My friend, colleague, and fellow Arsenal fan Graham Stone had kindly arranged a ticket in the away supporters section at Anfield. My ticket said obstructed view- it was obstructed... by the goal post! I was front row staring at the right goal post. Pretty amazing stuff. And after Arsenal scored the second goal to put away the game, the camera apparently focused on me celebrating for quite a while. This was the view from my seat.
I walked the two miles from Lime St station to Anfield, turning off at Everton Park to look down on the Mersey River. I met a lovely American pit bull terrier (banned in the UK) and the Scouser who owned it was overjoyed to meet someone that admired his dog as much as he did. I'm pretty good with "British English" but I had to ask the Liverpudlian to repeat several phrases- Scouser talk is complicated
Anfield is a dump compared to any American stadium- its surrounded by boarded up houses and football pubs. Its incredibly intimate- i touched the locked door to the player's entrance. the city feels like its dying and the fans were subdued, almost sad. I was disappointed as theres nothing like an English football stadium when it really gets behind its team and Anfield is supposed to be the best. I've only seen it happen twice and it's truly magnificent. Still- it was a great win for Arsenal and being an away fan is a lot of fun when you're winning!
I hung around after the game for a bit then took the bus down to the waterfront. The Mersey is quite a tidal river and it was easy to imagine the cotton ships from America pulling into the Albert Dock to unload their cargoes bound for Manchester. I felt like i could easily be in boston or baltimore. More than 9 million Europeans emigrated to America through Liverpool and I'm sure many of our ancestors took that brave journey. I meandered up and down the waterfront before walking back up to the train station.
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