Today Sir Jules, Sandra and Steve took me to my first live football game. The day started with a pint at the Larrik at about midday before moving on to the Coat and Badge for a fairly posh Sunday roast (my veges came in a separate bowl for goodness sakes!) and then on to Craven Cottage at about 3 for the game: Fulham vs Middlesbrough. Sandra was the only one out of the four us who really had a team to support (Boro) so a lot of our pre-game talk was on both educating me about the game of football and Sandra making sure we were in full Boro-support mode. Unfortunately, the support wasn’t enough and Boro went down to the home team 1-0 (after a penalty shot late in the second half). But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Craven Cottage, Fulham’s home ground, is so named because of this strange little cottage which occupies one corner of the ground. Its apparently one of the nicer grounds set as it is by the river and near a nice little green which makes your walk to the ground enjoyable, especially on a nice day I imagine, and is a great way to build up some excitement as you walk with the other football fans. I’ve read that the police presence is a little over the top out front but I didn’t mind seeing the giant horses 
(okay, mounted police on normal sized horses.) Seating approximately 22,000 its also one of the cosier grounds and allows you to feel pretty close to the action.
As for the game itself well I’m not sure it was the most exciting game to be played as it was the last game in this year’s Premiership for both teams and neither really had anything to play for except pride. I think Fulham was pretty much playing its first string team but Boro were definitely not, especially if the numbers on the jerseys were anything to go by (numbers in the 20s-40s), as they were saving their best for Wednesday’s UEFA final. Still, I thought the atmosphere was pretty cool. We were sitting at the neutral end (behind the goal) where I guess most of the Boro supporters were. Sitting behind the goal was great when the action was at our end but not so great when it was up the other end. Despite the general lack of excitement there was enough play and good atmosphere to keep me interested in the game and I think we all enjoyed ourselves … most especially when ribbing Sandra about Boro’s “performance”.
After the game we headed to Wetherspoons for another cheeky pint or two (well, OJ for me) for a post-game analysis (nah – really it was just more of an excuse to drink) before heading to Hare & Tortoise for a quick dinner. Its been a longer day than I thought it would be but I really enjoyed myself. Its no wonder the Brits really like their football! Bring on my next match ….
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| Boro keeper at our end | Fulham keeper at our end |
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| Fulham scoring their penalty | Fulham’s lap of honour and the line orange people |
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