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London 2008: Go the Gunners
Apr. 17th, 2008 12:02 amThe activity du jour was a visit to Emirates Stadium, the new home of Arsenal F.C. now that Highbury is gone. I'd booked one of the more expensive Legends Tours, a more expensive tour of the premises hosted by one of several legendary ex-players one can book. I decided to go for the one led by Charlie George — if being part of the Double winning 1970-71 squad wasn't enough, the fact that he once headbutted Kevin Keegan would make him a legend in my book. I took the tube to Holloway Road, which was nearest the entrance where the tour would start.
It was a great tour, lasting about one and a half hours, and it was a thrill just being so near the pitch and being in the home of my favourite football team. Charlie is a lovely, friendly guy. Chatty, informative, and took the time to talk with some of us individually even as we were being escorted through the stadium, taking photographs of the environs as well as with him. We got to sit in the Directors' Seats (managed to stitch together a nice panoramic shot of the stadium from that perspective), looked at the Time Capsule in the foundations of the stadium, saw the Home team dressing room (with attached physio room and hydrotherapy spa), go down to the pitch through the players' tunnel and got a chance to sit where Arsene Wenger sits during home games. Nice bit of trivia: the Home dressing room is horseshoe shaped, partly because Wenger feels that square shapes are negative. Naturally enough - the Away team dressing room is... square.
At the end of the tour in the Media Room, where the post-game press briefing is usually done, Charlie answered questions that both touched on his career as well as his opinions about the state of the team currently, and he signed the picture that was included in the goodie bag that they handed us at the start of the tour. The bag included a "limited edition" keyring with silver-painted plastic charms of the Arsenal shield and a cannon. Cheap, but semiotically significant to an Arsenal fan.
The tour ended there and we were escorted of course to the Armoury gift shop. I didn't get the kit (my last set was from the 2001-02 season) because it's the end of season and a new one will be out soon enough in the summer, but I did get a tie and a couple of gifts for my colleague and fellow Gooner Julian. After that, I worked my way around the stadium to the Arsenal Museum and had a look around. I walked up to Arsenal tube station, near which there's a sign advertising the residences they're building on the former Highbury site. Oh, if only I could afford one...
Later in the afternoon I went did some laundry at Ros's flat; I had limited the amount of clothes I brought this time around to save on weight and luggage space, so that'll last me another week. Ros is flying back to Singapore for a visit tomorrow so she'll be rid of me at last. I fly home myself next Tuesday.
It was a great tour, lasting about one and a half hours, and it was a thrill just being so near the pitch and being in the home of my favourite football team. Charlie is a lovely, friendly guy. Chatty, informative, and took the time to talk with some of us individually even as we were being escorted through the stadium, taking photographs of the environs as well as with him. We got to sit in the Directors' Seats (managed to stitch together a nice panoramic shot of the stadium from that perspective), looked at the Time Capsule in the foundations of the stadium, saw the Home team dressing room (with attached physio room and hydrotherapy spa), go down to the pitch through the players' tunnel and got a chance to sit where Arsene Wenger sits during home games. Nice bit of trivia: the Home dressing room is horseshoe shaped, partly because Wenger feels that square shapes are negative. Naturally enough - the Away team dressing room is... square.
At the end of the tour in the Media Room, where the post-game press briefing is usually done, Charlie answered questions that both touched on his career as well as his opinions about the state of the team currently, and he signed the picture that was included in the goodie bag that they handed us at the start of the tour. The bag included a "limited edition" keyring with silver-painted plastic charms of the Arsenal shield and a cannon. Cheap, but semiotically significant to an Arsenal fan.
The tour ended there and we were escorted of course to the Armoury gift shop. I didn't get the kit (my last set was from the 2001-02 season) because it's the end of season and a new one will be out soon enough in the summer, but I did get a tie and a couple of gifts for my colleague and fellow Gooner Julian. After that, I worked my way around the stadium to the Arsenal Museum and had a look around. I walked up to Arsenal tube station, near which there's a sign advertising the residences they're building on the former Highbury site. Oh, if only I could afford one...
Later in the afternoon I went did some laundry at Ros's flat; I had limited the amount of clothes I brought this time around to save on weight and luggage space, so that'll last me another week. Ros is flying back to Singapore for a visit tomorrow so she'll be rid of me at last. I fly home myself next Tuesday.
