Today was primarily devoted to Liverpool FC. We started with an informative but brief guided group tour of Anfield Stadium and then milled around outside the stadium until gates opened, enjoying the live music and people-watching. Gates open two hours before the match and we went in fairly early because Chuck always enjoys exploring other stadiums and I enjoy beer. By now, we’ve been to a few soccer matches in other countries and it still blows me away how much more affordable concessions are in other countries. After conversion, it’s $4.11 for a bottle – compared to ~$12 at our MLS stadium at home. Everything seems a lot less commercial at stadiums we’ve visited on our travels, which is a nice contrast. We also got the opportunity to try scouse pie, a Liverpool specialty.

Our seats ended up being directly next to the visiting team’s (Aston Villa) supporters’ section and they were LOUD… and a little feisty. The sections were separated by a big long banner running from the top row all the way down to the bottom and security guards and police on both sides of the banner every couple of rows. Even still, throughout the full match, fans on either side leaned over the banner and leered at each other and made taunts and rude gestures. It was pretty wild. It was mostly in good fun, but a few fights broke out at the end of the match. It was among the spicier fan interactions I’ve seen so far in my short soccer-watching career.

It turned out to be a pretty exciting match from a sportsball perspective, as well. Aston Villa scored in the first half and Liverpool FC wasn’t able to answer until the 89th minute. Better yet, LFC’s goal was scored by a player, Bobby Firmino, whose contract had just run out, making this his last game with Liverpool. There was 10 minutes of stoppage time and a couple of really close shots at taking the win, but the match ended in a draw.

We hung around in the stands for a while after the match to watch the teeny tiny footballers (I assume players’ kids) playing soccer on the pitch and enjoying the end of season ceremony celebrating players retiring/departing after this season. We thought we waited long enough to be able to catch a bus pretty easily, but unfortunately we waited at two separate bus stops (with 50 or so other fans) for about an hour and didn’t see one single bus. We finally gave up, hailed an expensive Uber back to the hotel, and grabbed dinner in a pub across the street from our hotel.

Today’s Highlights:

• A really beautiful day with clear blue sky and bright sun
• A friendly tour guide
• Affordable beer and an exciting soccer match
• Tiny humans with tiny tootsies kicking big soccer balls and receiving tumultuous cheers from fans
• Being approached by an American tourist asking for directions as though we were locals
• An early night back at the hotel to put our feet up. It was a long day in a VERY sunny stadium.

Tomorrow’s Proposed Adventure(s):

• Catching a (couple of trains) from Liverpool to Edinburgh
• Taking a tour of Edinburgh Castle