Manchester United vs West Bromwich

Well yesterday was a good lesson in Premiership Football and fanatical fans.  It starts out with Online Ticket Express (Stubhub for the Premiership) screwing up our ticket order and putting right in the middle of the West Bromwich Drunk Hooligan section.  Fortunately, security at these games are much better than that at NFL games.  The security guards noted our Man U shirts and had us moved to different seats.  We were supposed to be in the "away" section (i.e. Man U section) according to Online Ticket Express.  That was full, but the different seats were infinitely better as you will see.  The only problem was we had to cover up our shirts and could not cheer for Manchester United when they scored.  This was put to the test in the first half when Jake and my favorite player Wayne Rooney scored right in front of us.  Jake and I looked at each other and gave a golf clap.  A Man U supporter behind us stood up and waved a Rooney jersey.  The fans immediately started screaming at him and security had to remove him.  West Brom tied before halftime, but Man U won in the closing minutes.  Security stopped by and checked on us once and there was literally security all over the 100 year old stadium.  While the British have a leg up on security and the recent rioting probably increased the showing, they are terrible when it comes to stadium amenities.  Forget about getting food, there is just one both.  I had written off getting a pint because I wanted to be on guard with my family in the game, but it would have been a time consuming task if I was thirsty.  And they did not sell team apparel inside the stadium.  Seems like a some serious losses in potential revenue.  While security and safety issues was a huge concern at this game, I would still say Chargers vs Raiders is a more dangerous game to attend.  Certainly Dodgers games would be considered more dangerous as well.  Enjoy the pictures!:

Security guard in the way of a great picture.

Good seats!

Scoring opportunity!

No reason.  This just cracked me up when I saw it on the way out of the match.

Again, thanks to the stadium security for moving us to great seats!

Good picture even though we can't show our colors.

Rooney!  Probably right before his goal.

Walking up to the stadium before we had orders to cover up.  This is a good idea for Raiders fans at Chargers games.  I am thinking they can have their women fans wear Burkhas.  Not for any security reason, just because they are not attractive.

Off to Old Trafford then London today!  Full day.  Will post more to the blog soon.