The section where I was sitting in the stadium was definitely more quiet and timid than other sections, but I had no choice where my seats were. They were free tickets courtesy of EPL Talk’s sponsors, Castrol Oil.

In fact, the atmosphere in the pub where I watched the Spain vs Sweden game yesterday was probably wilder than the 20 people who sat around me. At least in the pub there was singing, people getting out of their seats, etc. My section at the ground was very quiet.

Even the crazy sections behind each goal didn’t go berserk, though, when goals went in.

Cheers,
The Gaffer

However there’s something that a TV match just can’t give you, and that is atmosphere. It’s the “I was there” feeling you’re talking about Chris, the cheers of the crowd, the moment where every person around goes completely berserk when your team scores a goal, seeing your football heroes with the naked eye. Those are emotions that are incomparable to watching the game at home (or even in a sports bar).

I haven’t been to many live football matches in my life, but the few include some of the 2007 U21 Youth World Cup games in Canada, some 2003 Confederations Cup games in France (Brazil 0-1 Cameroon and France 3-2 Turkey), the 2003 Coppa Italia final return leg at San Siro (Milan 2-2 Roma) and above all, the 2003 UEFA Champions League semi-final in Turin (Juventus 3-1 Real Madrid).

The latter game was, by far, my most exciting soccer-related experience ever. I was sitting almost exactly in front of the corner-kick flag (although many stairs up), so I got a pretty good panoramic view of the entire field. I wasn’t too lucky in the sense that most of the action took place on the other end (Trezeguet, Del Piero, and Zidane’s goals, and Buffon’s PK save on Figo), but when Pavel Nedved scored on my end it was an experience I can’t even begin to describe. It was simply… fantastic! 20,000 Bianconeri fans screaming at the top of their lungs, Juventus crushing the great Real Madrid. Just absolutely priceless, and to be there living those moments inside the stadium, where all the action took place, was just incredible!

I have a question for you Chris though. From your report it seems as you were sitting directly behind the net on one end, am I correct? If you were that close to the field, it’d be really hard to see what’s going on on the opposite end. My personal taste is that if you go to see a live match, you should at least sit somewhere where you can tell what’s going on on the field. The entire field that is.

Soccer works well enough on TV but being there is a bonus. A good soccer crowd is something you must feel and touch. TV can show alot of the action, but not all. In Chicago both major stadiums have excellent site lines for soccer. So in my opinion it changes from sport to sport.