My first experience as a football fans of watching a live soccer game has been given to the Liverpool Football Club...

Date:    13th Oct, 2001 (Sat)

Time:    12 p.m. (Kick-off)

Venue:   Anfield Road Stadium, Liverpool Football Club

People:  Sandy, Karina and Danny

Weather:   

Details:

It must be a day which I'll never forget. The day when we as football fans watched our first live football match! It's a dream-come-true. We set off early in the morning from our hotel and took a train to Liverpool. (Wondering why we didn't go to Old Trafford? Cos there's no home game there that Saturday!)

Some Liverpool football fans, whom you could tell by what they wore, were queuing at the bus stop when we got there. In less than half an hour, we arrived at the Anfield Road Stadium and thousands of fans had already been queuing outside the entrance. Photo-taking was a must. We took photos in every corner with the match day magazine we had bought - the place with Liverpool FC's logo, the entrance, our seats, etc.  Some photos were also taken when both teams - Liverpool and Leeds United - were having a warm-up on the pitch.  To tell you the truth, it's not easy to identify who is who. We were too far away from them. Of course the best seats (at the main stand) were reserved for the home supporters and those season ticket holders while we the public could only be seated at a corner of the stadium, but we were lucky to get the tickets. A staff at the Tourist Information Centre told us even a local failed to get a ticket. There's one or two footballers from Leeds who were close to us when they were warming up, including Rio Ferdinand, a defender whom I appreciate and I like.

When the list of starting XI and substitutes for both teams was read out, I listened carefully, to see whether my favourite footballer Michael Owen was one of them. No, he wouldn't be on the pitch nor on the bench today. I was disappointed, though his missing out was not surprising since it had been reported that he might not be able to recover on time from his injury. But that didn't affect our experience. The atmosphere in the whole stadium was amazing and everyone was on a high. Chants created by the fans themselves were heard, especially from the people sitting in front of us. Criticism of footballers' performance was also read out. And their names. Steven Gerrard (Steve G) was the name I heard frequently, followed by Robbie Fowler. It's a bit quieter when Harry Kewell scored for Leeds United. What's most interesting was whenever the football was anywhere near the posts of either ends, when there's a possibility of a goal or when a corner was taken, everyone in the area of our seats stood up spontaneously (yeah, and simultaneously!) to see if a goal would be scored. My friend's boyfriend later told us that the guy sitting next to him even held his hand tightly at any nerve-racking moment. During the break many people stood at their seats. We didn't know why. Maybe they had sat for too long?

The second half was no less exciting. Everyone hoped Liverpool would score. Yeah, they did! Danny Murphy scored an equaliser. We were still busy standing up and sitting down for the whole second half. We had to leave before the final whistle to catch the train, but there was no more goal after that. Some fans also left early. On the whole it's an exciting match, though there were not many brilliant goals. The feeling was really fantastic!!! I wish I could see as many matches as possible in future!

I was sad to see my friend and her boyfriend off on the train station but anyway I was happy to meet her in England and we did have a good time. Karina, when will I see you again? (Thanks for your 'minna no tabo' umbrella and pens, and your help as well)

Photos (the last three photos courtesy of Karina!) ^o^

An overview of the stadium from where we were sat	'You'll never walk alone'
Can you recognise who is who? Who's Rio Ferdinand? Robbie Keane? Eirik Bakke? Olivier Dacourt?	The referees were warming up too!
When a free kick was to be taken near the penalty area, we spontaneously stood up with the others, wondering if a goal would be scored!

This part was last updated on 15th Feb, 2002

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