Watching European Football
Europeans just do football different and I don’t think I understood just how big of a deal it was until I got to experience it for myself. The thing I found interesting was that each team and country has a slightly different culture and feel to their football and so I thought that I would write a summary of the different places we’ve watched football over the years (Sebastian and I) and what the pros and cons were for each one to help if you ever decided to experience it.
The Allianz Arena in Munich: one of the most iconic stadiums in the world for a night game
As I started writing this it became very apparent that each section in itself would be worthy of an article to do them all justice so I am going to a quick overview of how I found European football in general and then break it down in detail for each one. The ones that I will review are:
Bayern Munich
Frankfurt
West Ham United
Ac Milan
Juventus
Paris Saint Germain
Juventus
Overall I loved watching football in each and every city that I saw a game. I underestimated just how passionate the fans are, the intensity of the fans at each of the different locations as well as the fact that nearly every match we went to was sold out or very close to full capacity. To say atmosphere was amazing is an understatement, even if you aren’t a fan of football you should go just to experience the energy of being at the match, it’s electric.
Forever blowing bubbles at West Ham United
I think the biggest difference about the crowds an atmosphere compared to football (rugby league) in Australia is that they are active all the time. From the moment the game starts the home fans start chanting and singing and it really doesn’t stop for the full 90 minutes. While I couldn’t understand the chants at any matches other than West Ham I loved it. Most teams had a song at the start of the match and the whole crowd got into it, I guess I am just used to league where cheering only really happens when something exciting is happening or when you dispute a decision or want to have a crack at the ref, European football is very different to this.
The next thing is tickets which are hard to come by. Most games are sold out by match day and so to secure yourself a ticket in advance it is best to familiarise yourself with how each club works. Some clubs it will be easier if you are a financial member, some you just need to register on their website, some do a ballot, some release them only 3-4 weeks in advance. Travelling from Australia this can be hard to plan around because to get the cheapest flight you generally want to book in advance, tickets are a big challenge.
Transport, driving to matches isn’t really an option particularly when you expect to get seventy thousand plus to a match and where the stadium in the majority of these cases is located in the centre of a major or capital city. I would put every match at the same level of going to a big match at Stadium Australia (or whatever it is called now), there were no matches that were the equivalent of a Penrith Stadium or Brookvale Oval, each city has their own unique way of doing things which all have their pro’s and cons.
Parc Des Princes in Paris, high in the stands
The last thing to compare is one of my favourites which is the stadiums themselves. Every team has their own unique stadium, some as new at the London Olympic Stadium, some as old as the San Siro in Milan. Types of seats, spacing, access, view, steepness they all have their own little quirks, as well as the difference of how they approach away fans. I definitely think that the stadium plays a big part of overall match day experience but I also think that a new stadium doesn’t guarantee that the experience is better, maybe this is a good one for rugby league fans to learn from.
Alright, so without giving too much away for each one I’m going to wrap it up there, my one piece of advice (or a recommendation), get yourself to a match, you definitely don’t need to be a fan of the teams you are going to watch to have an excellent experience. I was also concerned about safety, at no stage did I ever feel unsafe at a match, admittedly I was always a home fan except for one match but never did I see violence in and around the match.
I hope you enjoy this series.
Michael