Arsenal v Fulham : 29 April 07

Thomson has a box at the new (this season is the first played there) Emirates Stadium
which is great - however the tickets are very rarely accessible - so when they came up recently for use by our group I jumped at the opportunity. There is only one tube station on the entire system named after a football club, and it is wedged right in the middle of a residential street...

The new stadium is a bit 'sterile' - but it is also very impressive. It holds over 60,000 fans (this game's attendance was 60,064) - and Box 89 contributes nine of those seats. My colleague and I met up with clients at the tube station at 1 to head out for the lunch buffet in the box - but before going in we had to stop in to check out the "home fans only" Gunner's Pub (photo above).

The pitch/field is amazing - not a 'wear' mark on it (there are half time and post game divot repairers and they hand mow it with 4 normal lawn mowers).
Lunch was salmon, indian spiced monkfish, rice, salad, and a penne dish - all a very far cry from normal stadium fare (I still think it would be more fun to just have a hot dog and pizza buffet - but it is not my call)
- before the game a guy from Ladbrokes comes around and takes bets as well... I went a bit nutty and wagered a whopping £tenner on four different bets:
match result: £4 on 3-1 Arsenal
first goal scored: £2 on within minutes 11-20
first goal scored by: £2 on Gilberto and £2 on Francesc Fabregas

The box is a very fun experience because it is right above the away supporters' section (notice the white shirts in the photo -- all the stadiums here have a specific section for the purpose and dedicate a percentage of tickets to the opposing club) so all throughout the match the volume is fantastic with their cheers, taunts and songs - so you feel like you are right in the middle of it all without being 'right in the middle of it' - because as civil as most games are -- there have been a few fan clashes at matches this year and it is best to keep your distance from the away supporters.

It was 1-0 Arsenal at the half after a minute 8 goal by Julio Baptista (yep - there went those three bets), and the first half was highly entertaining... however after the half Arsenal looked complacent and the game got a bit slow until a bloop goal by Fulham - and then the game turned up a notch. Arsenal immediately responded to make it 2-1... and with about 10 minutes left I (and several others who had made a similar bet) had a legitimate shot at having picked the correct score. Sure enough - a penalty was called with five minutes left and was converted and the stadium got really loud -- it was just great - but then the next few minutes (and the three minutes of injury time were just torture as there were two legitimate scoring opportunities that would changed the outcome, not of the game - but for me).

So not bad: 9-1 odds paid me £40 for some reason in my first football wager and it was an all around great day - here is a short video from my camera with sound that does a decent job of sharing the 'feel' of the stadium: