In the posh seats with Becks (Emirates Stadium (Arsenal))

Member Name: sympatic

Product:	Emirates Stadium (Arsenal)
Date:	28/08/08 (181 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great design

Disadvantages: Crowded getting out due to narrow London streets

Last night my boyfriend had managed to score two tickets to watch Arsenal play adutch team called Twente in the Champions League so I got to visit the new Arsenal football ground for the first time as his mate he usually goes with could not go. Not a big football fan myself but I do enjoy a live game very occasionally and at least at this time of year it does not get too cold.

The ground is located right in Ashburton Grove next to the old stadium pretty much, about a two or three minute walk apart, we actully drove in and paid to park near Finsbury Station, this cost us £15 for the match which is a bit steep. Finsbury Park is one of the tube stations lots of fans use to get to the ground and is about a fifteen minute walk to the stadium, Arsenal tube station is closer and is on the Picadilly line but gets very crowded when you try to leave the stadium after the game apparently. You can also walk from Holloway Road or Highbury and Islington and there are lots of buses routes that go to the area.

The walk down is nice as the fans stream towards the ground and being a residential area there are loads of cafe and pubs to eat and drink in as well as the usual fast food vans and merchandise stores. However when you get to the ground there are large Arsenal retail shops at either end of the stadium so save your money and buy some genuine stuff.

We had two seats in what is called Club Level which is a bit posh as it is only beaten by the boxes in terms of cost, apparetly the guy whose tickets they were pays over £3,000 per ticket for the season, normal tickets start from about £40 up to the mid seventies apparently but the games usually sell out to the members. Certainly the seats were nice and wide and we had a great view as we were between the lower and upper levels. There were no tickets but credit card things which you swipe like an Oyster card and then an escalator took us up to our seating area.

The design of the ground is very modern as it is only just over two years old and every seat has a good view I reckon as there are no posts like the old stadium had. The pitch looked perfect and at either end there are two large screens that before the games has news and features on and during the game show replays and also team sheets showing who has scored or been booked.

The area we had access to had large bars and a restaurant, at half time we were entitled to free drinks which included lager, beer, red or white wine or a hot drink, there must have also been somewhere to get snack food as I saw people with pies and stuff but we ate before the game so I did not actually see where these were or the prices. In the bars there were TV screens showing results from other games and highlights. Apparently my boyfriend saw a couple of former players in that area but the names meant nothing to me.

One thing I was really impressed with was how clean the toilets were, they were very modern and well maintained.

The atmosphere was really good in the ground, lots of singing and not a lot of swearing which was nice, the Dutch fans made lots of noise and seemed to enjoy themselves even if they did get well beaten.

The only real downside for me was how long it took to get out of the ground, we ended up walking the long way ound as my boyfriend reckoned it was still quicker and the traffic leaving Finsbury was awful but then we expected that.

Definately recommend it as being worth a visit as it is an impressive stadium and if you can get into the club section you get some nice extra touches as well. Apparently there are tours as well that you can do during the week.

Summary: Great football ground.