My First Football Match

Apparently, football (soccer) season has just started here or something. Not really my sport but Shea jumped at the chance when a colleague at work had extra tickets for sale.  So we went and watched Arsenal play Crystal Palace. I figured I would go and get my drink and eat on while watching the crowd more than the actual game.  Turns out they do sports a bit differently here!

The outside of the stadium.

The first noticeable difference is how much merchandise was sold. These fans were already showing up decked out in Arsenal crap.  And yet, they were still buying more stuff.  It would be like going the a Flames game wearing the jersey, hat, scarf and foam finger and still needing to go drop money on more paraphernalia!  

The second difference were the special doors for Away fans (in this case, the Crystal Palace people).  They cannot enter the stadium with the Arsenal people!  That is how crazy these fans are (more on that later). 

Once we actually got into the stadium, it was very nice and designed in a way where they could basically hose down the halls at the end of the match.  As we walked around looking for popcorn (because at a Flames game, I would have eaten some popcorn), it became apparent that snack food was scarce.  You could get a small bag of various flavors of chips (like 3 choices), a hot dog, a burger, three choices of pop or a beer.  No popcorn for me!

Another difference we noticed while hunting for popcorn is that we have finally seen a place you CANNOT drink at in London: the actual stadium.  You cannot drink a beer there.  You must drink it in the concourse part.  So you start to think or reasons why this rule would exist and you remember back to those crazy dressed fans.  You two and two together and voila; these guys are so crazy that they cannot be trusted to behave themselves drunk while watching soccer.  I guess they have actually just re-allowed alcohol to be served in the stadium again because people were getting so drunk and getting into fights.  CRAZY fans, these people are.

The field.

So we go and take our seats and wait for the game to start.  As the players enter the stadium we notice all these riot police surrounding this one area of seats.  That's when you notice these people are not dressed like fools in Arsenal colours (red and white) but are decked out in another jersey colour.  Bingo, found where the Away fans have to sit!  They are segregated into their own area and separated from the Arsenal fans by a lot of riot police. These people cannot be trusted to behave like human beings to others who cheer for an opposing team!  Again, soccer fans are crazy!

The stadium full of fans.

As the game progresses, I did my people watching.  Arsenal fans are kind of boring.  They just sit there and every once in awhile they chant "Arsenal" three or four times and then they return to their silent watching.  The Crystal Palace fans were way more fun!  They had 20 different songs and chants that they shouted throughout the match.  They also stood the whole game.  They are still crazy soccer fans but at least they are having fun! 

This is a shot of the Crystal Palace fans.  All the guys wearing yellow and red jackets are riot police. They surround the three sections on the main floor of the stadium. 

Because the Crystal Palace fans were having so much fun, I had kind of wished their team would have won (Arsenal won 2-1).  But they were still cheering right to the end and beyond.  They gave their team a standing ovation (because they never sat) until they left the field.  Arsenal fans packed up and left as soon as the game was over. 

One highlight from the day was I got to watch my first fan fight!  They were both Arsenal fans and yet they still started punching each other.  One guy was knocked out, hit the ground, cut his head open and had to get treated by police and medical staff.