Oldest daughter and I up at the crack of dawn to take the Eurostar into London. Talk about a smooth ride. Whatever became of clickety clack? I dozed most of the way.
Quick visit to Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square, check in at hotel and then off to see my favorite football club (that’s soccer to you Yanks) Arsenal in action. My first visit to their three year old stadium, the Emirates.
Had tickets courtesy of Aidan one of the many outstanding young and old Arsenal supporters who meet regularly in cyberspace on the Arsenal World Interactive Message Board. Met him and a few of the other lads at a local pub then off to the match where we had excellent seats.
Nothing in the US compares to the atmosphere of a British football match. Especially the “singing.”
Arsenal obliged us with a 1-0 win over visiting Portsmouth. The match was nothing special but we were happy to soak in the atmosphere and see the Gunners emerge victorious. I’ve loved The Arsenal since the early 1970’s when I saw their thrilling extra time FA Cup win over Liverpool on Wide World of Sports and I adopted Arsenal's Charlie George, who scored the winning goal, as my hero. A few years later I was in London and saw George and Arsenal in action.
The love of a team you select on your own is different than love you have for teams you grew up with. Not better or worse, just special.
Later that evening found a very good Indian restaurant, then rested cozy and warm in our hotel room with Jurassic Park (1993) to entertain us until the match highlights show.
A great day, indeed.
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