Went to my second football game since being here—that’s soccer to you Americans. :) (Yes, Adam, I am totally British now.) The experience of these games is a far cry from watching a Rapids game at Dick’s Park in Denver—the energy level here is amazing. I went with Alex, one of the students in the program who shares my enthusiasm for soccer, and once we arrived at Craven Cottage Stadium we found that we had tenth row seats, just behind the goal! The stadium was small compared with the Arsenal stadium, and the stands were packed. At these games, they separate the home and away fans—the sections, and even the tickets, are labeled so you know where to sit. It’s not like at home, where you have to somehow be in the know about what part of the stadium belongs to the home team fans. I am guessing that this system is a result of hooliganism problems from the past couple decades, and the result is great, actually: opposing fans are not mixing in the stands and possibly fighting, but what’s more, the chanting and singing for the teams is all concentrated in one place. We were sitting below the Hull fans, and the whole time their singing was drowning out most other noise. I couldn’t really understand the words, but the energy this brought was incredible.
Besides the seating arrangements, there were a few other differences I noticed; first; no alcohol or food allowed in the seats. Kind of strange—at home, part of the experience of going to sporting events involves a hot dog, nachos, and beer purchased right from my seat from a vendor. Definitely not the case here. If you want a drink, you have to have it at one of the concession stands. Which means that at halftime, everyone rushes out of their seats, slams a beer, and then rushes back to their seats in time for kickoff. It’s nice to not be constantly distracted by food and drink vendors. The Brits are serious about their football—when the game is on, they pay attention and don’t want distraction.
This also leads to another difference—the marked lack of kids at the games. At home, major league sports are very family-oriented—I think the Rapids have no fewer than four mascots roaming the stands, plus half-time entertainment and kid-friendly stuff up on the big screen. American sports seem to rely on being kid-friendly for revenue, which means that a big portion of the entertainment at games comes from something other than the game itself.
Not so here. There is no big screen, no cartoon car races, no instructions to Make Some Noise, and no Kids Pack Hot Dog Meal. There is just the game. Which means that the kids I did see were usually with parents, and usually old enough to watch the game and pay attention. It seems like this must be a rite of passage for them: they are finally old enough to go the game with mom or dad. As much as I love kids, it was kind of nice to not be surrounded by a hundred Boy Scout groups or junior high girls’ soccer teams.
It was a great game—Fulham won 2-0 and both goals were scored when they were going our direction, so we got a great view. I really wish that this game, and this manner of experiencing sports, would catch on at home—these fans are passionate about participating in the action on a level very different than in the U.S.
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