First Ever Futbol Match

View from my seat

On Monday night I got to experience my first ever futbol match. I got to see Newcastle play against Fulham FC. It was an overall awesome time. Before coming to college I was never really into futbol or soccer in the states. Since being in London though I have become more of a fan because futbol is such a huge part of the culture here. Before coming over here I had thought about going to see a match, but never put much effort into finding one. I am very glad that I ended up going to a match.

            It was around 34 degrees at game time. I dressed in many layers to keep warm. The stadium seated around 25,000 people, so it was not very big, but it sure felt like there were hundreds of thousands of people. The atmosphere was incredible. The fans were loud and very into the game. Most of the fans were Fulham fans because they were the home team. Where we were sitting though was where most of the Newcastle fans were. I found it interesting how loud the Newcastle fans were. For almost the whole game they were yelling their team’s chants and rooting for their team, while most of the Fulham fans were pretty quiet.

            Fulham scored the first goal and lead the match 1-0 at halftime. A few minutes into the second half Newcastle scored a beautiful goal. Everyone in our section went crazy. I even jumped up and down and started yelling even though I did not care who won. Fulham then came back and scored the game-winning goal a few minutes later.

            The experience of my first futbol match in Europe will be one I never forget. The culture around the sport is unlike any sport in the United States. The fans are absolute diehard fans; they love their team as if they are family. The crowd noise was so loud for the amount of people that were there and they had interesting chants. I will always remember this match because it was so different from every other sporting event I have ever been to.