London - The National Pasttime

Arsenal vs Swansea City
When our London colleague asked if there was anything we were interested in doing while in London we asked for the impossible.  His eyes widened when we asked for tickets to an Arsenal game.  "You lot are quite cheeky, aren't you?" he asked, laughing.  Some how, some way, he came through.

Why Arsenal?  Because there is a Costa Rican playing for them.  Joel Campbell.  My colleague Jose bought a Joel Campbell Arsenal jersey to wear to the game.  He was so excited.

We had a "club level" package, which includes tickets, a stadium tour, free beer and winc and access to the restaurants inside the stadium.

Inside, along the hallways, were many paintings of former Arsenal players.  I didn't recognize many. - just Thiery Henry.

We took the Picadilly line across town and arrived an hour before kickoff.  We got seats at the bar and ordered food and drink.

I was surprised at how good the burger was.  Much better than you might expect for stadium food.

There was a betting booth in the restaurant, which I pointed out to Jose.  "Go bet on Campbell to score" I told him.  He couldn't believe that was possible or allowed but after a lot of convincing he went over and plunked down 10 quid on his man to score first.  "What odds did they give you?"  I asked, thinking it would be 50 to 1 since Campbell barely plays.  He only got 6-1.  These London bookies are sharp.

Arsenal took control right away, hitting the cross bar a number of times.  Campbell was playing well, creating chances for others.  At the 20 minute mark there was a sharp cross to the far corner and we saw Campbell running onto it.  He took it in mid-air off his left foot and put it in the back of the net.  The crowd went nuts.  The Ticos were yelling and screaming - I jumped up and hugged Jose, who now had made 60 pounds.

Swansea City equalized close to half time and some folks jumped up to cheer a few rows behind us.  Security rushed over and scolded them,  "Oy, you CANNOT cheer up 'ere for Swansea."  If you are a Swansea supporter you have to sit in a designated area, which happened to be right below us.  I assume they do that to avoid bloodshed.  These English take their football a bit too seriously.  The visiting supporters sang and cheered the whole game and when Swansea City went up 2-1 midway through the second half, they were never drowned out again by the Arsenal crowd.  That's the way it ended.  Victory for the underdog Welsh!