A day at the Bridge

It's been a very busy few weeks. First there was the camping trip for the last of the bank holiday weekends, then, just to prove that there is some culture and dignity, there were the two trips to the proms, one to go.

This post though is about a different type of culture. The trip on Sunday afternoon to watch Chelsea play Tottenham at Chelsea's home ground, Stamford Bridge.

Chris and I were lucky to score a couple of free tickets to this game in the heart of the Chelsea supporters. Many years ago this would have been akin to a death sentence, particularly for Chris who is a Tottenham supporter. Thankfully, he left his spurs shirt and home and stuck to wearing Tottenham underpants. The ground is a standard sized football pitch, however the stands are very close to the touchline, meaning that the 40,000 crowd sit virtually on top of the players. The atmosphere was incredible, both breathtaking and intimidating at the same time.

From the kick-off, Chelsea were in control. Realistically, either Chelsea or Manchester United will win the premier league this season, Chelsea's domination of the first 25 minutes or so confirmed that. After a series of close calls and closer oooooos from surrounding supporters, Chelsea did score. Cue wild celebrations and hugs, as well as the songs, which were amazing.

The one that really stuck out was sung to the tune of Rod Stewart's 'We are Sailing'. Referring to Chelsea's 6-1 win over Tottenham at Tottenham's home ground White Hart Lane last year, the song started with 'We beat you 6-1, we beat you 6-1, we beat you 6-1, at the lane'. Innocuous enough. 2nd verse. 'It was easy, it was easy, it was easy, at the lane'. Fair enough. Bit of a pause before the third verse though, and I wondered whether the supporters had simply run out of clever phrases to sing. The third and final verse? 'You're all wankers, you're all wankers, you're all wankers, at the lane'.

Things were happy enough until Tottenham equalised just before half time. Cue incredible silence from the chelsea fans who occupied 90% of the stands. For Tottenham, a 1-1 result would be as good as a victory. For Chelsea, it would be a disaster.

The second half was a completely different affair. Chelsea were not playing well and the crowd really got on their backs. Every missed pass was greeted with a groan and after a while, outright abuse from the once supportive crowd. The game finished 1-1, but by then a lot of the crowd had already left.

It is very difficult to describe what sort of an impact football has on this country. It is huge, bigger than any other sport. The first proper fan I met was Terry. Terry has supported Fulham for 40 years. In that time, he has missed 5 home games. Just 5. Wedding on match day? No problems for Terry, ceremony in the morning, off to the ground to watch Fulham in the afternoon. I thought for a long time that Terry was probably close to a one off, that Fulham probably had his name etched into his seat. I was wrong, Terry's story is not unusual. It's not the story of the everyday man, but I have met several Terry's in my time here.

Tickets for one game at Stamford Bridge will cost you £50 minimum, goodness only knows what a season ticket would cost you, but it's fair to say that for the average supporter it's a significant outlay. That's why they probably get so upset when their team doesn't play well. Terry definately did. Nevertheless, the game was an amazing experience, easily the most incredible sporting event I've seen live, due mainly to the raw emotion on display.