I got myself a new keyring on Sunday. For those who don’t know, this means I went to another football ground I’d not previously visited. At least, not since I started collecting keyrings. A lad I once worked with collected mugs from all the grounds. Given that there are well over 100 and he’d been to most of them he must have had huge cupboards and a very understanding wife.
Well, this one’s an Arsenal one. Technically, it’s a Highbury (or Arsenal Stadium) one which I wanted before it gets demolished in a year or so and they move round the corner.
I’d heard conflicting reports about the ground. One ex of mine said it was gorgeous and one of the nicest she’d visited. Another mate said he’d been a few times and it was crap. Well, I can only assume that the ex went on the stadium tour and saw all the marble hallways – because the away end’s fecking awful. Although the loos are nice, the actual standing area near the food-hatch bit is tiny and far too small for the number of fans it accomodates. Also, the club shop’s about the size of a Portakabin and was heaving before the game.
The sooner they shift to the (fantastic looking) new stadium, the better. I know Arsenal Stadium has a shedload of history, but for a team that’s reached their size it’s just too small and pokey.
The home fans were a good crowd, though. For once, we weren’t the only ones standing (despite the usual letters from the local council via the club asking us to park our arses). I think the stewards got half the home crowd next to us to sit down before one of them yelled "I’m not sitting down until you get that lot to sit down" at which point they all got back on their feet!
Shame the game wasn’t much to write home about (apart from Shay Given adding a few more digits to his net worth). But, hey, at least I can say I’ve been. I took some pictures, too, and they’ll be online shortly.
The rest of the evening was spent watching Amy panic over having read entirely the wrong notes for her class the next day and watching Spiderman 2 (again). Actually, I still enjoyed it. Not a bad film at all. Bed around 2am with an 8:30am rise for her lecture at 9. Not that I had a lecture! Not that I had a lie in either, mind. But that’s tomorrow…
