And Matt’s not-so-high highlights
For just about as long as Declan’s been an Arsenal fan, he’s also been a fan of the England Men’s National Team. And from the moment Marilynn fixed the dates for our trip, Declan was on the web to see what games we could attend.
The England vs. North Macedonia match we saw on Monday was a qualifier for Euro 2024, a continental competition played every four years. In other words, a big deal to name the top national team in Europe. So here is my report from the day, with Declan’s highlights and my not-so-high highlights.
3 — Number of goals scored by Bukayo Saka, Declan’s favorite Arsenal player, for his first-ever hat trick. The game was 7-0 in favor of the good guys. Saka is England-born of Nigerian parents, and Bukayo means “adds to happiness” in the Yoruba language. Saka absolutely adds to our happiness when he’s on the pitch.
10.07 — Number of miles I walked that day, according to my Fitbit. We were up at the ass-crack of dawn to make the flight to Manchester, followed by walking to the off-airport hotel, back to the airport to catch tram/train to central Manchester (where we visited the National Football Museum and Classic Football Shirts and also saw North Macedonia fans making merry outside a local pub), tram back to our hotel, tram to within 1 mile of the football ground, walking to the ground, then repeating the last two steps in reverse to return to our hotel by 11 or so.
70,708 — Attendance at Old Trafford, the historic home of Manchester United that seats 74,310. Less than 4,000 under a sellout is a great turnout for a summer game for a team that already had clenched the top spot in the division.
20,125 — My estimation of the number of vuvuzelas we heard during the match. In case you don’t know, the sound these instruments make is annoying as hell, which after the 2010 World Cup led to bans at many international football events. They’re also banned at many Premier League stadiums, but apparently not at Old Trafford. It wasn’t so much the sound; it was that a group of kids (Lord, I hope they were just kids) right above us kept (badly) using their vuvuzelas to play the nine-note tune that exhorts the crowd to shout “Let’s Go!” Fun side note: in England matches, it’s not “let’s go,” but “England!” Second fun side note: If one cannot remember how to spell vuvuzela, just look up “annoying horn, World Cup,” and it comes up instantly.
£101.50 — The price of our two tickets, including fees, which I thought was extremely reasonable for a national match. Compared to major league American sports, European football is much less expensive.
£15.50 — The price I paid for a ham and cheese toastie (toasted sandwich) at the Clayton Hotel, Manchester Airport, where we stayed. While I do know that prices are higher at hotel restaurants, one expects meat and such on said sandwich. There weren’t more than two sad slices of ham on this toastie, which didn’t cover 60% of the bread. Waving a toastie in the air and thinking about hogs does not make ham magically appear between the bread slices. I did get that charge taken off the bill, but the audacity to charge so much for so little still galls.
1 — Declan’s rank for our day in Manchester among our first 10 days. We knew it would be a highlight of the trip, and it didn’t disappoint.
1 — Despite the long day, the 10 miles of walking, the 4-plus hours of public transport, and the bad food, I’ll have to agree. Making lifetime memories with your son far outweighs the inconvenience and sore legs that ambitious jaunts require — although I would like to have told those 20,125 fans where they should insert those vuvuzelas!
To Europe ... and Back 