From Manchester, One Day, Two Premier League Games

One of the great things about seeing football in England is how close everything is — at least to my American eyes. For example, here is how, while spending the night in Manchester, I managed to see two Premier League games in one day.

It’s a great example of why we recommend using Manchester as your base for a football trip to England. Obviously, London is an amazing city with plentiful soccer options, but Manchester is also a real hub of football, with a dozen or more Premier League and Football League clubs within an hour so of its three train stations.

Game 1: Wolverhampton vs Brighton

On my doubleheader day, I started at Manchester Piccadilly Station, where I took an 11:30 train for one hour and £45 return price to Wolverhampton. It’s just a 15-minute walk from the Wolverhampton Station to the stadium, and along the way you pass, I don’t know, a dozen pubs? Probably more. It’s remarkable, and I listed quite a few of them in our now-updated Wolverhampton profile here on the site. Ultras members can read the whole thing.

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Getting a Wolverhampton ticket isn’t as hard as it used to be. I got a membership — £50 for the season — but the game wound up on General Sale anyway. Most of their games do. And here’s a whole video about how tickets and hospitality work in English soccer. I spent another £50 on my ticket, to get a good one, so this game cost me around $130 US. It probably could have been as little as $40.

Kickoff was 3 p.m.; I had left my hotel room in Manchester at 11. The sun was out, the fans were excited, and there were some excellent songs before the game.

Sadly for the people around me, that was the high point. Brighton got a goal in the first half, then three in the first nine minutes of the second, and “ran out” 4-1 winners. Their fans enjoyed their day in the sun a lot more than the Wolves folks, many of whom left with more than 30 minutes to go.

I popped out just before the final whistle so I could scamper back to the station for a 5:30 train back to Manchester. I arrived at 6:30 back at Piccadilly, then hopped a tram to game 2.

Game 2: Manchester City vs Newcastle

This was probably the highlight game of the Premier League schedule that wekeend, and since I was in town — and since Groundhopper Guides sells Manchester City tickets and hospitality — I saw no reason to miss it. My seat was one section over from the Newcastle fans, some of the best and loudest in the country.

Before the game, City had a big presentation for their Treble-winning season last year, including all three trophies and a giant banner that covered the whole pitch. Here’s a sense of the pregame atmosphere, including the Newcastle fans chanting “What the fucking hell is that” at the City fans and their banner. You can make it out starting at the 1:30 mark in this atmosphere video.

The seats there are part of the 93:20 package that we sell at Groundhopper Guides. We have even better City tickets, as well!

Check Our Manchester City Tickets and Hospitality

 

City got those three points, of course, and the crowd enjoyed the game and the pregame treble winners spectacle. Newcastle fans not so much, but they were loud and proud the whole game.

And then I took the tram back into Manchester! I was basically gone for 12 hours and saw two Premier League games with six goals.

The weekend before, by the way, I went to Burnley on Friday night and Sheffield United on Saturday, both with our Premier League tickets. For good measure, I even went down to London for Chelsea vs Liverpool on Sunday.

Here’s a photo gallery from the day. Just click the first image, scroll through and enjoy.

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