The Ultimate Football Excursion - Day 14

Harrods + West Ham Vs Arsenal

Due to significant closure of the London Tube network our plans were considerably disrupted. We ended up making quite a few routing decisions on the fly using both buses and the open tube lines. First stop today was Harrods. This is essentially your old fashioned department store. For those who remember David Jones (Sydney store) of old would feel at home. Lots of designer labels, lots of help etc etc. Unfortunately it is not ideal for the traveler as the only sections one has any chance of picking up that can be returned is clothing, cosmetics and accessories. As it would have been impossible to take our purchases to the ground we returned back to the hotel before making our way to Upton Park for the late afternoon game.

Harrods

Visit to Upton park should have been easy however tube closures meant it took over 90 minutes. We arrived about 30 minutes before kick off. The game was quite entertaining with Arsenal on top early but finding themselves behind after an against the run of play goal by West Ham. Arsenal immediately replied with both teams going to half time on equal terms. West Ham looked on top early in the second half until Arsenal made two substitutes with immediate effect with Arsenal going up 2-1. West Ham had a good chance to equalise few minutes later but shot wide. Thereafter it was all Arsenal with a 3rd 10 minues before full time. Final score Arsenal 3 West Ham 1

Upton Park

Tomorrow - Back Home

Football Tally:

Games: 9

Competitions: Premier League X 5, League Cup X 2, Champions League X 1, Europa League X 1

Stadia: White Hart Lane, Stamford Bridge, Emirates, Old Trafford, Villa Park, Loftus Rd, Anfield, Upton Park

Missed Games : 1

The Ultimate Football Excursion - Day 13

Liverpool - Manchester - London (No Game Today)

Had to wake moderately early due to the early breakfast at the hotel we were staying in Liverpool. Sam had another 40 minute sleep after breakfast (first wake up was not that early at 8.30am). First stop today was back to Manchester to visit the National Football Museum. Not a bad collection of old trophies and some of the older gear. They even have the first copy of the rules of the game (you can also buy a printed version or download an electronic copy). We then hopped on the lunch time train back to London and our hotel for the last two nights.

Virgin Train: Manchester to London

The English know how to run trains - we have had very good service

National Football Museum

We decided to try a suburban Indian restaurant in Harrow for dinner. Much much better than the "up market" types in central London. We will probably go back tomorrow night.

Tomorrow - Shopping in the morning followed by West Ham Vs Arsenal

Football Tally:

Games: 8

Competitions: Premier League X 4, League Cup X 2, Champions League X 1, Europa League X 1

Stadia: White Hart Lane, Stamford Bridge, Emirates, Old Trafford, Villa Park, Loftus Rd, Anfield

Missed Games : 1

The Ultimate Football Excursion – Day 12: 

London to Liverpool + Liverpool Vs Udinase

We are tiring badly!

All we could manage today was a late breakfast followed by a lunch time train to Liverpool. After checking into our hotel (200 meters from Anfield Stadium) we explored the nearby Stanley Park. Essentially at one end of the Park is Anfield Rd with Anfield Stadium (Liverpool FC) while on the other end is Goodison Rd with Goodison Park (Home of Everton FC).

Goodison Pk

Anfield - Outside

Anfield

After collecting our tickets we decided to find a place to have dinner. What a dismal place Liverpool is – at least around the two stadia. There was literally no place to eat – unless you wanted take away Chinese, burgers or pizza. Let’s just say the English don’t know how to do fast food – awful!

Anfield stadium was smaller than I imagined. The seats were hard plastic and very narrow and very close together side to side and front to back. I’m not tall but my knees cramped. The seats were similar to Loftus Road (home of QPR) and among the worse so far.

The game itself was entertaining with Liverpool holding the upper hand in the first half going into the break 1-0 up. The Liverpool defence was asleep at the beginning of the second half and Udinase equalised in the first minute. For the next 20 minutes the Liverpool defence looked shaky resulting in Udinase scoring twice to lead 3-1 with 20 minutes to go. The Liverpool manager introduced his heavy guns in Surez and Gerrard with immediate dividends with Surez converting from a free kick just outside the penalty box. Liverpool pressed hard for the equaliser however the Udinase goalkeeper was up to the task making a number of good/lucky saves with Udinase running out 3-2 winners.

Football Tally:

Games: 8

Competitions: Premier League X 4, League Cup X 2, Champions League X 1, Europa League X 1

Stadia: White Hart Lane, Stamford Bridge, Emirates, Old Trafford, Villa Park, Loftus Rd, Anfield

Missed Games : 1

Tomorrow: Liverpool to Manchester to visit the National Football Museum before returning to London.

The Ultimate Football Excursion – Day 11

St Albans + Arsenal Vs Olympiakos (Champions League)

As the days proceed we are starting to tire especially with late nights and early starts. Given the day we had had yesterday with the delayed “mini cruise” to Calais we decided to have a slow day as we had a late game in the evening. After a delayed breakfast we made our way to Wembley Stadium – near our hotel for a photo opportunity before heading into central London with no real plan. We decided to essentially take a random trip to somewhere not too far away. Starting with “A’s” – St Albans 20 minutes away.

Wembley Stadium

As it turns out St Albans is a small town just outside London famous for a Cathedral that dates back over 1500 years. As we walked into the “city” center we found ourselves in the middle of a street market – apparently its market day first Wednesday of the month. We strolled through the stalls without buying much before a nice indian lunch (there are numerous indian restaurants in St Albans). We then walked to the Cathedral and its associated gardens before returning to London for souvenir shopping (you know the type that never see the light of day once you get home). After some take away dinner we headed to the Emirates Stadium for tonight’s Champions League clash between Arsenal and Olympiakos . Entertaining game however Arsenal were the dominant side in the end running out comfortable 3-1 winners.

St Albans Cathedral

Emirates Stadium

Football Tally

Games Attended: 7

Competitions: Premier League X 4, Champions League X 1, League Cup X 2

Stadia: 6 (White Hart Lane, Emirates, Old Trafford, Villa Park, Loftus Road and Stamford Bridge)

Missed Games: 1 (Charlton V Watford)

The Ultimate Football Excursion: Day 10

London – Calais “mini cruise”  - Charlton V Watford

Bad Day!

We had an early start to ensure we get to Dover in time for a round trip cruise to Calais. After arriving at Dover we were informed that due to industrial action in France we would be sailing about 40 minutes late. This was still OK and within our time constraints. We boarded on time however we did not sail until 1hr 20min after schedule. This did tighten our schedule considerably but still possible. Unfortunately things went from bad to worse and we were delayed at Dover port on the return trip and in the end we were 2.5 hours behind schedule. With train frequency reducing in the evening from Dover back to London we were unable to make our game!. We had to content with a dinner of burger and chips and watching the second half of a Champions League on TV.

Port of Calais

All in all could have been a good day as the sailing was good in the Club Lounge provided good food and drinks. Communication by P&O Ferries however was poor and unorganised.

Football Tally:

Games: 6

Competitions: Premier League X 4, League Cup X 2

Stadia: White Hart Lane, Stamford Bridge, Emirates, Old Trafford, Villa Park, Loftus Rd

Missed Games: 1 (Charlton V Watford. Competition – Championship)

The Ultimate Football Excursion - Day 9

Birmingham - Warwick Castle - London

After a very nice breakfast at the Birmingham Holiday Inn we proceeded to Warwick - a short 30 minute train journey. Within 10 minutes of Warwick station lies Warwick Castle. This is historically much more important than either Arundel or Carlisle Castles previously visited. Although of similar age to Arundel it is much larger with a definite military feel. Unfortunately, it is much more commercialised than Arundel or Carlisle with numerous street vendors lining the outet walls and the National Trust conducting various "themed" tours such as Merlin, Old Witch etc. The historic aspects seem to get lost in the hustle and bustle of the commercial ventures - pity!



We returned back to Birmingham before catching the train to London arriving at our hotel late afternoon. After a short rest, it was back on the London Underground to watch QPR Vs West Ham. We stopped at a Westfield near the tube station for a quick bite however our time keeper (SAM) decided food was much more important and at 7:50pm yelled "Oh Sh*t". We were still more than 15 minutes form the ground with kick off at 8pm and we still had to collect our tickets. As luck would have it our entry gate was on the other side of the ticket collection point so we entered the ground about 10 minutes post KO with West Ham leading 1-0. The remainder of the game although spiteful with numeous yellow cards (+ 1 Red card) did not achieve a high standard with West Ham running out 2-1 winners. Some good saves by both keepers in the second half.

Tomorrow we head to Dover followed by a "minicriuse" to Calais in the Captains Lounge with a three course lunch. In the evening we will see the Championship game between Carlton and Watford - Both previous Premier League sides.

Football Tally

Games: 6
Competions: Premier League X 4; League Cup X 2
Stadia: 6 (White Hart Lane, Stamford Bridge, Emirates, Old Trafford, Loftus Road, Villa Park)

Loftus Rd Stadium

Warwick Castle