Wembley

Before we arrived on English shores, my club, West Bromwich Albion had made the FA Cup semi-finals. So this created a bit of excitement in the Yarrall family ranks, as Dad is a long term shareholder in the club, having been convinced to buy into the initial float in the early 90’s whilst on a boat following a long day in the sun after an England-South Africa cricket test.

Given that this was likely to be a once in a lifetime chance to see WBA in a FA Cup semi final at Wembley, a foreign concept to supporters of the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United et al, we thought it would be a worthwhile introduction for Louise into the football experience in the UK.

During many of the first calls home, Dad was always wondering how ticket purchasing was going. Poor was my inevitable response as the only way you could get a ticket was to have proof of having been on the club’s ticket database in the last 10 years. Given the last time we had been to a WBA game was in 1997, before the ticketing database was established meant we failed to reach the minimum requirements for a ‘club’ ticket. With all the other tickets held by corporates and season ticket holders, there were no official tickets available.

This meant we would have to follow the more risky ticket option of turning up to the game and buying off some dodge reseller. As Lou’s brother put it, the good thing about England is that you can turn up to any game and there is bound to be someone trying to make a buck from their ticket. Knowing our chances of getting a ticket were OK, Lou and I set off to Wembley.

The actual ticket purchasing options were fine once we got there, as a company was trying to flog off their tickets as no-one had wanted to go! I managed to pay the reasonable sum of £100 per ticket (face value of £160), not bad, but certainly a shock as we were still converting to NZD ($250 to those who care). Tickets were seated in the club level, and came with a free programme, which was a nice touch. Actually ended up sitting next to the brother in law of the WBA director of football who was a pleasant chap to talk to. We were situated behind the Portsmouth fans, which was a little disappointing, but they provided excellent vocal support for their team.

The pre-game atmosphere dominated anything Kelburn Park could produce, with 80,000 fans milling around, performing various witty chants. There was not a great deal of aggro going on, probably due to the great numbers of fluoro vested police officers.

As far as the game went, WBA dominated the first half, but failed to get close enough to seriously pressure the Portsmouth goal. Having not got the breakthrough I figured that we were going to struggle in the second half and sure enough we conceded soon after half time and spent the rest of the fixture chasing the game. However a number of positives did arise, firstly as Louise so quaintly put it, as least we wont have to pay for a FA Cup Final ticket, and secondly, WBA played well enough to suggest that they will be able to battle respectfully next season in the Premiership and not face the ignominy of another Derby County style season.

All in all, a great introduction into the world of English football for Louise, and hopefully we will be able to get to a few more games when the new season starts.