will report, though, that the atmosphere at the Bridge was much more my speed in terms of a stadium that you can tell can really shake on a proper night. It is old, tight, and full of personality. I suppose that is another way of saying old, but I will argue that the “progress” in building sports stadiums is highly debatable as any additions of comforts and facilities to meet the needs of the affluent have come at the expense of electricity and atmosphere, which is a real shame. But, to this point, the deep pockets of Roman Abromovich have not been supplemented with several levels of life-sucking suites, so credit there to that very rich man and his team of rich men.
Overall, it was one of my favorite stadiums to visit, and I would recommend that you give that one a try if you are in the area and wish to see what it is all about.
To top off a day full of football, what do you think I would do? Well, if you guessed walk the 1.9 miles across Fulham to see Craven Cottage (even though it was empty and matchless), you win! The Cottage houses Fulham FC, and despite their relegation, I would very much like to see a match there sometime soon as again, on television, it always seems lively. Their ground sits right on the banks of the River Thames, and is connected to a park that is a wonderful walk and quite beautiful. Sadly, the Michael Jackson statue stands there no longer, but otherwise, it all appeared to be in solid repair, despite being another ground with serious age spots.
MONDAY
OK, now the main event. Let's be clear here - most Liverpool fans knew we weren't winning the league this year after Everton didn't do LFC a favor against City. Regardless of the results of Liverpool's final 2 matches, if Manchester City won their 2 home matches against Aston Villa and West Ham, then it was over. Nothing that happened at Palace would matter unless Manchester City choked. And, most of us knew that wasn't going to happen before this match was even played. So, the possibility of witnessing Liverpool's historic night was cancelled the weak prior.
However, I still couldn't wait to see my guys in person for the first time since 2010. I have seen Liverpool twice before, both at Anfield, but they didn't score a single goal in either match and were pretty poor in 2010 with a coach that was about to be out and no striker to speak of. Now, they had the #1 and #2 scorers in the league and a team that played wonderfully all year. They finished 7th and were generally in nobody's pick to finish in the Top 4. Now, they could do no worse than 2nd and needed a miracle to get 1st with a week to go.
But, in truth, I would have made this same trip if Liverpool was 7th. I wanted to see my club and see them play in a place where everyone speaks so highly about the amazing atmosphere of a small south London club where the fans make the place come alive. And that absolutely happened.
From the first second you get off the train, it is amazing. It is in a small neighborhood which is a 5 minute walk from the train station. You are walking with hundreds and since the match was on a Monday night, you could just sense that Palace was getting a rare chance to show off their scene with the whole nation watching. They had your undivided attention and they were going to show you everything they had.
When I go to these matches, I never have tickets in hand. I usually am told to pick them up at a given ticket window and I always get nervous about showing up and them not having any idea who I am. I think it is more of a reflection of my personality than it is an actual legitimate fear because it has always worked out for me, but since my mind enjoys considering the worst possible outcome of events, it is always there.
Anyway, we arrived about an hour before kickoff (7pm) and worked our way through the thousands of fans who were crowded around this neighborhood stadium. It is quite a sight to behold as there are houses in every direction but this old stadium sits right in the middle.
I got to the window and gave my name. The girl searched and searched and found nothing with my name. She shrugged and asked for alternate spellings. I gave the most popular misspelling of Sturm which of course, is Strum. Panic was starting to set in. This is why I wanted to go on the trip and I simply couldn't miss this match. I started thinking of alternative options, but buying from the scalpers seemed quite ill-advised given all of the warnings in the press for this particular match about counterfeit tickets that were everywhere. It would be expensive and then highly risky to buy outside.
Thankfully, after a 30-minute search in which I produced a verification email from one of their ticket managers (or I might have been out of luck), they finally found my tickets under my connection's name in their computer. They asked if he was coming and I said he would not be as he is back in Texas. But, if we must, I could try to get him on the phone. They seemed convinced with that offer and printed up my tickets. The search took us until nearly 7:40, but they were nice enough and we finally could go inside, so no problems.
Below is the ticket from that night, complete with everything but my friend's name blocked out. I wanted you to see it to verify all of the specifics which include a number of items that would be difficult to duplicate if you are one to counterfeit tickets.
So, we get in the park and go directly to our seats. We had 4 tickets, but only a group of 3 (long and uninteresting story there) and knew we were going to have an open seat - which appeared to be the only seat that was unfilled in the entire stadium.
With about 10 minutes until kickoff, I am trying to take a nice selfie with the entire Liverpool squad no more than 15 yards behind me warming up right by my seats. I am fairly used to being close to athletes and teams I admire, but I will confess that being so close to those I have watched on TV for so many seasons and to have pulled off this dream mission was a moment to savor. I had this wild idea to go see my club in their potentially historic title run (sad face) and picked a match and pulled it off. It all fell perfectly into place. So, at the moment of the picture to the right, everything has gone well and you are seeing a satisfied smile.
At this moment, a man comes down the aisle and halts my selfie party to tell me I am in his seat. I thought that seemed like a reasonable accusation as I very well might have been. So, I grab my ticket and verify my aisle and seat numbers and then cross reference with the section number and end up disagreeing with him. I am in my proper seat!
Now, he is confused and looks back at his ticket. No, this is his seat. But, I am sure it is mine. By now, it is rather clear that English is his 2nd (or 4th) language, and I later find out he was in from Sweden on business and bought his ticket out front for a reasonable £250. I don't want any trouble, so we all remain calm and we hold our tickets side by side. They are identical. I mean, identical. Right down to my friend's name printed on his ticket. It made no sense and given how every seat was taken in the entire stadium, my nervousness returned as I started to consider how this might be worked out. Most notably because my prematch indigestion had started with both teams walking on to the field.
The usher was called and then after his confusion set in, the head usher was called. The Swedish business man could sense how the wind was blowing and started to throw himself at the feet of the judge as he realized he had been duped out front to the tune of about $450. Meanwhile, since my friend was on the ticket and my email verified my connection, I started to figure out how to make our 4th seat available to the man who had endured this mess with me.
The head usher came over and listened to the story - given how loud the stadium now was, that consisted of yelling in each other's ears from close range. He heard my story and then asked me if I was Ben Sturm. I said that was close enough and he agreed that Bob and Ben were essentially the same name and told me I was good. He wanted to run the Swedish dude out, but I told him that I wanted to give him our 4th seat. The usher didn't care much, but then pulled 3 more copies of my ticket out of his pocket and said he had been catching these all night with my exact seat. I have no idea how this all happened, but evidently, someone made multiple copies of my ticket at the Crystal Palace computers and then they got into the hands of the scalpers. I am not saying the club had anything to do with it, but a club operative had to have been involved. If you think about it, the brilliance of this scam is easy to see. Make bogus tickets, give to scalpers, they sell for hundreds of pounds, the counterfeits get caught, the scalpers disappear, and the cops can't do anything to fix it. I was told an Australian tourist also was duped and during the match 2 college kids from South Korea walked in, again, with my tickets.
It was unsettling, but I was back into the scene by kickoff, so I accepted my lowly role in an international ticketing scandal. Also, a meat pie was brought to me by my buddy who made a concessions run and I must say it was amazingly better than I ever imagined anything called a meat pie could be.
The match was amazing. It really was. Liverpool was trying to win by 8 and with their record scoring ability, they broke it open after halftime with 2 quick goals to go up 3-0. I would imagine in the English Premiership that a 3-0 lead is closed out about 99.9% of the time. The reason why it is impossible to come back from 3 goals is that most teams cannot score 3 times in a game and because the other team is smart enough to protect the lead. But, not Liverpool who doesn't protect leads well, and not that night as Liverpool had this foolish idea that they could fix the enormous goal difference deficit to Manchester City. To do so, they would have had to win by 9 or 10, but at the time, they were pretty confident and a bit overly dismissive of a Crystal Palace side who had killed a few giants already at home.
Anyway, as anyone who is reading this already knows, I witnessed the collapse of Liverpool that night in an epic fashion. A 3-0 lead with 78 minutes gone became 3-1 at 79, 3-2 at 81, and 3-3 at the 88 minute mark. You can watch 1,000 matches and never see that again. It was bonkers in that stadium all night, but the final 15 minutes were unlike anything I ever saw or heard.
Words cannot describe how awesome the crowd was. I put it above Loftus Road (QPR), Highbury (old Arsenal), Anfield (Liverpool), Upton Park (West Ham), and Fratton Park (Portsmouth) as the best scenes I have ever been a part of. It was electric and it wasn't just when they scored. From the moment the fans walked in they were loud and self-motivated all night long trying to will their team to victory. I left very impressed with Crystal Palace and their supporters. It is clear that the teams who are not givens to be in the Premiership have the best fan bases. QPR and Palace, in particular, seem free of the rich, entitled group and full of just hard core loyalists who are thrilled to be in the top flight.
I must admit it is an odd feeling to see your team throw up in front of you when you have flown 4,000+ miles to see them play. I think it would have been a million times worse if the Chelsea moment had not happened and this choke actually cost them their first title in 24 years. In reality, this horrible night really was surely memorable (if just for that picture of Luis Suarez crying), but it really didn't decide anything for the title. City never slipped and Liverpool already had.
But, man, to be in that stadium that night was something so awesome. Yes, my club collapsed, but for some reason, it was secondary to my best soccer night ever.
Knowing I could never do it justice with words, I made sure I rolled some video with my phone. There might be a naughty word here (very salty language around me), but I think it captures the night pretty well.
So, 4 matches in 3 days caps off another fantastic soccer journey. It is my 6th and surely not my last. Can't wait for 2016 to do it all over again.
Kind of a long story, really. The short version is that a friend challenged me to give a few matches a try back about 12 years ago. He said follow one team and watch 3 matches and then tell me that it wasn’t that great.
I tried. He was right. And I was hooked on English Premiership Football. Since then, I have hardly gone a week during a season without consuming at least one match and have infected countless of my other friends with the bug themselves.
Now, in 2012, I talk every day with people who closely follow soccer on a worldwide level and also watch matches and live with their teams (clubs) from across the pond on a level that is not that dissimilar to their relationships with their local basketball and baseball teams – except that they don’t get to attend the games in person much.
But, otherwise, thanks to the interest of the public and the advancement of technology, there are no significant matches that are unavailable in high definition on live television in the states. If you follow any club in England, Spain, Italy, or Germany that is popular, you can see all of their matches live. It was something that wasn’t true when I was infected with “football fever” back after the 1998 World Cup, but the progress has been amazing.
And as I write this, I am on my flight back from my 5th journey to England in the last decade to watch matches live in England – and already I find myself mentally planning journey #6 that will likely happen in about 24 months. I truly can’t wait.
This latest trip was shoehorned between my various job responsibilities – the end of the NHL regular season and the NFL Draft. I found a week where I could leave and my presence would not be completely required in Dallas and looked for matches that could be attended in a 5-day stay. Here is what happened:
Friday, April 20: Our flight (a group of 4 of us would meet my Ticket colleague, Craig Miller who had already arrived) landed on Friday morning and we checked in at the hotel and grabbed a much-needed power nap of about 3 hours to at least give the body clock a chance at surviving through Friday night with no sleep since Wednesday night due to the time changes. London is 6 hours in front of Texas, so after a 9 hour flight and a significant time change, you land at about 8 am in England. Your body clock is off badly, but with a nap, it can work. On Friday night, 3 of us wanted to see lower division football. This is the level that is professional, but not incredibly tainted by the cash of the top division. We took a train out to the eastern coast of England to see 4th-tier Southend United in a late-season home match against Barnet. Southend by the Sea is a coastal town that has a fair-ground on the coast and at one point appeared to be a destination point for the English weekender.
Our goal that night was to see a match in its natural habitat, a place where a little town follows a little club in an old stadium and dreams of being promoted to a higher league soon. We were able to see that in all of its glory at old Roots Hall where about 6,000 fans cheered the Shrimpers to a 3-0 victory. Bilel Mohsni scored a first half hat trick and there was much rejoicing out at the coast as the Shrimpers have a chance at going up to the 3rd Division for next season if they do well in the next month. For 15 pounds on the train and 19 pounds at the gate, we caught a real slice of England that is clearly not televised. We caught the last train out of Southend back to Liverpool Street station in London and were back to the hotel by 11pm.
Saturday, April 21: This was the centerpiece of the trip when it was conceived back in January. With Craig and my other buddy, Scott, both newly converted Arsenal backers in the last few years, they wanted to go see their Gunners in person at the huge Emirates Stadium in London. I figured that if we were going to do this, we might as well schedule a great opponent, so we found this weekend where they would host cross-London rival Chelsea in a “London Derby” which is what you call a match where two geographic rivals square off. The game was the early match (12:45 pm) allowing a committed sports nerd like myself to find a 2nd match later in the day (more on that later).
Chelsea was a bit distracted by their midweek battle with Barcelona in the Champions League and did not field its best players all over the field, but it was still an intense and spirited affair. Sadly, for those of us who do not enjoy the kissing of a sister that a scoreless draw sometimes carries, nobody was able to put the ball in the net. I considered trying to convince my readers here that a scoreless draw can be quite compelling (because it absolutely can be) but then I remembered that it sounds ridiculous to even say it, so just know we had higher hopes for this match and aside from witnessing the pageantry and scene in person, it was the least noteworthy part of the weekend – despite it being the top item on the itinerary.
Now, because of the early kickoff, and because of the awesome feature in English football that the entire countries clubs can be found in the space between Dallas and Houston, I was able to find a 2nd match on Saturday that kicked off at 5:30 pm on the other side of London. Queens Park Rangers hosted Tottenham Hotspur in another London Derby and because of some great connections that I have established over the last 12 years, I was able to get tickets to both matches at face value (about 70 pounds a piece). Incidentally, for those without the connections, scalpers seemed to be seeking about 150 to 175 pounds for tickets to matches on the day of the match.
The Arsenal match concluded about 2:30 and by 3:30 we were on the train to QPR. Queens Park was about a 30-minute ride on the train west from our hotel in High Holborn in Central London and we arrived shortly after 4 pm. Whereas Emirates, home of Arsenal held about 66,000 fans, Loftus Road, the home ground of QPR holds slightly below 20,000 fans in a place that is absolutely intimate and electric.
I have now attended 12 matches in person on English soil, and I always find that the smaller the grounds (stadium) the better my experience. I love the electric scene and Loftus Road instantly shot to the top of my list of favorite places that I have been to, alongside Arsenal’s old stadium (Highbury), Portsmouth (Fratton Park), and Liverpool (Anfield).
The match featured a home side in QPR that was attempting to stay up in the top flight of English football. To those who do not know the intoxicating system of relegation and promotion that goes on around the world in sports (outside the USA), a team must earn the right to remain in their league each year. Basically, there are 4 tiers of football in England, and each year, the top division relegates their 3 bottom team down to the 2nd level in exchange for the top 3 teams from that division. This goes on up and down the ladder so each year, every squad is trying with all of its might to avoid relegation. This is brilliant, as it keeps teams from playing meaningless games at the end of each season and it also demands that every team tries to compete every year unlike some of the teams we have in our country who consistently field horrid teams. They can’t do it there, or they get kicked out of the league.
So, here is QPR, needing to win to aid its efforts in staying in the premiership taking on a team that sits 4th in England, Tottenham in a mismatch in talent, but not in urgency. The Rangers took a lead in the 1st half on a goal that was quite wonderful and caused the stadium to shake from its foundation (not difficult for a stadium built in 1882) and then spent the rest of the afternoon trying to survive flurry after flurry from Tottenham and amazingly stayed alive with a 1-0 win that might insure that their fans can see top division football next year, too. It was a magical scene to witness, one that has me very invested now in their fate. I feel myself rooting for their survival although I have never had a shred of connection with the club before that experience. I see how much it means to those people who clearly love their boys.
2 matches in one afternoon? The cynics will point out that is a lot of running around for 1 goal, but if you could have been there, I think you would have appreciated a rare treat of skill and competition that left nobody unsatisfied who witnessed it.
Sunday, April 22: You can’t have 3 matches being played in England on a Sunday while you are there for that purpose and not figure out how to attend one, so our group caught a train to Manchester (70 pounds) to see the New York Yankees of English Football (just ask them) Manchester United in their natural habitat at famous Old Trafford. The stadium is humbly called the “Theater of Dreams” and despite enjoying several years of rooting against them, I will concede that I have wanted to visit this famous ground. No connections in Manchester made this ticket easily the most expensive of them all, as we had to fork over 175 pounds to attend this match. Not something that I would do very often, but with a chance to knock something off the bucket list, I paid the freight. It is easily the largest home stadium in all of England, as almost 80,000 loyalists plan on an easy destruction of Everton on their way to their 20th league title.
But, it wouldn’t go as planned. Everton would score first, but United answer as Wayne Rooney scored right before half to tie things up at 1-1. Early in the 2nd half, United hit the gas and scored 3 more times to take a 4-2 lead and the celebration for the day and the season was underway. Prematurely, we would find, as Everton scored twice in the final 10 minutes to earn a 4-4 draw in the most unlikely of results. The tie kept United within range of cross city rival Manchester City, which now has a chance to steal the league title next week when the two sides square off for what could amount to a championship game for the whole title. I counted seeing 8 goals in one match and no Manchester United victory as a win for my journey, so I left back to the train station as a happy man.
4 matches in 42 hours in 4 different stadiums in crowds ranging from 6,000 to 80,000. 12 goals and 350 pounds in tickets. 50 pounds lost in gambling on the matches (which is a delightful way to waste money as you can legally wager on the matches from right at the stadium – next to the concession stands).
It was expensive, tiring, and wonderful. It is the one sport I can follow and consider it not a part of my living where I must take notes and offer tons of insight or research. It is simply an enjoyable side hobby that I can enjoy in the very early hours of my weekends in Dallas or occasionally hop on a plane and see it up close.
If you love the sport as I do, you should consider a pilgrimage to see it live. The stadium experience is unlike anything we have in the US. In England, there is really only one sport and the people really only have one team that they follow. But, they follow it with a passion and allegiance that is off of the charts. Here, if the Mavericks are playing poorly, we follow the Rangers. If the Cowboys are bad, we have a college team we like more. In England, they truly understand what being a die-hard actually means. Through thick and thin, they follow one team. We could argue whether it is a better experience or worse, but it is surely different, and fun to consider.
Monday, we ended the journey with a tour of Tottenham’s home ground, White Hart Lane, a place that might be a destination spot for the next trip. And on Tuesday, it was the long, absurd flight back to Dallas where you fly for 10 hours but with the time change, you can do it all between lunch and dinner. It makes for a long day.
Anyway, since many of you have asked, there is a brief rundown of my 5th trip over there in the last 11 years.
On March 1st, I embarked on my 3rd journey to the United Kingdom to engage in one of my favorite pastimes, viewing English Football in person.
To properly explain my fascination with English Football would take way too long, but for one reason or another, I have become absolutely obsessed with this sport over the last 8 seasons or so. In fact, the level of my obsession continues to grow, as now I am gaining a pretty reasonable knowledge of most opponents my club (Liverpool) plays, and even catch myself now sitting down to watch random games between teams that have very little quality. I believe I may be sick.
I think it all goes back to how this job, that I love so much, has changed me. Once upon a time, I watched games all of the time because that is what I WANTED to do. Now, as I tune in for Rangers game #148 and they are 22 games out of first place, I sometimes admit that I am watching because this is what I HAD to do. Watching sports is not a choice, it is mandatory (I know, don’t cry for me) as it pertains to doing sports talk shows in DFW.
But the point is that watching games strictly for my personal enjoyment has been limited to my love-hate-love relationship with the Green Bay Packers, Wisconsin Badgers, and watching English Football. I say that because there is a very good chance that despite how great the Tottenham vs. West Ham match may have been, there is no way I can bring that up on our show without fear of ridicule. So, I watch it completely and totally for my personal amusement.
And if there is one thing better than watching Manchester United play Liverpool on television, than that would be to go see it with my own two eyes.
So, I planned this trip last October with “Soccer Buddy”. SB and I went in 2004, had a great time, and because of things like families and newborns, could not go again until last week. We really got to get this trip on the annual calendar, but so far I have gone in 2002, 2004, and now 2007 to mighty England. Last October, I surely thought that getting tickets was not going to be a problem, since I now know several soccer “VIPs” from various places. During my last journey, those VIPs were able to gain us admission to the matches we wanted to see, but this time I had chosen what amounts to one of the biggest matches of the soccer year. My connections could not get me in. I was going to have to pay about $700-$800 each to get these tickets from ticket brokers. Wow. People always ask me what these tickets cost and of course it depends on the game. If you are going to go over there, may I suggest you do not select the biggest games. Pick your favorite team playing a team of lesser appeal. Unless you don’t mind $700 a ticket. Usually, $100-$200 can get you into most games, but just don’t pick the big 4 clubs (Liverpool, Man United, Arsenal, Chelsea) against eachother. If you do, prepare to get hammered.
Anyway, long story short, through an incredible coincidence, Tom Hicks bought Liverpool a month ago, and although I don’t believe he is fond of my work, someone who he employs hooked me up, and I was able to get into this match for face value - $67 a piece. That person knows who he is, and I know owe him a ton. The other game we attended was Blackburn at Bolton, and for this game, you could get tickets at the gate without any problem as it was not nearly sold out.
The following is everything I can remember about my Soccer Dream Trip:
Friday
Friday, we landed in Manchester Airport about 12:30, and took the train into town. Our hotel was right by the main train station, and I would highly recommend the Radisson Edwardian in Manchester. Quality.
Despite feeling pretty sleep deprived, as the trans-Atlantic flight is enough to beat anyone into submission and I had not slept in about 24 hours when we landed, you have to stay awake to try to get your body right with the local time. It is a 6 hour difference, so obviously, if you stay on Texas time, you will be going to sleep as everyone in England is waking up.
We decided Friday was about our only chance to do any real sight-seeing, and since we were in Manchester, England, SB suggested we go over to Old Trafford, and see the most famous ground in England.
We took the tour, and it instantly became obvious that we will need to come back to see a match there someday. It just smells historic. The best way to explain Manchester United and Liverpool is to suggest you think Yankees and Red Sox. They both have absolute brilliant stadiums, fervent fan bases, and magical histories. And, they both hate eachother. And they are 25 miles apart.
The tour took us all over the grounds, and our tour guide (who amazingly admitted that he was a life-long Liverpool Fan!) was awesome, and we were showed the dressing rooms, the tunnels, the press areas, the museum, and of course, the pitch itself. In fact, the coolest part might have been when they lined us up in two lines in the players tunnel, turned on a sound system that blared crowd noise, and had us walk down to the field and get a feel for what it might be like to enter the stadium if it was full and rocking. It did give me chills for a moment, although looking back, I clearly was over-reacting.
Manchester United is the big bully in English Football, and has been for many years. Much of the credit (if not all of it) goes to their famous manager, Sir Alex Ferguson. Sir Alex called out Liverpool when he first took the job back in the mid-80’s and said his first mission was to “knock Liverpool off their f-ing perch”. And he has. Liverpool hasn’t been the same since he arrived, and Manchester United’s trophy room has very little room for more hardware thanks to him.
They also are well remembered for the Munich plane crash in 1958 that killed 23 people, including 8 players. All over the grounds, that day is remembered with tributes and memorials.
Anyway, the real highlight of the trip to Old Trafford was to see “REX” written on the edge of the pitch, and upon questioning, the tour guide revealed that it was in fact Rex’s ashes, and his family spelled his name on the field of his beloved United upon his death. Touching.
They hung pictures in the dressing rooms showing who sat where. If you watched the World Cup 2006, you will doubt (as I did) that these two sit next to eachother.
Our Tour guide, who loves Liverpool, which reminded me why a Packers fan can do Cowboys radio...
After the tour, it was time to find a pub and we viewed some football, tried to understand Rugby, and attempted to stay awake until 9pm local time before I was out like a light back at my room.
Saturday
Ah, yes. The day that I had awaited for months. Finally, I was going to see my boys from Liverpool Football Club in person, and to top it off, I was going to see them at home against their hated Rivals, Manchester United.
The weather was amazingly perfect, given my experience in England. I know in my 3 trips I had yet to see sunny weather. But, today, sunny and about 50 degrees. We grabbed a train from Manchester to Liverpool Lime Street Station. It seems that trip took about 45 minutes, and on the trip you could see many a football fan who was headed to the big game down the track. We had decided not to tempt fate and wear jerseys on the train for fear of upsetting any locals who may not share our taste in teams. Our general policy when going over there is to blend in, not cause any trouble, not look for any trouble, and be the proverbial fly-on-the-wall (even if I am 6’4).
When we arrived at Lime Street, we followed the crowd to a bus station, passing what appeared to be some very cool architecture in downtown Liverpool. Didn’t see the Beatles, and didn’t have time to do much, except continue on to bus #17 which will take us to Anfield.
Anfield is similar to Wrigley Field in that it is tucked away in a regular city street with housing all around, pubs all around, and as intimate and non-corporate as you can imagine. I also found Highbury – Arsenal’s old home (from my 2002 and 2004 journeys) to be like this. Just tucked away with no real amenities that would satisfy the AAC crowd, but just pure tradition everywhere you look.
Outside, everyone is singing and eating and waiting for the big game. I did some interviews for the radio show where I tried to find out what everyone thought of Tom Hicks buying the team, and unanimously, everyone agreed it was a wonderful idea. Apparently, the remember that he paid Alex Rodriguez more than any athlete has ever been paid, and that proves that he is willing to pay the price to win. I didn’t ask what happened after A-Rod was paid, because I didn’t want to kill their buzz.
Once we decided to go inside, we had to go to the appropriate gate. In the states, your ticket may offer you suggestions on what gate you should enter, but in reality it is usually a suggestion, and once inside you can normally walk all through a stadium or arena. Well, at these soccer games, you must use the gate you are told because you can only access that part of the stadium. This is how they keep fans from fighting fans from the other side – by keeping them separated. It works very well.
Segregation is the only way to exist over there. They offer the away fans 3,000 seats in this league at each match. Those 3,000 fans are in their own sections, using their own entrances, and are completely and totally isolated from the rest of the stadium. There is no going in or going out of the away area. I am sure it has not always been this way, but it has been for the last several years and maybe decades as a way to minimize incidents. Honestly, I think it is a brilliant idea, since we have all had Eagles fans or Red Wings fans behind us at games in Dallas and have all seen incidents of pushing and shoving when obnoxious, drunk fans from each side bow up to eachother. Wouldn’t it be a bit easier to have a special section at Texas Stadium for all of the Steelers fans? Just thinking out loud.
The World Famous Kop
The Scarfs are up for "You'll Never Walk Alone".
The stadium was just as I had hoped. Very Lambeau Field like, in that once you emerge from the tunnel, it finally hits you that you are at the place you have seen on television so many times. I finally made it to Anfield. And when I got to join in for the pregame rendition of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” I was near sports-crying. What a moment.
We were basically even with the 6 yard box on the goal to the left, about 1 section over from the Away Fans. And I must admit, despite my disdain for Manchester United, those away supporters that they brought were amazing. They sang and performed and outshouted the rest of the stadium for almost the entire afternoon. They are surrounded by a perimeter of police, so they are extra courageous. You saw many middle fingers and heard many “R-rated” words, but I must admit, it was entertaining.
The biggest difference between a sporting crowd over there versus a sporting crowd over here is simple: In the states, we are a reactive crowd. We wait for a prompt to cheer, whether it be from the team doing something great, the scoreboard asking us for noise, a cheer-leader or yell-leader (Aggie) to signal us for a reaction. Over there, there is nothing. No prompts. No cheerleading. No begging from the stadium. Really, no game presentation whatsoever. Dan and I are often critical of the stale atmosphere of a Stars game versus the electric setting of a Mavericks game. But, in England, it is all left to the fans. If there is to be noise, it is because the crowd generates it on its own. They sing all game long because they believe it impacts the game. They chant, they cheer, they sing songs and chants to annoy the opposition, to annoy the oppositions supporters, and to “suck the ball into the net” as they say. The whole scene is priceless. Anything that happens in a game generates the next song. It could be a song that promotes their player, it could be a song that laughs at the opposing player or manager, but there is a method to all of the insanity. And it sometimes is better than the games.
No one goes to the concessions or bathroom during the game. Seriously, even when you watch a match on television, you will seldom see anyone walking in the aisles during play. At halftime, we all scramble for a beverage and a pie (gross), if we want to miss the halftime entertainment which was the awkward shootout between disabled ManU fans and disabled Liverpool fans (I kid you not – and I really can’t describe it). No corporate suits on cell phones. No suites with people not paying attention. It really makes you think that we have screwed things up in America by catering to the rich.
Back to the match itself: United was 9 points up on Chelsea, and 16 up on Liverpool at the start of the day, and people were saying that before the match, if anyone has a chance to catch them, it will have to be because Liverpool beat them today.
Well, Liverpool huffed and puffed. By all accounts they carried the action all day long with far more shots and possession than Manchester United. But, just like hockey, dominating action doesn’t count for much if you don’t but the ball in the net. And like usual, Liverpool did not.
Liverpool will never win the Premiership if we don’t get a world-class goal scorer. I wonder if Tom Hicks knows that.
Xabi Alonso on the ball.
The closest I came to a decent photo of in-game action captures the throw-in...
So, with 5 minutes to go, we are staring a 0-0 tie right in the face. Then Paul Scholes (of Gol de Scholes fame) turns and tries to punch Xabi Alonso right in the face. He misses, but this is a straight red card to the Manchester United hero, and now for the final flurry, Liverpool will also have a man advantage. Surely, we will score and I will cap off a miraculous experience the right way.
Peter Crouch has a no-brainer at the goal mouth, but United’s keeper makes a brilliant save. A few other chances are close calls, but again no finishing touch to get the win. United seems more than happy to accept the draw and get out of town.
Then, in stoppage time, a silly foul takes place outside the Liverpool area, giving Manchester United a glimmer of hope. I say to Soccer Buddy that this is bad. Very bad. Cristiano Ronaldo, perhaps the best player in English soccer, and surely the most hated player in English soccer stood over the ball. He curled it to land right at the keeper’s feet. Traffic was everywhere, save made, but rebound right to an unmarked John O’Shea. Goal. Anfield falls silent. Except for the 3,000 to my left. United score in stoppage time with only 10 men. The 3,000 United fans are in heaven. They perform non-stop for the next 10 minutes, the whole time shooting the bird to the Liverpool faithful who stare at the field, realizing that it has happened to them again.
Manchester United, meanwhile, believe that the O’Shea miracle locks up the Premiership for them again. They have wrestled the crown back after Arsenal and Chelsea have held it in London for the last 3 seasons.
After the final whistle, and after the United players celebrated right in front of me by running to their 3,000 supporters, and almost all the players ripped off their jerseys and flung them into the crowd, the police began herding the Liverpool fans out of the stadium. 45,522 is the capacity, and the 42,000 Liverpool fans are made to leave before the 3,000 United fans can move from their places. This, again, is to insure there are no incidents in the streets after the match.
I wanted to get a look at how this all happens, so I put a jacket over my jersey (so as to look like a neutral) and went to the visiting fans exits. There, police on horse, police on foot, and police in cars and helicopters made sure that the street the 3,000 United fans were about to use was completely empty. Completely. All Liverpool supporters were made to go to the other 3 sides of Anfield or down the other streets. This back street would be the path from the stadium gates all the way to the train that waited to take only United fans back to Manchester.
I pulled out a microphone and was allowed to remain on the street with a few other media people because I guess having a microphone made me look legit. The doors swung open, and now 30 minutes after the final whistle, the 3,000 are released and escorted by dozens of cops on all sides to their train. There will be no incidents if the police have any say. And they do. I cannot imagine problems after what I witnessed. They obviously have learned from their mistakes of the past.
All in all it was an amazing spectacle. You hate to go all that way to see your team suffer the most gutting of losses, but, you also can appreciate that you witnessed a result that will be talked about for decades. There are many games without any sort of flavor or remarkable attributes, and this was not one of those. The O’Shea winner that secured the 07 Premiership for United will surely make the history books.
From there it was a visit to the Liverpool Pro Shop where I left a lot of my hard earned money, and then to the bus, back to the train, and off to Manchester on another train (not the one reserved for the 3,000). Soccer Buddy and I had enjoyed the journey.
When you make plans for this trip, you do not know what the schedule will actually be. I bought airlines tickets and hotel room in October, but the television networks did not determine who would play on Saturday and who would play on Sunday until January. Because of Champions League, FA Cup, and television, you seldom know exactly the date and time of your game until about 60 days out.
So, when you plan on going to England for a weekend and you do what I do – which is plan to catch a game on Saturday and another on Sunday, you really prioritize game 1, and then wait on the other game because you do not know what the networks will do. For instance, usually the huge fixtures (like Liverpool-ManU) would be the big game on Sunday. But because they had Champions League affairs on Tuesday, they left the game on Saturday. That left us with two choices for what match we would see on Sunday: Bolton hosts Blackburn, 16 miles from Manchester, and Tottenham visits West Ham in London, 200 miles away. Advantage Bolton.
It should be noted that Bolton are the 5th team in the Premiership. They have a nice new stadium, and a team that features some notable names. But, watching Bolton-Blackburn after Liverpool-Manchester United is like going to see the Red Sox-Yankees on Saturday and then the Phillies-Pirates on Sunday. A nice rivalry to those people involved, but quite a let-down in the aftermath of where you had just been.
We were lucky enough to be the guests of Bolton’s Media Department, and they were very accommodating and pleasant. The Weather, sadly, was not as accommodating and pleasant. It was freaking cold. And raining sideways. Every stereotypical thing you could say about a cold, rainy, miserable afternoon in England, you could say here.
And the fans, evidently, thought it would be much easier to watch on television. You will be happy to know that the media sits with the crowd, so Soccer Buddy and me were shivering little Americans in our seats, trying to stay warm as we watched a largely indifferent first half at the Reebok stadium in Bolton.
Brad Friedel, our American goalkeeper, was in goal for Blackburn, and that excited Soccer Buddy who is hard core into Sam’s Army.
With bad weather, empty seats, and indifferent football, I wish I could tell you there were a lot of great stories, but I don’t have too many.
In the 2nd half, the South African Benny McCarthy, who earlier in the week eliminated Arsenal from the FA Cup, scored twice on penalty kicks for Blackburn, putting the road Rovers up 2-0. Nice to see a few goals and all, but penalty kicks are like free throws to me. It is more of a shock if a professional doesn’t score. Nicolas Anelka pulled one back for Bolton, and they thought they scored the equalizer, but the scorer was offside.
Benny Shoots
Benny Scores
Bolton with a cross, with the American Friedel looking on...But not that many fans...
Two matches in two days, with two road teams winning.
The rain was still falling hard after the game, and as we exited the stadium and walked to the train station, it occurred to us that at 4:30 on a Sunday in the England countryside, it is possible that we may have a while to wait for the next train. We did. About an hour. What a beating. Cold, wet, and tired, we finally got back to the hotel about 2 hours later.
Just in time to get a pizza (they can’t screw that up in England) and get back to the hotel to see Real Madrid-Getafe at 8, and then a replay of the brilliant match between West Ham and Tottenham at 10. That match finished 4-3, and it may have been the best game played all year.
