First and foremost, one of the major plusses of my trip was the fact that I gave my family an excuse to leave the country and come visit me. I was so excited to see them and give them the chance to taste the Brit life. Despite their nightmarish delays on the plane ride over (at least they brought decent weather), I enjoyed watching how bright-eyed and bushy-tailed they were when I met them for the train ride from Fenchurch Street to Southend Central. My family reacted the same way I did, taking in everything (and not being able to decide on whether to look out the window on the right on the one on the left). I was eager to show my family the sights and sounds of Southend, but soon it donned on me that I was still needed at work.
The only portion of work that ever seemed to drag was the week that my family was in Southend. Its funny to think that in the week they spent in England, they probably saw more of London than I did during the whole summer. I went to England with the intentions of assimilating into the culture as much as possible and not trying to look like a tourist. Yet, with my family my cover clearly was blown so I went with them to the tourist hot spots around London. We visited Big Ben and the House of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace. These were all sights that I had wanted to see, but I never really took the time out to see them. It was great to see my brother and sister immersed in a completely different culture, as it was nothing I was able to do when I was their age. But as excited I was to see them enjoy the sights and sounds, my one goal was for them to finally understand my passion for football firsthand.
As I had said in one of my first posts, my goal was to visit Stamford Bridge, home of my beloved Chelsea. Yet, as the schedules came out, every Chelsea home game coincided with a Southend United home game during my stay. It was a crushing blow. I was truly disheartened. However the Football Gods were kind enough to to smile upon me. I was perusing the Chelsea website and it was brought to my attention that the home opener against Birmingham City had been chosen for television coverage and thus moved from 3 PM Saturday to 1 PM Sunday. When my brain finally put two and two together (that I might actually be able to attend the game) my index finger went into overdrive and set an international record for clicking a mouse button. I found that tickets were still available for the game. The Football Gods smiled upon me once more as I was astonished when I purchased five tickets (all next to each other!) for the game. It was like the Gods gave me 5 golden tickets to visit my personal Mount Olympus where I could watch the football greats like Terry, Cech, Essien, Drogba, and Lampard. I was speechless...until I paraded around the office in triumph.
Heres what gold would look like if it was actually paper.
With tickets for Chelsea's home opener against Birmingham City firmly in my grasp, it was time to focus on Southend's home opener against local rivals in Leyton Orient. I was thrilled to finally see a meaningful match at Roots Hall. There was a real buzz about the area, something I hadn't seen on my morning commutes. My brother lent a helping hand as there was a shortage of "Programme" sellers. He managed to finagle a free Southend home jersey out of the deal, so I guess it was a win-win situation. There were issues with the bus that Saturday and my parents and sister missed about the first twenty minutes of the game (in all fairness to them, 2 PM bus never showed). In typical Greene family fashion, as my brother and I went outside the stadium to give my parents their tickets, we missed the only Southend goal of the game! Notice I didnt say only goal, as we were all witness to Leyton Orient securing a 2-1 comeback win as Southend were reduced to ten men as Alan McCormack was sent off for his second bookable offense. It was not the start to the season that I envisioned and I spent the rest of my night worrying that lightning didnt strike twice when the final whistle blew at the Chelsea game.
The build up to the Chelsea game was fantastic. I had read a statistic that Stamford Bridge had the most pubs in a one-mile radius and after visiting I fully agree. We spent the morning looking for a place to enjoy the pre-game atmosphere. We found a bar and upon entering, we were asked to state our allegiance, and I proudly stated that I was a Chelsea fan. It felt great to say it and feel a part of it. My family had no choice but to follow suit. We stood around an already crowded bar filled to the brim with Chelsea paraphernalia. After a few drinks, my family decided to visit the megastore and it was like I was 7 years old again at Toy R Us. I was just plain giddy. I made sure that my family picked up Chelsea apparel to look the part (I was already wearing my Drogba jersey of course). I finally purchased the neon jersey that I had been longing for, its awesome. We made our way to the Bridge, and I couldnt contain my excitement. I dont think I could have prepared for the beauty that awaited my eyes. It was everything that I wanted it to be and more.
Stamford Bridge in all her glory.
I was as antsy as a kid waiting to blow out the candles on the birthday cake. The game was a thriller, the crowd was buzzing and there were plenty of goals to boot.
The one downside was that Drogba was not expected to play as he was out with an injury. Chelsea dominated the match early with plenty of near misses, but it was the visiting Birmingham City that scored the first goal. Chelsea came back to score two before Birmingham City leveled things at two apiece. However, we were blessed to witness a great goal from an unlikely source in Michael Essien. The bruising midfielder put a great shot in the back of the net and Stamford Bridge went nuts. We were able to go home happy as Essien's goal proved to be the difference. Much to my surprise, Mourinho brought Drogba on for a few minutes towards then end of the match.
I wasnt the only one who was really excited to see him touch the field.
The final whistle blew at 3-2. It took me a few minutes to realize that I had just saw my favorite team play at home in an exciting match. Not one for the purists, but it was just the prescription to suck in casual observers like my family. They were as drawn to action and the atmosphere as much as I was, and thats saying something. Watching my father -who was one of soccer's biggest naysayers- truly enjoy the game (and the hotdogs) was one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had.
THIS PHOTO HAS NOT BEEN DOCTORED IN ANY WAY. This was a genuine smile on my father's face after the game.
It what seemed like a blink of an eye, my family came and left. I was once again left to my own devices but it wasnt the worst thing in the world. I actually had another chance to see Chelsea play with my buddy Rob (a fellow Chelsea fan). This time they were on the road at Reading. Rob and I met at Paddington Station and took the train up to Reading. We had plenty of drinks with Chelsea fans at the pub in the train station and took the bus shuttle over to Madjeski Stadium. I remember it absolutely pouring out when we we were waiting for the bus. Rob and I sat with the Reading fans and we were forced to keep our allegiance a secret amongst ourselves for our own protection. Chelsea went down early once again but stormed back to win thanks to a fantastic long-range effort from my Drogba.
I also had the privilege of traveling with some West Ham faithful to watch the Hammers take on Birmingham City at St. Andrew's in Birmingham. It was a miserable day out, but the West Ham fans were fantastic and were able to leave happily with a late 1-0 win. Southend's season was a rocky one during my stay (although they were able to right the ship after I left). I did have the chance to witness the fearsome Millwall following come to town. I hadnt seen Green Street Hooligans at this point (great movie by the way), but it confirmed everything I witnessed with the Millwall fans, they were absolutely terrifying. Southend fans are usually the type to aim a few jabs at opposing fans, but there were none of the sort when Millwall lost 1-0 at Roots Hall.
The sands of time quickly fell out of my hands and before I knew it, my summer was over. Like I said earlier, I miss England more than anything. These past few months have only confirmed that my heart is in the olde country; even despite the fact that they drive on the wrong side of the road. I made some great friends (and even better drinking buddies), I saw some wonderful places I never even dreamt of seeing. I also had the chance to be independent and grow as a person; I learned a lot about myself. Most importantly, I lived, breathed, ate, slept, worked, played, watched, learned, and listened football.
A special thanks goes out to my parents because without their blessing this never would have happened. Also, thanks to everyone who enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Merry Christmas!
