My friend Derek had very kindly got his wife a tour of the Emirates Stadium for her to go and see the hallowed turf. He had even managed to get the legendary Charlie George to be the tour guide.
His wife Carol, for some reason, didn't want to go. Maybe she didn't fancy the long and arduous train journey to get there. Maybe she thought the excitement of meeting Charlie George would be too much for her. Or maybe the fact that she is a fan of Norwich City and couldn't give two hoots about Arsenal, the Emirates or Charlie George had something to do with it, but there it is: she didn't want to go. She did, however, suggest that Derek take me along instead. After making sure my sister could look after my mum for the day, I agreed to accompany Derek to modern-day football's most significant ground, home of the 2013/14 FA Cup winners, Arsenals home ground, The Emirates Stadium.
Journey to the Emirates Stadium.
It was a beautiful day, and I walked to the train station. I was excited, and I was half an hour early. Derek had come on the bus and arrived just in time to catch the train. Our train seemed to stop at every station, but it was a pleasant journey with a young lady opposite me who provided us with something pleasant to look at. After arriving at Waterloo, I discovered that my Oyster card wasn't working, and I had to purchase a travel card. After the purchase, we were soon on the underground heading for Arsenal Station. The station brought back memories of going to the old Highbury Stadium on match days with my dad when I was a kid. The difference was that today, it was empty, and there weren't thousands of people filing through the station to the ground.
After leaving the station at about noon, we had enough time to have some liquid refreshments before going to the stadium. We walked to The Gunners Pub, but it was closed, so we walked to the Arsenal Tavern. It was also closed, so we walked to the King's Head, where I had a quick glass of apple juice, and Derek had a ginger ale. After a brief rest, we then walked to the Armoury Store, where we would begin our tour.
Emirates Stadium Tour.
We were soon taken through the store into the stadium via the large car park under the stadium. I don't know whose cars were there, but there were a few AFC number plates on the cars parked there. We were soon sat in the Director's box in big plush leather seats. Charlie George met us there and gave us information about the stadium, he gave us all the facts and figures but gave it with a lot of humour. What I was surprised to hear was that the stadium does not have planning permission already in place to be extended from a 60,000 seater to a 100,000 seater stadium. Charlie told us that the council had never given this and that the story that many of us had heard that it already had permission to be extended to a 100,000-seater stadium was not true.
We were soon off to tour the rest of the stadium. We went into the home dressing room, and Charlie told us that Arsene Wenger believed that a square dressing room was unlucky, which is why the dressing room was in the shape of a lucky horseshoe. He also told us that the away team dressing room was square. Everybody sat down and had their photo taken by their favourite player's shirt. Charlie told us not to nick the shirts as they all still had the electronic security tags on them. I think he was joking, but I didn't check.
After seeing the dressing rooms, the physio room and the hydro pool, we then moved to walk down the tunnel to the pitch. Charlie told us all about the pitch and how it was built and cared for, as well as which seat was Arsene Wengers in the dugout. Arsene was superstitious as he took seat 13. I knew that 13 was a lucky number in China, but it appeared that it was also a lucky number in France. I, like the majority of people on the tour, sat in his chair and had my photo taken. Lots of the people on the tour had their photos taken with Charlie George whilst we were in the Diamond Club section of the tour. I had decided that if I were to have a photo taken with the Arsenal Legend, it would be at the pitchside. He was very gracious and had his photo taken with both Derek and me, pitchside, even though security was trying to move us along because of a security alert caused by some twit leaving their rucksack next to the home team dugout.
Next, we were shown the pressroom and interview rooms before we all sat down with Charlie, where he told us a few more stories and had a question-and-answer session. He really did have a good sense of humour, and it was great to listen to his stories. The tour was over, and we were then told we could go back anywhere we had been to take more photos. I went back to the room where the FA Cup was to have my photo taken with it.
After the tour, I went back to the shop and purchased a nice new Arsenal shirt with my name and the number 7 on the back. Number 7 was my favourite Arsenal player's shirt number, Liam Brady, another true Arsenal legend. After my spot of retail therapy, we walked round to the Arsenal Museum. I have to say the Arsenal Museum is poorly laid out, and a lot of the interactive displays were not working. All in all, I thought the stadium tour was fantastic, especially having done it with ex-Arsenal player Charlie George. I would recommend the Legends Tour to anyone. The museum, however, was poor, and I wouldn't recommend it at all. I had been to the Nou Camp tour and museum in Barcelona and found the museum there a lot better, maybe because it was part of the stadium, but it was just better laid out and a lot brighter.
Journey home.
With the tour done, it was time to head back to Waterloo and catch our train back home. Unsure of where the nearest station was, we went into The Drayton Arms pub to ask for directions. They refused to give us directions until we bought a pint, so we had a pint and then followed their directions. Unfortunately, the directions they gave us were not very good, and we soon had to stop and ask for directions at a pub called Horatia. They were invaluable, and after a couple of pints, we were soon on our way again. The walking was arduous work in the heat, and to prevent us from dehydrating, we made pit stops at The Lamb, The King and Crown and The Bailey before arriving at The Famous Cock Tavern, where we had a pint and some grub.
Now feeling refreshed, we headed back to Waterloo to find that our train wasn't due for half an hour. This gave us just enough time to pop into the Hole in the Wall pub for a swift shandy before getting the train home.
Today had been a great day out. We visited the home of football, met an Arsenal legend, had a good walk in the sun, and made sure I had my recommended daily allowance of fruit for the day; all be it in liquid form.