San Jose Earthquakes 3-2 LA Galaxy
Stamford Stadium
29 June 2013
Att 50,028
Without sounding like the opening to a Will, I can state for the record that this is Phil writing and I am sober and of sound mind.
With that in mind can I state for the record YES, YES, YES.
Finally I've been to an MLS game that is worthy of the 'beautiful game'. It wasn't just the game itself, where the hosts came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 with goals in the 92nd and 93rd minutes, but the whole package. Yes we had a couple of blips; and advert (just the one) was thrown in over the tannoy after 15 mins, I had the misfortune to sit behind some Koreans (why do they jump up and get excited over every little thing?) and for some reason the 1,500 or so away fans didn't arrive until after the game had started. But it felt, sounded and smelt like a proper game of football. Both sets of fans gave a good account of themselves, the chanting was impressive and even the fans along the side joined in.
However, the highlight of the game was the way in which the home fans celebrated goals 2 & 3 and the final whistle. There was none of that whooping and high 5 shit that plagues Amercian sports, just good old fashioned cheering, surging and jumping up and down, on and off the pitch! (And to those that had left HA HA fecking HA).
The honouring of Amercian Troops at half time, parachutists prior to the game and fireworks after may have been pure Americana, but it worked, fitted in and enhanced the whole event.
The Stadium itself is the home of Stamford University Amercian Football team. The Earthquakes play their bigger games here as their own stadium, Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara, only holds 10,525. They are currently building a new stadium that will hold 18,000. The somewhat unoriginally named Stamford Stadium holds 50,360 and was totally rebuilt in 2005. The previous stadium on the site held over 85,500 in a single tier bowl and hosted 6 WC '94 games as well as the '85 American Football Super Bowl.
I have to admit I really like the stadium and access and parking is very good.
It is a shame that games such as this are a one off event. I don't know if the Earthquakes will continue to play here once they move to their new stadium. In my opinion it would be a pity if they didn't.
And so my final football game of the tour ends on a high. If only we could bottle this and hand around the rest of the MLS, as, despite what some readers think, I do like to be positive about the game I love wherever it is played.
With that in mind can I state for the record YES, YES, YES.
Finally I've been to an MLS game that is worthy of the 'beautiful game'. It wasn't just the game itself, where the hosts came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 with goals in the 92nd and 93rd minutes, but the whole package. Yes we had a couple of blips; and advert (just the one) was thrown in over the tannoy after 15 mins, I had the misfortune to sit behind some Koreans (why do they jump up and get excited over every little thing?) and for some reason the 1,500 or so away fans didn't arrive until after the game had started. But it felt, sounded and smelt like a proper game of football. Both sets of fans gave a good account of themselves, the chanting was impressive and even the fans along the side joined in.
However, the highlight of the game was the way in which the home fans celebrated goals 2 & 3 and the final whistle. There was none of that whooping and high 5 shit that plagues Amercian sports, just good old fashioned cheering, surging and jumping up and down, on and off the pitch! (And to those that had left HA HA fecking HA).
The honouring of Amercian Troops at half time, parachutists prior to the game and fireworks after may have been pure Americana, but it worked, fitted in and enhanced the whole event.
The Stadium itself is the home of Stamford University Amercian Football team. The Earthquakes play their bigger games here as their own stadium, Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara, only holds 10,525. They are currently building a new stadium that will hold 18,000. The somewhat unoriginally named Stamford Stadium holds 50,360 and was totally rebuilt in 2005. The previous stadium on the site held over 85,500 in a single tier bowl and hosted 6 WC '94 games as well as the '85 American Football Super Bowl.
I have to admit I really like the stadium and access and parking is very good.
It is a shame that games such as this are a one off event. I don't know if the Earthquakes will continue to play here once they move to their new stadium. In my opinion it would be a pity if they didn't.
And so my final football game of the tour ends on a high. If only we could bottle this and hand around the rest of the MLS, as, despite what some readers think, I do like to be positive about the game I love wherever it is played.