BigRuss

Annhig -- the Japanese baseball fans (cheers, chants, bands) are closer to European soccer fans (with far fewer expletives) than any major US pro sports fan. You won't hear "you'll never walk alone" at US stadia.

The college (university in British) football and basketball games have more singing and chanting during the course of the game than most pro games (with the exception of the stupid "Hail to the Redskins" song). Some of the more boisterous crowds in the major sports will have frequent chanting -- the Packers, Broncos and Chiefs in football, Yankees, Mets, Redsax, Phillies in baseball, but nothing like European football, as memorialized at this website: http://home.wanadoo.nl/maarten.geluk/.

freberta

Excuse me, BigRuss, but even though Dan Snyder is not the most popular guy in DC, we all love "Hail to the Redskins" (Hail victory! Braves on the Warpath! Fight for old DC!). We love hearing that song played on the radio when the Redskins are winning (but honestly, it's been awhile since we've had a winning season).

I love your link. Is it for real? Do they really sing all that stuff? We probably won't even be able to understand what they're singing.

beanweb24

Did you buy your tix online at the URL you provided or over the phone? I can't find the game listed at the link you sent.

beanweb24

Never mind...I clearly have reading comprehension issues.

beanweb24

Congrats on getting your tix...they are already sold out!

BigRuss

I think the songs are legit -- I mean, he's even compiled Scottish Premier League chants (some of which I heard in modified versions at Tyncastle) and no one cares about those but the Scots (and with reason considering how putrid the SPL teams do in Champions League play). That said, a lot are out of date thanks to the various transfers (in soccer, there are "transfer windows" twice each year where team A can pay team B an outrageous amount of money and team B transfers Player P in exchange). If you want more interesting information, read Franklin Foer's How Soccer Explains the World.

That Redskin song makes me ill. Thankfully, the Giants have whupped them like a Dickensian schoolboy recently -- keeps my nausea to an acceptable level.

annhig

I love your link. Is it for real? Do they really sing all that stuff? We probably won't even be able to understand what they're singing.>>

oh yes you will.

especially the universal one about the ref - though it probably won't mean much to you, as "winking" doesn't have the same meaning in the US as it does here.

I had a look at the spurs songs - and my fave was missing; though it too has been overtaken by events.

anyway, it went like this:

Dimitar Berbetov
Dimitar Berbetov

[etc etc] sung to the tune of "la donnna'e mobile".

Try it!

Lifeman

I've just looked at BigRuss's link to the "songs" website. I've been a United fan since the 50's and even I didn't recognise some of those chants. There are others that are so old that they've not been sung for 20 years.

I won't pretend that the language at a football match isn't a bit choice on occasions, but go with an open mind. By the way, if you've bought your tickets via United, don't act on 2g's recommendation to cheer for Chelsea!

alanRow

When it was disclosed that Andy Goram had mild schizophrenia the fans chanted "Two Andy Gorams, there's only two Andy Gorams.

freberta

Sometimes, last minute plans work out better than the ones you've had forever. I've been planning this trip since we got home from last summer's trip to Switzerland but this is an idea we came up with just the other day. I am sure we are going to have a lot of fun, and we can easily ignore the foul language (it certainly can't be worse than anything we hear around here!). We'll be careful who we root for.

freberta

Now that we have tickets to see the game, the next question is this: do they sell official merchandise in the stadium (jerseys, balls, etc.)? Are there souvenir hawkers outside the stadium selling unofficial stuff and other junk? Or is it better to purchase a jersey or tee shirt somewhere else in London or even online when we get home?

Lifeman

Now freberta, the $64000 question. Who are you going to support? If Manchester United, then:

http://store.manutd.com/stores/manutd/default.aspx

If Chelsea--I have no idea.

Last time I went to Wembley, there were no outside vendors coming from the rail side. I think that there may still be stalls on Wembley Way. Inside Wembley is madly expensive.

If you want your shirts etc. to last more than one wash, then I'd buy online from the club's website.

twk

Not to hijack the thread, but if you want to read an interesting story about Hail to the Redskins, and how that song ultimately helped lead to the Dallas Cowboys coming into the league, check out the ESPN story linked, here: http://tinyurl.com/24s2356

PatrickLondon

If you bought your ticket from ManU, you will be sitting with their fans, so it's clear what you should and shouldn't wear!

BigRuss

I'm with Patrick on this -- if you bought from ManU, that means NOBODY IN YOUR PARTY CAN WEAR BLUE as their primary color on their shirts. That's Chelski's color. Better start shopping for red (reddish) stuff if you're not going to wear team apparel.

www.foxsoccershop.com and http://www.subsidesports.com/us can get you started on your purchases. The team kits ain't cheap. Subside Sports tends to have a larger inventory of previous years' apparel that is less expensive (the teams alter their kits in subtle or occasionally dramatic ways each year to pump up the revenues from their sporting goods).

freberta

twk, that was an interesting story about Hail to the Redskins. So, is that where the rivalry between the Redskins and the Cowboys started? Over a silly ditty?

Thanks for the heads up on the apparel. No blue for us that day. Maybe we'll wear white to remain neutral.

I have to say that, so far, we've been impressed with customer service in England. After purchasing the tickets over the phone, we did not get any sort of confirmation by email. Just to be on the safe side, we emailed Manchester, and received a reply the next day from the woman who took the order over the phone. And that promptness and thoroughness extend to every one I've had to email in the course of planning this trip.

Thanks.