Premiership football

I went to my first premier league football match last Saturday to see Fulham v Blackburn. It was a great game that ended 3-2 with a last minute penalty.

I've been to a few football matches around London, such as Arsenal Carling Cup games and saw Wales play various nations like Slovakia and so on in Cardiff, but to see a premier league game did feel different.

There was more of a frisson of excitement, more an air of being at an event that was of wide interest to those beyond the game because it's the premier league.

The fact I was there with a friend his three Canadian uncles who had traveled over for a few days traveling around to see as many live games as possible only underlines this.

The crowd was rather sedate, though. I mean, they cheered and chanted and all the rest, but the people in front of us where two couples, one with a baby, who chatted casually during the match.

In fact it seemed the two people to our left, a father and son pair I am sure, were the only "diehard" fans in our immediate vicinity who seemed to be make pronouncements to no-one about the games various goings on.

It's a nice ground, properly old and retaining the sense of history by being perched on the banks of the Thames and opposite a bunch of normal houses. Must be a bit of a pain for those living there every time Fulham play, but you probably know that's going to be an issue when you move in.

While I enjoyed the game and was very glad to have been and would go again at some point in the future, I still can't quite understand the passion of some people who would go week in, week out home and away to watch a game.