Submitted by Dylan O’Keeffe on the 2013 fall semester program in London, England…
Football, or soccer as Americans call it, is a sport that is constantly in the limelight in London. The newspapers cover the sport with wall-to-wall coverage on a daily basis. After watching many games in pubs with true die-hard fans of all different football teams, I took a liking to Chelsea Football Club. The passion of the fans is like nothing I have experienced before. Although I am a big New York sports fan, the Londoners’ passion for the game blows American sports fans out of the water. I was dying to attend a game when good fortune came my way. My roommate won two tickets to a Chelsea game and gave his extra ticket to me.
The day of the game we made our way to the stadium a few hours early to interact with some of the fans. We made our way to a local pub and conversed with fans that seemed to be our age. They attempted to teach us the different chants, however, there were far too many to remember. Making our way to the stadium, I could already feel the energy in the air. The game began and we did not sit for the entire ninety minutes. We attempted to join in with all the different chants, but it turned into us screaming to the tunes. It was one of my favorite memories of the semester thus far and hopefully I can make it to another game before we depart.