My Experience at Premier League Games as a American
Over my spring break, a few family members and I went to England to watch two Premier League games in person. I've been a fan of the league for a long time since I was fourteen, and it was a dream come true to have the opportunity to watch Premier League games in England! Last summer, I watched Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion play at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia as part of the Premier League Summer Series. But, the people there were predominantly American and displayed American sports fandom tendencies. I was excited that I could go, but I didn't feel the uniqueness of watching with diehard English fans, some of the most loyal fans in the world.
View from my seat at Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth, England - March 9, 2024
I first saw AFC Bournemouth against Sheffield United at Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth, England. Bournemouth is my favorite English football team, as it has been for years. Seeing my team play in their home stadium was a dream come true for me. One notable part about Vitality Stadium is it is small - only holding 11,379 people. That may seem like a lot of seats, but compared to other stadiums, that is tiny. It made for an even better experience because no matter where you were seated in the stadium, you were very close to the action. I had what some might consider a bad seat as I was in the corner, but I could see the entire field well. I was almost at the same eye level as the field, which was crazy.
I met some great people in the seats around me - mainly locals who've supported Bournemouth much longer than I have. One fan I want to highlight is a man who sat below me and brought his grandchildren and other family members to the game. He had lived in Bournemouth most of his life and was a huge fan, wearing a simple black Bournemouth hat with the logo on the front. He was so happy that my family and I had come from the United States to watch a Bournemouth game that he gave my father his hat and told him to "Take this back to America with you." Seeing Americans come to support his favorite team meant so much to him.
There was also a lot of passion and chants that rang throughout the stadium during the game. A popular one I learned was "Boscombe! Back of the net!" often during corner kicks. I learned after some googling that Boscombe was the club's first name, changed to Bournemouth and Boscombe in 1923, and again to AFC Bournemouth in 1971, so the chant makes a lot of sense. Whenever there was a miss or a foul, the whole stadium reacted as one voice in agreement. "Fuck VAR!" rang through the stadium as a Dominic Solanke goal was disallowed for a handball, adding to the dedication and enthusiasm of the fans - also everyone hating VAR (video assistant referee).
Me with Bournemouth Winger Antoine Semenyo after the game - March 9, 2024
The game ended in a 2-2 tie as Bournemouth overcame a 2-0 deficit to tie it in the 91st minute with goals from Dango Ouattara and Enes Ünal. The crowd went wild when Ünal equalized with everyone standing up, screaming at the top of their lungs, and waving their hands violently. The tie meant a point for Bournemouth - crucial as they look to stay up in the Premier League (most European football leagues have relegation where teams switch between greater and lesser leagues depending on their performance). There is a known threshold in the Premier League where a team has not gotten relegated with 40 points. For those unaware, the Premier League operates on a point system, with a victory earning the winner 3 points, a tie giving 1 point to each team, and a loss being no points for the loser. As I write this, Bournemouth has 35 points after a victory over Luton Town on March 13th.
View from the dugout at Stamford Bridge in London, England - March 11, 2024
The second game I attended was a Monday night football match between Chelsea and Newcastle. Chelsea is my cousin's favorite team, so he was very excited to be able to see a Chelsea match at their home stadium, Stamford Bridge. Chelsea is having a rough patch right now since switching ownership, standing in the bottom half of the table since the switch in June of 2022. Nevertheless, fans came out as Stamford Bridge's 40,341 seats filled quickly. Again, this is on a Monday night. Fans are so dedicated that they will come to the game after a long workday. I sat a lot higher this time but still could see the field pretty well, although the players were visibly smaller than at Bournemouth.
Chelsea has had a storied history, and I got a small glimpse of that at the Chelsea Museum right next to the stadium. They had a variety of memorabilia - jerseys, cleats, balls, programs, and lots of trophies. My favorite item there was headgear worn by goalkeeper Petr Čech, who is one of my favorite goalkeepers of all time. Čech sustained a skull fracture in a match against Reading in 2006 and wore headgear through the rest of his football career, including nine more years at Chelsea.
View from my seat at Stamford Bridge in London, England - March 11, 2024
Chelsea had a lot more flash and pizzazz than Bournemouth, as actual fire from a fire machine was on both sides of the Premier League arch when the teams came out. The crowd was also louder, as one would expect with more individuals. Fans yelled more varied chants during the game, such as "Come on Chelsea!" and the song "Blue Is the Colour" after the game ended. Funnily enough, I sat next to a couple from the Midwest. Plus, people from our stadium tour before the game came as far as the Czech Republic and Australia. It shows Chelsea's vast reach as they have fans from all over the world.
To my cousin's delight, Chelsea won the game 3-2, with his favorite player Cole Palmer (my cousin wore his jersey to the game) having a goal and an assist. Nicholas Jackson and Mykhalio Mudryk scored the other two goals for Chelsea. One moment that stuck out for me as a fan of Premier League football for nine years was Chelsea player Raheem Sterling's shocking miss of an almost open net (he passed the goalkeeper and only two defenders blocked the goal), proving that his skill has gone down quite a bit over the years. Also, plenty of Newcastle fans were in attendance, having as good of a time as they could after losing and being down 3-1 earlier. I suggest watching the highlights of this game on YouTube, as some of the goals and saves are impressive.
I highly recommend attending a Premier League game in England if possible. The experience isn't the same as in American sports. There's much more enthusiasm, a competitive atmosphere (I saw many middle fingers towards opposing fans), and passionate fans who were also very nice to us outsiders. My time was amazing, and I'll remember it forever.
