Anfield Trip Report (Warning--long!)
My husband, daughter and I--currently living in London for the autumn semester, teaching and being parent figures for 20 IWU sophomores--took a long-planned trip to Liverpool last weekend to see the Liverpool-Fulham match. I tried ordering hospitality tickets from LFC last summer the very first day they went on sale but no luck--I got a letter two weeks later saying they were sold out. So, as soon as we got here, I started looking at legal ticket brokers. We ordered tickets in early September and booked our hotel and train.
The tickets finally arrived Thursday for a Saturday match; we were starting to sweat a little because we had to leave Friday. They were delivered by courier at about 2:00 p.m. The trip was uneventful, and we had a great dinner on the Albert Dock, right on the waterside. We stayed at a Travelodge, which was a good deal and very quiet. The match was Saturday's late (5:15) one, so we had the morning to ourselves. We went to the Maritime Museum, which is the home of the Slavery Museum. Britain is celebrating the 200th anniversary of the end of slavery in Britain, and the Museum is in Liverpool because it was the city most involved (in fact, Penny Lane is named after one a well-known slave ship owner). Our daughter is doing her U.S. history project comparing the effects of slavery in Britain and in the U.S., so it was great for her.
We caught the bus for Anfield at about 2:00. It soon became jammed with people in red scarves, hats, sweaters--you name it. The street was jumping, with lots of vendors, all the pubs open, and people asking for tickets. We just hung out, watching the scene. We wandered over to the side with the players' and bigwigs' entrances; the only celebrity we saw was former Liverpool star John Barnes, heading for the Setanta booth. He stopped for autographs and photos with kids (and a few older people) and was very gracious. We'd been told the gates would open at 4:15, an hour before match time, but for some reason they opened at 3:45. The turnstiles are incredibly narrow--I'm surprised that some people fit!--but of course this prevents crowding and crushing.
Our seats were very near the top of the Main Stand (the side where the cameras are for televised matches, and where the managers and teams sit), but we were exactly midfield and the whole field was visible. They were really great seats.
There are large signs as you enter the seating area "No Alcohol Beyond This Point"--a very welcome sight.
Liverpool's lineup was unchanged from the victory over Besiktas Tuesday night--very unusual for Rafa Benitez. The match was frustrating for Liverpool--Fulham were clearly playing deep and narrow in an attempt to gain a tie. It's a reasonable strategy, but of course not what we wanted to see. There were many, many near misses for Liverpool; Andriy Vornin was so close a number of times. At about 60 minutes there was a huge roar from the Kop (the diehard fans on the end who lead the singing)--subs were up, including Fernando Torres. Torres came in at 70 minutes, and finally, at 82 minutes, came the goal. Pepe Reina's clear from the other end of the pitch came to Torres, who looked to be going at goal from the extreme right side. Just as the defender with him and the keeper committed, Torres switched to his left foot, neatly nutmegging the defender and beating the keeper. Finally, Carlos Bocanegra brought Peter Crouch down just in the box (or very close--there was some controversy), and Steven Gerrard put away the penalty. Fulham has a lot of players I like--and a lot of American players--but they really weren't trying to win the match, and the win was well-earned.
It took us over two hours to get back to our hotel, but that's for another story. There's going to be one BHS female defender very well kitted out after a visit to the club store!
All in all, a GREAT sporting experience. I've seen Red Sox-Yankees games, the Larry Bird-era Celtics, the undefeated Indiana 75-76 team, and IWU in Salem, and this was not second to any of them. I've never seen a crowd so into the game and so tuned into what a team was trying to do. I'm so glad we were able to go.
