Junior Gunners Membership Pays Off

One summer day in August I answered the phone and found out that Toby had been picked to go to a Junior Gunners event at Emirates. He would be able to meet some of the reserve players and watch their game versus Blackburn from the Club Level. We could hardly believe our luck. Despite the fact that I signed him up for the chance to win and I am the one who is the main football fan, he chose his Dad to accompany him to the event. So George and I would have to pay our way into the stadium and watch from the other side of the pitch. Early Saturday morning we set off for London. We left enough time so that we could pop in to another football ground that we had been wanting to visit for some time - Leyton Orient.

It takes longer to get to Leyton Orient from the M1 than I realized and we wouldn't have as much time as usual to poke around. I guess I hadn't realized it was so far East, but we eventually made it using the sat nav. It was a game day, and though early, there was a buzz about the place with stewards arriving and food and drink being delivered. It was through one of these gates in the back where a delivery was being made that we were able to get in and have a look at the pitch. One of the grounds keepers kindly turned a blind eye while we snapped some quick photos. While Nick tried to park, we wandered around to the front of the Matchroom Stadium, which is located in a residential area just off the High Street. When we wandered into the shop, one of the employees gave us directions to the reception area and said that he thought someone could show us around. We wandered in to their office area, but it really was empty. People must have been busy getting ready for Hartlepool United's arrival. We had to go, so we took some last photos and headed back to the car, where Nick was waiting for us. Nick dropped George and I off at the station and we would meet them at Emirates for the game. It turned out that Hartlepool got stuck in a huge traffic jam on the North Circular trying to get to Brisbane Road and the fixture had to be postponed. Luckily we missed this accident and Nick and Toby were able to get to Emirates on some of the smaller roads through East London.

The game at Emirates was brilliant value. Adults 4 pounds and children 2 pounds. You get an Emirates experience, plenty of other families, singing and goals. The only down side is that rather than keeping eveyone pitch side, they only fill one of the top tiers, so we were all together, but high off the pitch. This must be to save on stewards. George and I enjoyed ourselves thoroughly and were able to wave to Toby and Nick across the stadium as they lapped up the luxury. We have felt that the Junior Gunners membership has been well worth it and Arsenal really go to alot of effort to make lifelong 'Gooners' out of  their Junior Members. If we lived closer to London, I would defiantly go to more of these games. Here are some pictures that George and I took.