air
Well-Known Member
Remember, at the Emirates you'll be in the Pompey end.
This is what my father wrote to me in an email after I had been invited to watch Arsenal play Portsmouth at the Emirates Stadium. Indeed I would have to keep quiet if Arsenal scored, but I crossed my fingers just in case Kolo Toure would pop one of his 30-yarders into the net. In that case I would scream my lungs out and then probably be escorted out of the away section to prevent further trouble.
But on another morning when I was browsing through the Arsenal-Mania forums, my cell phone beeped and it was my sister saying:
Peter couldn't get tickets for Arsenal. Do you still want to come and visit?
If you read my story last spring, you may remember I'm from Finland myself and my sister lives in England with her boyfriend (Peter). That time I flew over only to see Portsmouth v Arsenal at Fratton Park cancelled due to a waterlogged pitch.
Just my luck, I thought. I guess it should have been no surprise really, because all Portsmouth season ticket holders had applied to see their side play at our new stadium. I thought for a minute and decided not to pull a pea up my nose as we say, and figured I would make the most of the trip. I had a flight and a hotel booked for two days in London, an opportunity to look at the Emirates Stadium and Highbury, and a chance to visit my sister as well.
I could have gone for one of those £160 tickets, but even if I had that much to spend I wouldn't have spent it on a football ticket. Or actually I would have if I really had my pockets full of cash, but as it was, I didn't.
We left Finland with my girlfriend on Thursday and looked around London on Friday, or rather went to any major tourist attraction we could find. Westminster Abbey and Harrods were fun and at the end we were tired. Our hotel in Victoria was fine too, except for people knocking on the room door at night. I don't know who had been running their business in there, but I sure wasn't going to take over!
Then came Saturday and we met up with our "English friends" in Waterloo. The girls went to do more tourism and the boys left for North London. Our plan was to have a look at Highbury, then the Emirates, the store and finally the Twelve Pins, which according to Arsenal-Mania members was the number one place to watch a game apart from the stadium itself.
As we walked towards Highbury I began to wonder whether we were really going in the right direction, but as we walked on Avenell Road it suddenly appeared and I realized how compact the whole area was. It was strange to think that I was actually there, but on the other hand the stand was covered with some green blanket so there wasn't much to look at.
I felt a bit upset for fans who had been to the ground for years and had to leave it, but in the end it's not all that bad for Arsenal fans. The Emirates Stadium looks fantastic on the outside, but you don't need to walk around it because it looks the same on every side. There's a lot of conrete on display but I still like it. Another new ground I've been to is the Schalke stadium in Germany but that felt more plastic than anything, and concrete has more character than plastic.
We went to the store, The Armoury if I remember right, where Bob Wilson was signing his book. I bought a mug I liked best, the one with the old Arsenal crest and photo collage. Another interesting item I found was the Jens Lehmann Kick-It action figure, but for me it was better for laughs than for purchase. I also got a match programme with Adebayor on the cover. I would have liked a scarf with Arsenal v Portsmouth on it, but I was told there wasn't one because it was only a league game.
As we exited the stadium area and the bridge there was a guy selling tickets. He told us we could get seats with our own box and free drinks, as if we were going to get wasted while watching the game. He asked us if we had ever been inside the stadium and so on. Whatever three-figure sum he was asking for it was way too much, and I told Pete later that if I buy something which may get me something, I get a raffle ticket for 50 pence.
Next we headed for the Twelve Pins, which was full of people watching the Charlton v Liverpool game. We ordered a couple of Guinness beers because it was an Irish bar and watched the game for a while. We discussed all kinds of football issues but were distracted when some guy reached out his hand and felt my balls. We looked a bit puzzled and agreed it was a bit of a strange thing to happen. The bar wasn't serving food so we decided to go and have a burger next door before Arsenal kicked off.
After Charlton and Liverpool finished the place got a bit empty, nearly everyone was heading for the game. I hadn't thought of that before, but obviously the bar isn't as crowded for home games, which was okay for us. Even the balls guy had left to find some more balls somewhere else.
As the players walked onto the pitch I had to look several times at the big screen to confirm that it actually was number 30, Jeremie Aliadiere starting for us. With Henry injured and Adebayor playing in midweek I suppose I should have seen it coming. Kanu and Campbell got some applause from the Twelve Pins crowd.
Ten minutes into the game the room filled up again quite nicely. There wasn't much to report from the first half until Noe Pamarot scored after a Pompey free kick had hit the post. I was even more surprised when we went two-nil down from a Matt Taylor volley on my first visit to North London!
I said Adebayor would save us, and when he came on I joined my favourite chant of "Adebayor, Adebayor!"
Ade scored to give us some hope, and when Gilberto equalized I went beserk and jumped over to the screen to celebrate along with a few others. Then Van Persie left Campbell standing and shot, I stood up only to leave my mouth open as I realized the ball had only hit side netting. It would have been too good to be true.
In the end a point wasn't going to get us anywhere in the table, and when Pompey started wasting time I knew it would be hard for us to create another good chance.
So two-all it finished and we left in time to get seats on the tube before all the fans could get on. We talked about the game on the tube and Pete pointed out that the atmosphere had been excellent. "Yeah, it was cracking", replied another Arsenal fan, so we chuckled and explained that we'd been in a bar with not quite 60,000 people.
We travelled to the south to stay one more day in England before leaving. Pete showed me some old programmes of games he'd been to in the 1997/98 and 2000/01 seasons. I don't remember much from the 1998 double-winning team. That was when I was least into football, maybe because I was fourteen or maybe because we didn't have cable to see the games. Whatever happened to Alberto Mendez?
We got back safely, only I got a bit of a flu, sore throat, headache and everything I usually get when travelling. With flights not being so expensive nowadays I would totally recommend the trip to anyone. Even if you don't get tickets you'll have a good time if you have good company. I will try again another season, maybe the next or the season after. And that time I hope I get some tickets too.
This is what my father wrote to me in an email after I had been invited to watch Arsenal play Portsmouth at the Emirates Stadium. Indeed I would have to keep quiet if Arsenal scored, but I crossed my fingers just in case Kolo Toure would pop one of his 30-yarders into the net. In that case I would scream my lungs out and then probably be escorted out of the away section to prevent further trouble.
But on another morning when I was browsing through the Arsenal-Mania forums, my cell phone beeped and it was my sister saying:
Peter couldn't get tickets for Arsenal. Do you still want to come and visit?
If you read my story last spring, you may remember I'm from Finland myself and my sister lives in England with her boyfriend (Peter). That time I flew over only to see Portsmouth v Arsenal at Fratton Park cancelled due to a waterlogged pitch.
Just my luck, I thought. I guess it should have been no surprise really, because all Portsmouth season ticket holders had applied to see their side play at our new stadium. I thought for a minute and decided not to pull a pea up my nose as we say, and figured I would make the most of the trip. I had a flight and a hotel booked for two days in London, an opportunity to look at the Emirates Stadium and Highbury, and a chance to visit my sister as well.
I could have gone for one of those £160 tickets, but even if I had that much to spend I wouldn't have spent it on a football ticket. Or actually I would have if I really had my pockets full of cash, but as it was, I didn't.
We left Finland with my girlfriend on Thursday and looked around London on Friday, or rather went to any major tourist attraction we could find. Westminster Abbey and Harrods were fun and at the end we were tired. Our hotel in Victoria was fine too, except for people knocking on the room door at night. I don't know who had been running their business in there, but I sure wasn't going to take over!
Then came Saturday and we met up with our "English friends" in Waterloo. The girls went to do more tourism and the boys left for North London. Our plan was to have a look at Highbury, then the Emirates, the store and finally the Twelve Pins, which according to Arsenal-Mania members was the number one place to watch a game apart from the stadium itself.
As we walked towards Highbury I began to wonder whether we were really going in the right direction, but as we walked on Avenell Road it suddenly appeared and I realized how compact the whole area was. It was strange to think that I was actually there, but on the other hand the stand was covered with some green blanket so there wasn't much to look at.
I felt a bit upset for fans who had been to the ground for years and had to leave it, but in the end it's not all that bad for Arsenal fans. The Emirates Stadium looks fantastic on the outside, but you don't need to walk around it because it looks the same on every side. There's a lot of conrete on display but I still like it. Another new ground I've been to is the Schalke stadium in Germany but that felt more plastic than anything, and concrete has more character than plastic.
We went to the store, The Armoury if I remember right, where Bob Wilson was signing his book. I bought a mug I liked best, the one with the old Arsenal crest and photo collage. Another interesting item I found was the Jens Lehmann Kick-It action figure, but for me it was better for laughs than for purchase. I also got a match programme with Adebayor on the cover. I would have liked a scarf with Arsenal v Portsmouth on it, but I was told there wasn't one because it was only a league game.
As we exited the stadium area and the bridge there was a guy selling tickets. He told us we could get seats with our own box and free drinks, as if we were going to get wasted while watching the game. He asked us if we had ever been inside the stadium and so on. Whatever three-figure sum he was asking for it was way too much, and I told Pete later that if I buy something which may get me something, I get a raffle ticket for 50 pence.
Next we headed for the Twelve Pins, which was full of people watching the Charlton v Liverpool game. We ordered a couple of Guinness beers because it was an Irish bar and watched the game for a while. We discussed all kinds of football issues but were distracted when some guy reached out his hand and felt my balls. We looked a bit puzzled and agreed it was a bit of a strange thing to happen. The bar wasn't serving food so we decided to go and have a burger next door before Arsenal kicked off.
After Charlton and Liverpool finished the place got a bit empty, nearly everyone was heading for the game. I hadn't thought of that before, but obviously the bar isn't as crowded for home games, which was okay for us. Even the balls guy had left to find some more balls somewhere else.
As the players walked onto the pitch I had to look several times at the big screen to confirm that it actually was number 30, Jeremie Aliadiere starting for us. With Henry injured and Adebayor playing in midweek I suppose I should have seen it coming. Kanu and Campbell got some applause from the Twelve Pins crowd.
Ten minutes into the game the room filled up again quite nicely. There wasn't much to report from the first half until Noe Pamarot scored after a Pompey free kick had hit the post. I was even more surprised when we went two-nil down from a Matt Taylor volley on my first visit to North London!
I said Adebayor would save us, and when he came on I joined my favourite chant of "Adebayor, Adebayor!"
Ade scored to give us some hope, and when Gilberto equalized I went beserk and jumped over to the screen to celebrate along with a few others. Then Van Persie left Campbell standing and shot, I stood up only to leave my mouth open as I realized the ball had only hit side netting. It would have been too good to be true.
In the end a point wasn't going to get us anywhere in the table, and when Pompey started wasting time I knew it would be hard for us to create another good chance.
So two-all it finished and we left in time to get seats on the tube before all the fans could get on. We talked about the game on the tube and Pete pointed out that the atmosphere had been excellent. "Yeah, it was cracking", replied another Arsenal fan, so we chuckled and explained that we'd been in a bar with not quite 60,000 people.
We travelled to the south to stay one more day in England before leaving. Pete showed me some old programmes of games he'd been to in the 1997/98 and 2000/01 seasons. I don't remember much from the 1998 double-winning team. That was when I was least into football, maybe because I was fourteen or maybe because we didn't have cable to see the games. Whatever happened to Alberto Mendez?
We got back safely, only I got a bit of a flu, sore throat, headache and everything I usually get when travelling. With flights not being so expensive nowadays I would totally recommend the trip to anyone. Even if you don't get tickets you'll have a good time if you have good company. I will try again another season, maybe the next or the season after. And that time I hope I get some tickets too.
