yazeez

note: hover mouse pointer over pictures to see the description.
During my stay in London, I couldn’t pass the chance of going to an Arsenal game. This the first match of the season and the first competitive match in Arsenal’s new Stadium, so I knew it was tough to find tickets, as this was a heavily sought out match. I asked my friend in London (Mvyv) to find tickets prior to my arrival. All what Mvyv could manage was a promise from a ticket seller that he will reserve two tickets for us and that we could pick them up on match day near the stadium. I was kind of worried before hand about the guy, he didn’t seem like he was telling the truth. The match was at 3 pm, we decided to wake up at 10, get ready and leave at 11. We were on time, everything was going on schedule. We give the guy a call and he was like I will be leaving for the stadium in 15 mins. We get on the underground and head for Arsenal station which is right next to Highbury (Arsenal’s old stadium). We get there and call the guy; he doesn’t pick up the first few times we call him. That’s not a good sign. After a few tries he picks up but he’s like call me in a while, every time we do, he’s like give me a few minutes. During that time we walked from Highbury to the Emirates. It’s the first time I see it with my own eyes. I have seen monthly pics about the progress of the construction. I saw this baby since it was born, and saw it growing up. I knew how it looked, but when I saw it with my eyes it was like seeing it for the first time. It’s fucking beautiful, a lot bigger than I expected. I was in a wonderland. It’s a dream come true, despite all of that I still didn’t have any tickets! We finally get in touch with the guy and he said that the person he sent to distribute tickets for the match was arrested by the police.

I knew I had bad luck; it was too good to be true. By this time we start to panic, we walked around the stadium and we asked the guy we were in contact with where is the best place to find tickets in this area, and he’s like next to the old stadium or the tube station. So we go there, asking almost everyone we see if they were selling tickets, most people were there looking for tickets too. When I ask them you got any spare tickets apparently they only hear the word tickets and their response is always how many do you have or how much are you selling them. Time went on, still no luck. Still not a single guy we found or asked was selling tickets. We just went back and forth from the old stadium to the new one, asking people along the way for tickets but no luck. About 45 minutes before the match was supposed to start I tell my fried to forget it and let’s just go find a pub and just the match there. Thank god he didn’t give up. We asked around a few times, until 15 minutes before kick off, I ask this guy, I was rather unenthusiastically; he was even talking on the phone at that time, this time I got a yes!!!!
The problem is that he only had one ticket, so I had to leave my friend, he understood right away, and said go ahead, you came to watch the game so go watch the game. It’s not that a long of a walk to the stadium from where we were standing. I chat with the guy while we walk through the crowds and into the stadium. We walk in, turns out his ticket is in a different section than his friend’s ticket. So I give him half of the money and he gives me the membership card so that I can enter the stadium. After slight problems, there has to be problems because there has to be problems :P, I enter the stadium give him his card back (it’s a season ticket) and I give him the rest of his money. He knew it’s my first time, so he walks with me to the exact section I need to enter, 116 row 3 seat 414 (I will never forget those numbers). I sat in my seat exactly 7 minutes from kick off.

It was an amazing experience, my first match with English fans. They are something, they are so into the game, I felt like I was with my own people. They sing, shout, cuss, do about everything we armchair fans do. They applaud all the time, whenever a player intercepts the ball from the opposition, you hear them applauding. When Arsenal had a corner, you’ll hear the fans cheering. They are so loud, its absolutely amazing. They start singing songs about the players, the team and even the manager. The atmosphere is absolutely amazing. If you thought that watching football on TV for 90 minutes is a long time, try watching it in a stadium like this, the 90 minutes went through like a breeze, a breeze I tell you. I didnt feel like the match should have ended.

The rest is history. It was Arsenal vs. Aston Villa, the first match of the new season; it ended 1-1, with Villa scoring first, early in the second half, and Gilberto pulling the equalizer about 7 minutes from time. There should have been more goals for Arsenal as they had the most chances, and the game was mainly played with Arsenal controlling the game and trying to break through and score. On top of all that I saw Theo Walcott play it was his first match for Arsenal.

Anyways it was an awesome day, and I can finally say I watched Arsenal play.

By the way, Mvyv managed to make it to the game, but he had to pay a very steep price compared to what I paid, but he enjoyed himself too. It was worth it.

I hope to be back someday.

PS: An example of how English fans are so into the game, even though Arsenal drew 1-1, someone vented out his anger in this way:

PPS: A-R-S-E-N-A-L

PPPS: For even more pics, visit my flickr page.