Paul’s Soccer Stories
English Soccer Tour: That “Back on the Road” Feeling
What is that feeling of leaving home and arriving in a foreign place? It’s excitement, touched with fear, but anticipation through and through. It’s giddy, it’s happy, and it’s freeing. Whatever was back there is just … back there. Left. Escaped? Avoided? Maybe, but not here anyway. That "back on the road feeling" starts to…
A Sad, Wet, Fun Night with West Ham United at Upton Park
Here is a post I wrote back in 2014, when West Ham were in the semifinals of the English League Cup and still in their old ground, Upton Park. Those days are long gone, sadly, so I offer this post as it was written -- a little time capsule, as it were. I find it…
Temporary Baggie: Seeing a Game at West Bromwich Albion
(Note: This post was written in 2014, and other than clubs' league affiliations has not been updated.) One of my travel mantras, taken from Rick Steves, is to try and become a “temporary local.” In the case of my English soccer tour, I take that to mean “temporary fan.” And when seeing a game at…
English Soccer Tour, Stop 1: Heathrow Customs
Here's a re-post of my very first blog entry on my old website -- from back in January 2014, when I was just starting what I then called my English soccer tour. It's turned into a book, a consulting service, and a ticket sales business, but on this day it was just an American coming…
Seeing a Game at Notts County FC
Sometimes seeing English soccer games feels like watching Single-A baseball. Such was the case when Paul visited Notts County (then) of League Two in December, 2015. After catching a Boxing Day game at Brentford in London, I rolled into Nottingham on December 27 sick as a dog – head cold, migraine, exhaustion, the whole thing…
English Soccer Tour: Sunderland’s Big Night at Old Trafford
In this post from 2014, I describe one of the most dramatic nights I've ever had in sport, the second leg of a League Cup semifinal between Sunderland and Manchester United at Old Trafford. Writer's Note: I just want to say a giant thanks to the thousands of Sunderland fans who've read this post, the…
Saturday Morning, Football Train
I love Saturday mornings on English trains. In addition to the ladies going shopping, old couples sitting quietly, families sometimes bickering, and pods of teenagers going who knows where, there are always groups of 20- to 40something men, with beers, talking football. It's one of the things I love about watching English soccer, this kind of…
Leicester v Manchester City, December 2015
(Writer's note: This was written in January 2016, and I have decided to leave it as is.) Seeing a game at Leicester City these days is almost a spiritual experience. Have you ever been to a game where your team was getting crushed, all seemed hopeless, and somehow they started coming back to life? And…
Fulham’s Craven Cottage: A Proper Civilized Football Ground
Going to a game at Fulham is among the more civilized experiences I’ve had in my English soccer travels. First, it’s in a lovely and posh area of West London, and to get there from the nearest tube station you actually walk through a park along the River Thames. Second, the ground, Craven Cottage, is…
Watching a Match at Burnley FC:
A Trip Back in Time
(This is a repost of a game report from Burnley FC in 2014.) The first thing I heard about watching a game at Burnley was from a Sunderland fan – and it wasn’t completely positive. I had just told her, during a game at The Stadium of Light, that I like the old grounds, such…
