On Wednesday, Julia and I took a trip up to Liverpool and Manchester. After 2 short hours on the train, we arrived in Liverpool. We walked to Queens Square (the center of the city), and took a bus over to our hostel which was very cozy and cute! After getting somewhat settled in, we went to the Beatles museum where we learned about the life stories of the Beatles! After that, we walked around and took a bus to Everton Stadium to see the Chelsea vs Everton match. If you don't know football, Chelsea is one of, if not, the best teams in England, and Everton was the underdog. I accidentally got tickets in the home section even though I am a Chelsea fan. I was told my multiple people that unlike games in the US, the fans are divided in the stadium, with police and security standing between the aisles. I was told that I had to wear my jersey under my other cloths, and not cheer at all for Chelsea. "If Everton scores, you just have to stand and smile. If Chelsea scores, you cannot cheer or you will get kicked out of the stadium," my friend Paul warned me. This was very hard for me to follow, because it was a very intense game. Chelsea outplayed Everton, passing around them the whole game, but Everton played with more heart. Sometimes, it isn't always the better team that wins, it's the team that wants it more, and Everton wanted it more. Though I was unhappy, I felt like Everton deserved that win. The people around us in the stadium were definitely dedicated fans. One man told us that he lived in Spain, but that he flies up to Liverpool for every home game! I found the fans very entertaining. There was a lot of cursing, the best came from the guy behind us, "Fu*k you Fu*king Fu*kers"! We spent most of the second half on our feet, and listening to the Evertonian fans singing cheers. My favorite was when ever Landon Donovan (formally an LA Galaxy player, and one of the star players of the US team) did something good, the whole stadium would start chanting "U-S-A, U-S-A". This made me proud! For those of you who don't know about the John Terry scandal, he was England's captain, and got stripped of his captaincy last week due to an affair he had on his wife with one of his teammates ex-girlfriends. He is one of the best defenders in the world, and one of my favorite players, so it is really unfortunate that this happened! He is still the captain on Chelsea, but it was clear this game that his head was somewhere else. I rarely see him ever make mistakes, and both goals this game were his fault! So during the game, Everton fans didn't take it easy on him. Anytime he committed a foul, or appeared to have at all, the whole stadium would start chanting "Cheater, cheater, cheater". They also sand a song something about John Terry is not shagging anymore. I wonder if this is a song that they have, and just replace the name of the player, because this seems to be a very common issue here! As the game approached the 90th minute, the tension in the stadium continued to build. The ref signaled for 5 minutes overtime, which made the fans very upset. After several minutes of overtime, the Everton fans started yelling and whistling at the ref to blow his whistle. They were all cursing at him, and calling him a twat because he wasn't blowing his whistle! Finally he blew it, and the game was over. I found it interesting that the fans of the home team seemed to be yelling at their own players more than the away team. Anytime one of their players didn't do something perfect, they would make sure it was heard! This was very different for me to experience. After going to this game, I really want to go to a Chelsea home game, and experience that! I have a feeling that each stadium environment is a little bit different. Different cheers, and traditions!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Liverpool
On Wednesday, Julia and I took a trip up to Liverpool and Manchester. After 2 short hours on the train, we arrived in Liverpool. We walked to Queens Square (the center of the city), and took a bus over to our hostel which was very cozy and cute! After getting somewhat settled in, we went to the Beatles museum where we learned about the life stories of the Beatles! After that, we walked around and took a bus to Everton Stadium to see the Chelsea vs Everton match. If you don't know football, Chelsea is one of, if not, the best teams in England, and Everton was the underdog. I accidentally got tickets in the home section even though I am a Chelsea fan. I was told my multiple people that unlike games in the US, the fans are divided in the stadium, with police and security standing between the aisles. I was told that I had to wear my jersey under my other cloths, and not cheer at all for Chelsea. "If Everton scores, you just have to stand and smile. If Chelsea scores, you cannot cheer or you will get kicked out of the stadium," my friend Paul warned me. This was very hard for me to follow, because it was a very intense game. Chelsea outplayed Everton, passing around them the whole game, but Everton played with more heart. Sometimes, it isn't always the better team that wins, it's the team that wants it more, and Everton wanted it more. Though I was unhappy, I felt like Everton deserved that win. The people around us in the stadium were definitely dedicated fans. One man told us that he lived in Spain, but that he flies up to Liverpool for every home game! I found the fans very entertaining. There was a lot of cursing, the best came from the guy behind us, "Fu*k you Fu*king Fu*kers"! We spent most of the second half on our feet, and listening to the Evertonian fans singing cheers. My favorite was when ever Landon Donovan (formally an LA Galaxy player, and one of the star players of the US team) did something good, the whole stadium would start chanting "U-S-A, U-S-A". This made me proud! For those of you who don't know about the John Terry scandal, he was England's captain, and got stripped of his captaincy last week due to an affair he had on his wife with one of his teammates ex-girlfriends. He is one of the best defenders in the world, and one of my favorite players, so it is really unfortunate that this happened! He is still the captain on Chelsea, but it was clear this game that his head was somewhere else. I rarely see him ever make mistakes, and both goals this game were his fault! So during the game, Everton fans didn't take it easy on him. Anytime he committed a foul, or appeared to have at all, the whole stadium would start chanting "Cheater, cheater, cheater". They also sand a song something about John Terry is not shagging anymore. I wonder if this is a song that they have, and just replace the name of the player, because this seems to be a very common issue here! As the game approached the 90th minute, the tension in the stadium continued to build. The ref signaled for 5 minutes overtime, which made the fans very upset. After several minutes of overtime, the Everton fans started yelling and whistling at the ref to blow his whistle. They were all cursing at him, and calling him a twat because he wasn't blowing his whistle! Finally he blew it, and the game was over. I found it interesting that the fans of the home team seemed to be yelling at their own players more than the away team. Anytime one of their players didn't do something perfect, they would make sure it was heard! This was very different for me to experience. After going to this game, I really want to go to a Chelsea home game, and experience that! I have a feeling that each stadium environment is a little bit different. Different cheers, and traditions!
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I really enjoyed your colorful description of the game! I definitely got a sense of being there! It sounds like you got a more interesting and unique experience by sitting in the "wrong" side of the stadium... particularly since Chelsea lost.
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