Chelsea (part II)

The game was about to begin and so was our English soccer experience. Bill was the happiest I have seen him in a long time watching the teams kick off. Within 56 seconds of the game starting, Chelsea had scored the first goal of the game. A good sign that Bill was in for a great game.

The mood of the stadium was exuberant, until a few seconds later that goal was matched by the Fulham team. There was a father and three little boys sitting next to us. The cutest thing was watching these little boys (about 8 - 10 years old) singing at the top of their lungs all the different Chelsea stadium chants. (And boy do they have a surprisingly large number of them, and every one seem to know them all.) Chelsea soon was up 3 to 1 where the score would stay for the remainder of the game.

It was interesting to see the soccer be such a big part of their culture. They had a section in the stadium reserved for Fulham fans to keep them separate from the Chelsea fans. That section of Fulham fans would sing their chants while facing the section next to them of Chelsea fans. The Chelsea fans would let them sing and then when they were done they would sing at the top of their lungs the Chelsea chants while facing the Fulham fans. I told Bill it looked like a scene from West Side Story where the two rival gangs sings their threats to each other.

After a thrilling game (Which I slept through 20 minutes of even in a stadium of 42,000 screaming fans. Boy, I must have been so tired!) we waited for some of the crowds to clear out and made our way to the stadium "Chelsea Mega-Store" for some Billy shopping action. We had to wait in a giant line even to get into this store. It was two levels of Chelsea gear madness. I could not believe the size of this store! Nothing but Chelsea fan gear inside. We bought all 3 of the Barber boys some Chelsea shirts (William ended up with a jersey that was on clearance) and some soccer socks. We even picked up a key chain for Bill's brother, David, who is also a true blue Chelsea fan.

After making such a giant effort to get to Chelsea for a game, the team made Bill and honorary member of the team. (or not.) It was a total English experience that I am glad I was able to experience. Of course, Bill would definitely say it was the highlight of the whole 10 day trip!