Chelsea Vs West Ham

2006.04.09_Chelsea V WestHam
Originally uploaded by Ian Wilson.

This was my first live Premiership game! It was absolutely fantastic, both for the fact that the match itself was great and that the atmosphere was unbeatable.

There was also the matter of Executive suite tickets and free food and beer.

I was expecting a live football match to be very similiar to a live cricket or rugby - you know that the atmosphere is going to be great, but you also know that you're going to miss most of the game because you can't see what's going on down on the pitch, or in the ruck, from where you're sitting. Football ended up being very different in that you can actually follow pretty much everything that happens down on the pitch.

Unless, like me, you're looking in the opposite direction when Maniches' foul gets him sent off.