Aston Villa - Be Prepared

We had a quick sandwich at Ricoh Arena and got back in the car and headed into Birmingham to visit Aston Villa. I took the wrong exit off of the M6 but we finally made it after a detour through the outskirts. At least we didn't hit any traffic as I know it can a nightmare. We arrived at Villa Park after a little rainstorm, but the sun was coming out and our spirits lifted as we approached the ground. 

Parking is easy during the week and we happily jumped over a few puddles into the shop. It was the first premier league club we visited on this trip and we weren't too sure how we would be welcomed. We had  not made it onto any of the pitches at premier league sides. We enjoyed taking the photos of the shop and asked the shop assistant who we might speak to. He suggested that we ask the security desk by the entrance. So we wandered over there and had a chat to the man running the desk. He couldn't understand why we weren't living in the US as we could (being US citizens) and explained how he wanted to immigrate there. But we got back onto the subject of football grounds and he called one of his collegues who very kindly showed us into the stadium and next to the pitch for some photos. All in all, we were happily surprised by their generosity. Aston Villa have issues this season with winning, but hopefully they will be able to be "prepared" to get through it in the end.

The boys liked this celebration

Ricoh Arena

We easily found the stadium using the directions from our book and again parked easily at the stadium, which has a casino attached to it. It looks like a convention centre as well, and I know that they host concerts there. Though new, it does lack character, especially as it sits out of the town centre and just off the motorway.

The shop is off to the side next to the ticket office. It is a small shop, but packed with items for sale, and we did enjoy the variety of items, including a car booster seat that we had never seen before and three designs of garden gnomes. The ladies in the shop told us how we might get into the ground and we followed their advice and headed into the main entrance to try our luck. Boy did we get lucky. The very kind man working at the reception desk gave us a tour of the ground that you couldn't have even paid for. We saw everything! We learned about the club, we were given some old programs and all in all we were treated royally. The boys and I were just amazed.

The Elephant is on the Coventry Coat of Arms

It is spotless, partly as the players are stictly forbidden to wear shoes inside the  changing rooms

The nearby Jaguar factory sponsor the seats for the players

A view from the lounge, where you can enjoy matchday hospitality

Some sources state that the elephant is a symbol for strength. Others claim it is a religious symbol for Christ, and is related to dragon-slaying. I doubt we will ever know. Sadly, the real historical meaning appears to have been lost.

Two Days Around Birmingham

The Summer Holidays were in full swing and the boys and I were ready for a little road trip. Nick works for a hotel company with a few hotels near Birmingham, so we asked him to book us in for the night and we packed our bags. I didn't plan our trip too much so that we could be flexible and let our adventure unfold as it went along. First stop was the closest, Leicester City King Power Stadium. We've driven past Leicester many times, but never ventured off the M1. A friend is a Foxes fan, but we had tended to think of Leicester Tigers (rugby) more than the Foxes. But the boys are big Gary Lineker fans (we never miss Match of the Day) and love the fact that played over 500 games and was never booked.

The ground is impressive and there is ample visitor parking for the large superstore. They were having a Pukka Pie delivery at the time, which got the boys excited, but there were none for sale, as it was an ordinary Thursday morning. These guys really think with their stomachs. The superstore was bright and lively and we had a fun time looking around. The boys liked the table football and wanted a game, but there was no ball. There was a scale model of the old ground that you might see in a museum on display. One of the employees of the shop got permission to take us onto the pitch and it was easily reached through an access door through the store. He was not a very good talker and our trip into the stands was a little subdued. We thanked him afterwards and set off to our next stop, Coventry.

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.

Cobblers, Our Closest League Team

One rainy day over the summer we decided to try to see our local team's stadium - Sixfields with our neighbour Adam. The stadium is new, built in 1994 and sits in an out-of-town shopping and entertainment complex housing a cinema, bowling alley, a Pizza Hut and McDonalds. The stadium is situated below the main business park, and there is a lovey view of the ground from above. In fact, a cheap seat might be right in the parking lot looking down on the pitch (about 3/4 of it). They moved to this location after sharing the County Cricket Ground which has more character, but probably has access issues.

I have heard that Northampton is the only place that there are more rugby supporters than football for the local team - some say three to one. The Saints are the pride and joy of Northampton. The Cobblers are the ugly stepsister, though they do have some very loyal fans. While we have lived in Northamptonshire there was one time that I heard some exciting news from the Cobblers (named after our shoe-making heritage). In the third round of the 2010–11 League Cup, they knocked out Liverpool at Anfield. The game was a 2–2 draw after extra time, and the Cobblers beat the team 69 places above them in the league 4–2 on penalties. This caused quite a stir amongst locals, but I am most proud to have learned about Walter Tull, the second mixed heritage player to play in the top division. Tull was bought by Herbert Chapman's Northampton Town on 17 October 1911 for a "substantial fee" from Tottenham Hotspur. Tull made his debut four days later against Watford wearing the number 9 shirt, and made in all 111 first-team appearances and nine goals for the club.  When war broke out Tull enlisted in the army, in December 1914, the first Northampton Town player to do so. It was reported in the Glasgow Evening Times in 1940, in an article about Tull being the first black infantry officer in the British Army, that he had signed to play for Rangers once the war was over. But sadly Tull died in the war and his body was never recovered. There is a memorial to Tull in Northampton and a road behind the stadium named in his honour.

We first went into the shop, took our usual pictures and admired the different things for sale. We wandered around the back of the stadium and saw an athletics ground that Adam's brother trains. There were a few footballers walking past us, and though I hinted to the boys that the footballers might let us into the ground, they were too shy to ask and we missed this chance. So we wandered back around and into their reception area were we poked our head into an office and asked nicely if someone would let us look in. Again we were lucky, and soon were on our way onto the pitch, asking a few questions and snapping pictures furiously. After a few minutes we thanked them and headed up the hill to celebrate our visit at McDonalds with an ice cream.

It seems like a nice club with a bright future, and though they are usual struggling to stay in the league and fighting for a place in the heart of Northamptonians, they will carry on. 

Here are some photos from the day.

Finally, we see a game

We needed to meet some family halfway from London and ended up near Watford one Sunday this summer. I just happened to notice in my Tottenham newsletter that they were having a friendly with Watford and low and behold, it was the same day we were going to be near there. This was going to be our chance to see our first game. We booked the tickets in the car on the way down the M1.

Our lunch went on a little longer than we (I) thought but we said our goodbyes and headed back to Vicarage Road and though we missed the legends game, we were only a few minutes late for the main event. We had decided not to wear any Spurs gear so that we could be 'neutrals' and sit in the main section for a better view. It was unassigned seating and as we walked into the 50-60% full ground, I was surprised to see that practically the whole front rows were empty along the length of the pitch. (Is this not a good place??, We were happy). Our premiership heros were practically spitting distance from us. Again we were struck by how small they looked, and how watching the game was not THAT different from watching our local Cogenhoe United. It really was just a game of football like any other.

Some of the amusing moments in the game were the Watford fans shouting at Gareth Bale. He had just returned from the American tour with Tottenham instead of playing for Team GB at the Olympics. The fans were shouting, "You're a Disgrace to your Country!". This was a tame 'chant' that the boys could actually laugh at, and I was glad that it was no worse as there were alot of kids around. The stadium food was a disappointment for the boys (even though they had just had a huge lunch, they wanted a pie) as there was no food at the food stall we went to. I was impressed with the clean and plentiful amount of toilets in the ladies as I can imagine that they don't have as much use as the gents.

Watford held the Spurs to one goal from Defoe in the second half, so it was not a game full of goals, which rather mirrored Tottenham's start to the season. We got to see some of the youngsters play and Tottenham's new signings, but we were also pleased to see their best players such as Defoe and Bale. There was a good crowd of away fans and it was a shame we didn't sit with them, but we did have good seats.  I wanted to linger after the game, but it was getting late and we needed to drop a friend at the station and head home. We left the stadium with the crowd of people, full of smiles. This was the a great chance for us to see a game, but in a more relaxed atmosphere. And we also got the see the inside of the Watford stadium.

Selhurst Park - Is it A Crystal Palace?

Just as the school holidays began we had another reason to head to London, but only had a morning to ourselves. It was sunny and bright. The Olympics were about to begin and there was a great buzz of expectation throughout the city. When you passed through the train stations, the sound of Boris warning us to travel off-peak was blasting on the tannoy. People were handing out freebies to us - we pocketed several granola bars with pleasure. So we decided to head south to find Crystal Palace. I'm more of a North Londoner and only found my way to Croyden once when I first moved to the UK, like so many other immigrants, to get the permits and cards so that I could stay. The boys and I made our way to Victoria station and dodged families heading for the Gatwick Express to start their summer holidays. We found the platform and bought our (quite expensive) train tickets to Selhurst Station. Passing Battersea Power station, I told them that it is the biggest brick structure in Europe - and they were duly impressed. I couldn't help but hum "Up the Junction" as we went through Clapham Junction but boys didn't believe me when I told them what a busy station it is. I guess that is all any North Londoner needs to know about South London's important bits? It takes longer to get to Selhurst than I imagined. It was a good 10 or so stops from Victoria.

Selhurst Station was quiet when we arrived and as we headed out I asked the station assistant how to find the football ground. He pointed out a shortcut through the back of the station and we followed his perfect directions. We were hot and thristy and I hoped we might pass by a cafe and stop in for a cold drink. I was not lucky in that regard, there were not many shady trees lining these residential streets and there was no cafes either. But just as the boys could go no further, we did find a corner store selling ice creams and sodas so we picked up some supplies and sat at the picnic tables across from the shop that belong to the pub. It looked closed so I figured they wouldn't mind. Pepped back up from the sugar rush we continued on. We arrived by what looked the back section of the stadium and we were able to walk along the side to the shop, but it was closed. We snapped all of our usual photos and wandered around the stadium. We realized at this point that there was a big Sainsburys that we could have gone into for our drinks - there is a large shopping area next to this side of the stadium.

On our circuit back we stopped into the Reception area and were very kindly given permission to see some more of the stadium from the inside. We were shown around the executive boxes and saw their impressive array of 'Silverware'. They were taking the summer break to do some improvements like many of the other clubs we had seen. The receptionist mentioned that we could go around the corner and go into the stadium where they were doing some painting and the workmen could let us in. We thanked her and wandered back out and re-traced our steps to the painters. They welcomed us into the stands and let us take more photos of the ground. There is a electric fence around the turf to protect it from urban foxes. They made sure we didn't get zapped, but let us wander down a bit for some better shots. We chatted about where the notorious incident with Cantona took place. We wished them well and good luck for the upcoming season. Our kindly station assistant welcomed us back and as we made our way home we all agreed that South London and Crystal Palace was pretty nice.

We got to see the goal post up close, how do they ever save anything - it is so big!