It's been a long time since I've gone to see a live football match. We used to live near Fulham in London, and a few times we just walked across to Craven Cottage and bought tickets on the same day. In fact, I think the last time we were there was Mourinho's last match as Chelsea manager. Yes, it's a long time ago. Now it's a lot more difficult and expensive to get Premier League tickets, not to mention we don't live near a big club. Our nearest stadium is Ashton Gate, home of Bristol City who has never made it to the Premier League. Last weekend, Ashton Gate hosted the Woman's League Cup final between Chelsea and Man United. I've been following the Lionesses in recent years and have never been to Ashton Gate before, so got ourselves some tickets for a great day out. I even managed to get first row seats, which in hindsight weren't the best seats to watch a football match 😏
Players arriving
We got there quite early to avoid the traffic and entered from the back of the stadium. The player's entrance was here, and we saw some fans standing outside. Naturally, I went over for a nose.
I lingered around, watching staff, media, volunteers come and go, whilst waiting for the players to arrive. The referees arrived first, followed by the mascots, it was lovely to see how happy the kids were. The fans crowd were starting to build up and I suddenly found myself surrounded by Man United fans. The Blues were on the other side.
After a waiting for over an hour, the players finally arrived. It's not that I'm a football fanatic and intended to wait that long, but once you been hanging around for half an hour, half an hour becomes an hour before you realise it. Then you think it would be a pity to leave because they're going to turn up anytime, Chelsea arrived first, and I recognised some players from the Lionesses.
| Lucy Bronze - Bronzy is my favourite player, she's solid, both as a player and a person, definitely someone you want on your team | Hannah Hampton - Hannah was thrown into the spotlight last year, probably not in the way she'd prefer, but she did exceptionally well to prove herself to everyone |
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| Keira Walsh - another player I recognised from the Lioness. Walsh has just joined Chelsea from Barcelona at the beginning of the year. | Lauren James - James always looks so grumpy but I guess some people are just born like that. She is such a talented player and won player of the match |
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I didn't know any of the Man United players. This one got a lot of cheers as she walked by, and after a bit of googling I found out she's Melvine Malard.
Soaking in the atmosphere
Afterwards we headed round to the front of the stadium and it was already very busy. It was mother's day, and it was great to see a lot of families out with their kids.
There were loads of food trucks, great as we needed to grab a bite first. The league sponsor Subway also had a truck and were giving out free food.
Front row seats
We got a great view of the pitch from our seats. The Sky TV crew were camped in front of us, and BBC were on the other end. The home fans, Chelsea sat to our right and Man United to our left.
The sideline was very busy. Lots of media and photographers coming and going, and also the paramedics set up camp in front of us. Here's the Chelsea players coming off the pitch after warmup.
Kick off
Finally, it was kick off time. Front row seats has the close up advantage of the line up and the team taking the group photo.
As soon as they kicked the ball, they also turned on the rain tap. It was literally instantaneous, you couldn't synchronise it better. Apart from not having the best view from the front row, we also had rain dripping down on us. The roof above didn't quite extend over us and the rain continued throughout the first half. We weren't drenched, just a little wet😵💫. When the second half started, the sky had cleared up and it was a lot more enjoyable experience.
Victory
Chelsea was stronger of the two teams, even I could see that, and it was confirmed by their 2-0 win. As the final whistle blew, all the blue flags came out and there were massive cheers from the fans. They were absolutely jubilant.
The players and their support team were celebrating on pitch, and even James was elated on the victory stage.
It was lovely to see both Bronzy and James together waiting to be interviewed by Sky TV. They looked so relaxed after an intense match. Do you see the two children playing so happily on the pitch? They belong to the Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor. Leading your team to win a league cup with your children by your side on mother's day, it doesn't get better than that.
My day
As I left, I looked back to the pitch from the mid terrace. You definitely get a much better view a few rows back, not to mention it's nice and dry here. Note to self for next time.
By the way, I never mentioned which team I support. I don't really support any football team, other than the Lionesses, for obvious reasons. I bought the tickets as a neutral fan, just to enjoy the experience. But given I didn't know anyone from the Man United team, and Chelsea has quite a few from the Lionesses, including Bronzey and Hampton, plus the fact hubby is anti United, I guess I was rooting for Chelsea. Just as well, they won!!!
