It was the usual bus trip to London and I reached at about late morning. I did an analysis of the route that I should be taking from the Internet, and I’ve drafted the route in such a way that I won’t have to travel double times over a certain area. To start off, the first London stadium on the list is West Ham at Upton Park since it’s located at East London. Among all the stadiums it’s the furthest away from Central London. When I came out of the Upton Park station, I was greeted by a sight that’s common in Bradistan. The place is full of Pakistani and South Asians. The West Ham stadium was not far away and I did not need to walk far from the Tube station. I would say West Ham have a fine home indeed. The West Ham Academy is prominent in England, so the first thing that visitors see as they walk through the gates is the entrance to the Academy. The stadium grounds also had a sizeable car park. I went in to check out their megastore. Lol, apparently they are getting ready to print out Championship styled numberings for their shirts. The other thing that West Ham can be proud of and highlighted in their megastore is the fact that World Cup winning captain Bobby Moore is a firm faithful player of the club. After taking the necessary photos, I left the blue and maroon ground and made my way through the Tube route to North East London.
North East London houses two rivals in the premier league – Tottenham and Arsenal. Spurs’ White Hart Lane is second on my list and this is followed by Arsenal in no.3. But alas, White Hart Lane is not connected directly by the Tube and it would require an interchange to the national rail track. Ahhhh, at first I was ok with that interchange but after having trouble finding the exchanging station, I decided to just walk to White Hart Lane since there are signboards pointing that direction. I was starving by then, so I popped into Tesco to grab some potato chips and drinks. It’s a long walk, so I munched along the way. From my observation, North East London is another world on its own - this time populated by British African and Caribbean folks. When I reach WHL’s area, I did not spot the stadium right away but only the Spurs merchandise shop. As I went nearer, I spotted the towering stadium over the other smaller buildings. It took me quite a while before spotting the main entrance to WHL and it seems that if one wants to go to the stadium compound, he would have to sign up at the guard house at the gate. There seems to be no other way in and that kinda put me off in entering. WHL is probably the most unfriendly stadium since visitors can’t get to have a free look without going through the guarded gate. The only thing I did was to walk a full circumference around the stadium and there ain’t much to see. I managed to find the national rail station on the way back and I took a train to the nearest Tube station to save time.
For the Gooners, I stopped at the Arsenal tube station, obviously named after the club. It was stated at the station that the old name was Gillespie Road in the 1930s. I used to think that the Emirates is very far away from the old Highbury site but apparently they are very near, just different directions to start off from the station. Of course, I grew up knowing about Highbury, so it’s only proper to pay a visit to Arsenal’s original home. A quick swing to the left and some walking distance among a squeezy housing area lies Highbury. The entire stadium is demolished for a new block of apartments but the East Stand of Highbury is retained. After exploring what remains of Highbury, I walked towards the Emirates which is located at the right hand side of the station. Since the stadium is located across some railway tracks, I needed to cross a bridge to reach it. I have to say, the Emirates is a fantastic-looking stadium. There’s a massive amount of space surrounding the stadium and on the stadium walls are giant murals of legendary Gooners. I was actually thinking of paying to enter the stadium and have a look inside the museum and interior of the Emirates but after considering, I didn’t go in the end because I may not have enough time to settle the last 2 on my list. Before I leave Ashburton Grove, I quickly went into the Arsenal megastore before it closes for the day to grab a souvenir for chippy Alvin since he’s a massive Gooner fan.
Chelsea and Fulham are located at the South West section of London. I picked to visit Fulham first since it’s another stadium which is not located near the Tube station. I had to make the long walk for almost 15 minutes before I managed to reach Craven Cottage which is nestled in among some nice-looking housing area. Ah, the irony of life. Anfield, such a massive historical venue is surrounded by council houses while Craven Cottage, a much more humble above is located in a rather affluent area in London. The interesting part of Craven Cottage which I did not realise until I’m there is that it’s actually located beside the Thames River. Something not to be missed when one is at Craven Cottage is the Michael Jackson statue. I was surprised not to find it at the front section of the stadium. Instead, I had to walk towards the Thames River side and peered through the gaps of the gate and find it facing the river..lol.
It was another lengthy walk back to the Fulham Broadway station, the place where I started from and my last stop of the day is Stamford Bridge. Thankfully, it’s only 5 minutes away from the station and yes, I would say that Stamford Bridge is another admirable structure. It is also of no coincidence that I discovered Chelsea to be located in an ‘atas’ area. The stadium compound houses several other club buildings. By the time I reached the Bridge, it was almost 6pm+, so the official store is closed and so is their museum. What I did was just to scout the various parts of the stadium compound. As I was walking, I can’t help chuckling at giant advert posters of Torres with his Chelski team-mates. He was the same dude who once adorned the walks of Anfield..hahahaha.
Ahhhhhh, that concludes my personal tour of the London stadiums. All 5 covered just in time before the sun sets. I was super thirsty by the time I went to the Fulham Broadway Tube Station, so I popped inside Sainsburry to buy some fruit juices. The bus was only due at 9pm, so I had a long wait at the bus station and suffice to say, it was 1am in the morning when I reach Leeds. No problem on the late hours, since it’s a free and easy time and I've got nothing on.
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