At the Emirates...

The Emirates Stadium

In my last blog I shared with you what experiencing a football match outside of Trinidad was like for me.   I shared what made the experience mind blowing and how taken aback I was at the level of fanaticism that was demonstrated. It would be remiss of me to not blog on the well-known Emirates Stadium aka The Arsenal Stadium.

So, here's a bit of history for you - The Emirates Stadium officially opened on the 23rd of July 2006; it is acknowledged as one of the finest football stadiums in the world and was sold out for every first-team game in its opening season; its' capacity is a impressive 60,000. The Emirates Stadium replaced Arsenal’s previous home Highbury, which had become too small and lacked the possibilities for expansion being hemmed in by housing, achieving this was no easy feat for the club.  The Club not only constructed a stadium, it regenerated the local community.  The stadium was named Emirates because the airline sponsors Arsenal.  Some die-hard fans argue that ‘The Emirates’ is the country that the airline represents. It’s a small middle-eastern country, not a football stadium in North London.

On the streets to the Emirates...

Arsenal's history on display

Let me just tell you, when you are in the vicinity of the Arsenal Stadium there is no chance of you getting lost,  being unsure of which direction to turn or where to go because the streets a lines with booths selling memorabilia’s and fans chanting as they make their way to the entrance. When you get there, you become a child in a candy store once you walk into the Arsenal gift shop – anything you can thing about is in there and branded Arsenal including sweets!

The walls of the stadium is covered with history of all sort from the Hat-Trick Heroes to the founding players, a list of the club achievements over the years and few others that I really can't recall at the moment. 

Even though I am not a football fanatic,  I have to say that the holistic experience was really an eye opening experience for me in terms of having a better  understanding and appreciation of the magnitude of a "true" football stadium, when viewing a game,  what real fanaticism looks like and what it means to be legendary club! I can't wait to go to another game!