We are just back from a week plus in London and Manchester that was probably 50% tourism and 50% football. The football bit was incredibly unique to traveling with my oldest son’s club. Below are some light thoughts and ruminations on what we got to do and see broken into three topics.
Professional Football
Community Shield: Manchester City vs. Arsenal - This was the very first thing we did in London. Our plane from Dulles to Heathrow the night before was delayed 2+ hours so we didn’t land until after noon and had to go straight to the game. Well go through customs, gather our luggage, meet our tour guide + coach driver, and then hustle through traffic to make the kickoff. We found out as we walked in that we’d be sitting on the Man City side and three of our players had to leave their Arsenal tops with security to be picked up after the game. De Bruyne subbed on in the second half and immediately had an impact on the game. Then new stoppage time rules did the same for Arsenal. Blarf!
Sheffield United vs. Crystal Palace - We were originally scheduled to see a week 2 EFL Championship match, but last minute the travel agency scored a week 1 EPL game the day before our trip ended. Sheffield was last in the premiere league between 2019-2021. A home town crowd excited to be back in the top league, and mostly walking in from the surrounding area. The songs where big and loud, but also hard to understand. It was exactly what I expected of a proper football experience. Sadly the teams performance wasn’t. Apparently they sold some of their best players this summer. Pies and pints though, maybe the highlight of a trip filled with highlights?
Academy Football Friendlies
0-3 Stevenage FC - An under 16 (u16) academy team from just north of London. This group was a mix of 15/16 year old’s to our mix of 14/15 year old’s. These boys were disciplined, technical, fast, and big. They had most of the possession throughout the game, but we held them from scoring for the first half and got a few counterattacking chances of our own. There were 13 coaches out to watch the game. Which seemed like a lot until we found out they were there to evaluate the 16 year old’s for academy scholarships. Where in I learned that after your u16 season you either get a scholarship to stay and try to make the pro team or you get cut. Yikes.
4-1 Impact FC - On the east end of London we played a team of u15s, which matched up evenly with our 14/15 year old age group. They were a super friendly club. Kids and coaches a like talked about how much they all enjoyed meeting and playing against each other. They are an academy without a direct pro team association, but instead work to place talented players into pro academies. The forward we played against just signed to the QPR academy.
3-0 Bala Town FC - A Welsh u15/u16 team that traveled 3 hours north to play our side right outside of Liverpool. We looked the most evenly matched against them, but we made key plays and the ball went our way in the first half to go up 3-0. The second half saw them come out aggressive and a little frustrated. Some late tackles turned into pushing and the team line up at the end turned into more shouting and pushing. Good reminder that teenage boys have lots of testosterone and not always an equal amount of chill.
Stadiums
Wembley - Far and away the most NFL or American like stadium of all the ones we visited. The game had an attendance of 81k of the 90k capacity it holds. Concessions were dominated by Budweiser, hot dogs, and chicken fingers. An amazing spectacle, great to see a game there, but it felt transplanted and borrowed.
Stamford Bridge (Chelsea) - Apparently we could have had a tour of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium instead, but our coach picked Chelsea. Grumble grumble. Still a very unique spot, it reminded me of the classic baseball stadiums in the USA that are intertwined into the city that surrounds them. Our tour guide was great, maybe that was luck of the draw, but he was a ball of entertaining high energy.
Old Trafford (Manchester United) - I was reminded while walking around that fans have been complaining about the lack of investment in Old Trafford for years. Everything felt a little old and run down, but the bones of an impressive and historic stadium still shine through. The museum was was 3 stories and jam packed with a club that has a wild legacy of winning. The trophy room alone was impossible to capture in picutres.
Bramall Lane (Sheffield United) - The smallest of the stadiums we visited at 32k and they were full the day we went to the match. The oldest feeling of the all the spots, but also kind of the coolest. The doors to get in are about 2.5 feet wide at most, so you had to turn sideways to get in. The section you sit in is self contained with it’s own concessions (pies and pints) and bathrooms. Every seat looked like it would have an incredible view of the game.