Manchester United
Travel Location: Manchester,United-Kingdom
Well, we have officially completed our first travel adventure outside of London, one of many more to come no doubt. Ange somehow managed to round up a pair of tickets to the Manchester United v Blackburn carling cup tie as well as some cheap coach tickets and a night in a really gorgeous hotel. So we packed out bags and off we went to Victoria coach station and on to the city of Manchester. For those who may not know, I love Manchester United, back home I used to get up early in the morning to watch or tape their games (usually tape) and I managed to go see them play in Seattle. I’ve always wanted to see them play in their home town at the famous Old Trafford stadium! Excited as I was, I do believe Angela was almost giddy! When we met I don’t think Manchester United featured highly in any of her interests, but now… not so. I think I may have created a monster. To put Ange’s ‘passion’ for the team in perspective, here is a small anecdote.
Here in London The two of us have tried to catch as many football games as we can at a pub or sports bar, and the champions league group stages were no exception. So we found a big sports bar in Chelsea and watched Man Utd lose unfortunately to Benfica. It was a busy place full of Londoners and travellers from all over the world, rowdy, and standing room only. Needless to say, the game didn’t go well and Ange showed her displeasure throughout the match. Near the end of the game a big West Indian Londoner turned around with a very serious expression and commented on how good I was to come along and support my girlfriend’s team. I couldn’t stop laughing.
The coach journey to Manchester was uneventful, the weather was cloudy and there was not much in the way of sites to see along the highway. We arrived in Manchester and promptly got lost trying to find the hotel though it was a momentary setback and 5 minutes of backtracking sorted it out. We made our way to the hotel and St Peters square, and had a look in the main library, which is a beautiful round neoclassical domed building, not quite as impressive as the reading room at the British Museum, but it was definitely worth seeing. From there we wandered around a bit, picked up the tram from St Peters and went to old Trafford! The stadium was immense and even though kick-off wasn’t until later in the evening the whole area was already thronged with supporters buying merchandise and drinking at the local pubs. We grabbed our tickets, took some pictures and headed back to our hotel to check in.
Our hotel was one of the older more imposing looking buildings in down town Manchester, the exterior and interior are quite attractive and our room was very comfortable yet affordable. I believe the building used to be the headquarters for an insurance company and it was built to impress investors, the lobby is massive, marble and domed. We had a look at the place and then changed into our Man Utd gear, and stopped off a great little pub, quite old, great atmosphere, and very, very good Guinness.
We made our way from the pub back to the stadium and were immediately struck by the sheer size of the crowds assembling all down the road. They were drinking ale and lager, eating burgers, singing songs, preparing for an exciting game. Police were everywhere, roads were closed off and we all streamed into the stadium. Ange and I got there earlier and found our seats. The stadium was beautiful, it was like a dream to be there and Angela wasted no time as she ran down closer to the pitch to watch the players warm up. There we stood, literally arms length from where the manager (Sir Alex Ferguson) and the rested (the substitutes) players sit, the camera’s were set up for broadcast, and for what seemed like an eternity they focussed right on us. As the subs and Ferguson made their way to their seats they strode right up the stairs next to us, we could have reached out to touch Alan Smith, Giuseppe Rossi, and Sir Alex. In fact…we did. Well not quite touch, but Angela did get Sir Alex’s autograph! Afterwards we dashed back to our seats (perfect view) and watched the action on the field.
It was an incredible game, constant excitement, the pace was electric and the challenges were rough. There was a bit of bad blood between the players and it showed, especially in the crowd where songs of celebration and derision echoed across the stadium towards the visiting Blackburn fans. We joined in on the chants, even though it was difficult to decipher exactly what was being said, though I was familiar with some. The game was tied at 1-1 at half time, and Blackburn had saved a penalty! The game was turning out to be a classic Carling cup semi final. Thankfully United moved ahead thanks to a beautiful goal from Saha after some jaw dropping play from Wayne Rooney, I cant describe how wonderfully that kid plays, when you watch him take the ball from one half to the other its clear that he’s something special, the next great player, like what it must have been like watching Wayne Gretzky in his younger days. Anyway, it was a well earned victory and we headed home through the congested streets with our heads floating above the shoulder to shoulder crowds (61,000 people trying to get home at once.) It was an amazing day, worth every penny and more, it’s clear that whether we go back to Manchester or catch them playing a London team we will see another Manchester United match. As for the rest of Manchester (yes we did actually see the non-football related sites the following day), Stay tuned.
