I had purposely renewed my United
membership for another year in order to have the chance to bid for the August
games in the new season. I was quite
delighted when I managed to secure a place but I suppose many English folks
don’t look highly on a Community Shield match and hence, the relative easiness
in getting tickets. In addition, the usual away-match ruling for tickets sale
was waivered for Community Shield and this contributed to my opportunity in
getting a seat at Wembley. Since it’s a Sunday, I also wanted to make time to
go to church. It’s a perfect chance, and I would say, the only chance that I
have in my last month in the UK to go for a service at Hillsongs London church.
They have a couple of services throughout the day and the one that I am aiming
for is the 11am. It would end at around 1pm and I would have just enough time
of about 1hr or so to get to Wembley. To do that, I would have to hitch a ride
on the 6am London bus. On the day itself, there was this fat ‘lil kid on the
bus who somehow had severe motion sickness sitting on the bus and he kept
running to the bus toilet to vomit. Now,
my seat is located just beside the toilet door and every time he rushes to the
toilet, I’m jolted from my sleep. I have to say, I’m quite ‘disturbed’ by the
poor boy’s vomiting groans. This went on for the whole journey and his mom was
feeling quite helpless to do anything but to comfort him. I was quite glad to
reach the London Victoria bus station and I quickly moved off to take the tube
to Tottenham Court Road where the Hillsong London church is located. I arrived
slightly later than expected but thankfully there were seats. Ahhh, I can immediately spot the difference in
Hillsong London where it seems that the congregation is much more
multi-cultural. After a refreshing dose of worship (apparently lots of new
songs from Hillsongs which I’m not familiar with) and the sermon, it’s time to
head out to Wembley for the first derby match of the new season.
On the way there, I made sure that I do
not make the mistake of getting into a carriage filled with City fans. Security
at every station is on a high alert because of the volatile nature of the derby
match where fights may erupt at anytime and any place. Once I reached the
outside grounds of Wembley, I immediately went to get the match programme book.
I was kinda worried at first that the match programmes will be sold out like
the ones during the Champions League final but there’s actually nothing to
worry about because there’s plenty to go around. The community shield match
programme is priced at £5 each. Since I’ve not eaten anything yet, I grabbed
some fries from the food stall and afterwards proceed to join the snaking crowd
into the stadium. It was thoroughly packed at the grounds and there’s this
carnival-like atmosphere and the police brought in the their horse squad for
crowd control. For law and order purposes, both sets of fans were split into
two lines from the start of the stadium grounds. It was obvious that the United
line was more congested of the two from the ground level as I walked up the
steps. It was the most apparent as I reached the stadium and had a look over
the balcony at the huge amount of people still snaking in. City’s line was just
a sporadic spread while United’s line is a meaty bunch. The police stood in the
middle of the demilitarized strip. Occasionally, a fan or two would test the
patience of the police by goading the other side with insults and fist-raising.
After feeling satisfied loitering around to check out the atmosphere, I went to
find the gate that I’m entering. The Wembley electronic ticketing gates are
fantastic-looking – one scan and I’m in.
It took me a little while to figure out where I was sitting because my
section is already quite filled up. I sat at the wrong place at first, and only
realised that when someone who was supposed to sit there nudged me off. I
rechecked my seat numbering again and subsequently found the correct place to
sit. Upon taking my seat, I discovered that my neighbours on my left were a
pair of British Chinese brothers. Ahhhhh..this is very convenient indeed for my
photo-taking request later on during half-time. I took the opportunity to
savour my first moments inside a Wembley football match. It’s electric and both
giant screens on both ends were visibly imposing, like a giant DVD screen.
We had some pre-match entertainment by a
band and the giant screen did play a Sky Sports style pre-match video to
heighten up the tension. When the players’ names were announced, their pictures
were simultaneously projected on the giant screen. It was clear that by the
time the first whistle was blown, the United area was pretty full while there
were many pockets of empty spaces at City’s side. Our United fans were
chanting,”The City is Yours, the City is yourssssss..25,000 empty seats, are
you for sure?!” However, the optimistic mockery of the Blue Moon was cut
short. Lescott stunned our side at the
38th minute by making it 1-0. And just before the end of the first
half, Dzeko fired a long range shot which De Gea should have catched it easily.
From our position behind him, it looked like a really weak goal to concede.
With the score at 0-2 at half-time, it
was a horrendous time for any United fan at Wembley right now. For me, I just
thought that “oh well, perhaps I’ll just enjoy the day out and maybe stay back after
the match as one of the minority few to see Man City lift the shield.” Little
did I expect what were to transpire later. While waiting at half-time, the
stadium was treated to a funny sight – James Holden aka Smithy attempting to
take a penalty kick. And he did score in the end and celebrated in style too!
Lol. I also took the chance to ask my neighbours to take a couple of photos for
me as evidence of my time at Wembley :D
Smalling’s header puts the score at 1-2
at around the 52nd minute. At that point of time, there was hope for
an equaliser. We need not wait for long when Nani broke free of the City
defence 6 minutes later to equalise 2-2. We’ve clawed backkkk! From now on,
it’s a sudden death situation. Whoever scores the next goal will most probably
win the match. As the clock ticks to the 90th minute, there was
still no sign of anyone having the edge to score the winner. Everyone in the
stadium was prepared to sit in for a penalty shoot-out. Out of nowhere, it’s Nani again and as the
ball bobbled to past the line, the United section of Wembley erupted into an
ecstacy of cheers!
The final whistle blown and yes, what a
game! United overturned the 2 goal deficit to win 3-2 in the end! In your face
Cityyyyyyy! You screwed up a 2-0 lead! Our side turned out to be the winner
afterall..lol. Although it’s not a major competition, at least I had the
opportunity to see a cup presentation ceremony in Wembley and also the cup
celebration that follows afterthat. Vidic led the United up the steps of the
Wembley stadium while the City side emptied themselves from their seats. It’s
the first official match of the footballing season and what better way than to
start the season well with a win over the noisy neighbours.
I stayed as long as possible in the
stadium so as to have the opportunity to take a picture of an empty Wembley
stadium. By the time I finished taking the photos that I like, the stewards
were already urging everyone to go out of the stadium. I took a walk back to
the Wembley Tube station and along the way, I noticed a lot of verbal sparring
between both Manchesters. It was a trip back to the London city centre and
since my bus will only come late at night at 9pm, I have time to enjoy what is
probably my last few hours in London of my life. There’s still 3 more weeks
before I leave but after today, the schedule won’t permit me to return back to
London anymore. Oh well, I won’t know when I will have the chance to come to
London again. With that remaining time, I went to the souvenir shop to see what
kind of Britannia themed things I can get for friends back home. I took some time
to enjoy Piccadilly Circus and then it’s a one-way bus trip out of London.
Overall, I would say that the Hillsong service coupled with the Manchester
derby at Wembley stadium makes it a great ending to my
time at London.
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