Life, Kids, Technology & that move to another continent
Yesterday the girls and I headed back to the Eremites Stadium to watch Arsenal Women’s take on Tottenham in our first Derby. I never have been to a Subway series in New York so i can only imagine this is the similar vibe.
The stadium was packed with over 55,000 people. It was an exciting first half even if it was cold. The 2nd half was less interesting since Arsenal was already well ahead and it didn’t look like Tottenham was going to be a challenge.
It was a fun day out with the ladies.
For years, I’ve pondered which football team to follow. Before moving to England, I had no preference, so it felt like a big decision. Once you pick, you really can’t change. I even wrote about this in a separate entry. To make it official, I discussed it with my kids and got their buy-in on my choice. I had chosen Arsenal for several reasons (which I won’t go into again here).
I’d never been to a professional football match before. M, the girls, and I had talked about going, but without a team to root for, it didn’t feel worth the effort. This fall, though, I booked tickets. Since I have two daughters—and because it’s generally easier to get tickets—I chose an Arsenal Women’s match. Afterward, my daughters were looking at kits to purchase. That’s when my oldest announced she wasn’t getting one because she wasn’t sure if she’d follow Arsenal like the rest of us. Instead, she was considering Chelsea.
When I asked why Chelsea, she explained that one of her teachers is a Chelsea fan, and Alex Rider, a character from a book series she likes, is too. I jokingly told her I didn’t know where I’d gone wrong as a parent. She laughed, knowing I was kidding. I shared a story about my dad, a New York Giants (American Football) fan, and how, even though I wasn’t into football, if I had to choose, I’d have picked the Washington Redskins back then. My dad didn’t give me a hard time about it.
At the Arsenal match, I told T that if she enjoyed the experience, I’d look into taking her to a Chelsea home game to see if she liked them better. She agreed, while A was set on returning for another Arsenal match. (Side note: I keep reminding myself to say “match” instead of “game.”)
When I started looking into Chelsea home games, we stumbled upon the Chelsea vs. Arsenal game at Emirates Stadium. T then said if we went to that match, she’d “most likely” choose Arsenal. I offered the Chelsea home game option again, but she was set on seeing Arsenal face Chelsea at Emirates. Before the match, she even asked for the same light-blue Arsenal kit top that A had. I told her that once we bought it, there’d be no turning back. 🙂
The whole family went to the Arsenal vs. Chelsea match, and while we were all disappointed by Chelsea’s win, it was a great game. You can never be entirely sure with T, but I’m mildly confident she’s officially joined the rest of us as an Arsenal fan.
When the girls and I decided on a football club to follow, I mentioned wanting to schedule a time to attend a game with them. This past weekend, we finally went to our first football match, which was also our first time at Emirates Stadium. The girls had watched football on TV before, and we all really enjoyed it. Even M, who mildly got into it during the Euros, showed some interest. I wanted them to experience the excitement of a live game, especially in a packed stadium. With Arsenal Women now playing many home games at Emirates, it felt like the perfect opportunity.
We were not disappointed. Our seats were near midfield, offering a fantastic view of everything. The energy in the stadium was amazing, with around 42,000 people in attendance. It wasn’t quite a sellout, but when Arsenal scored or had a near miss, the place exploded with noise. Even T, who is still undecided on teams, got caught up in the excitement.
With M still in the States last minute, I ended up taking one of the girls’ friends to the game. She wasn’t even a football fan, let alone an Arsenal supporter, but she was probably louder than both my girls combined!
By the time the game ended, both girls agreed they wanted to do it again.
When we got home, A made the cover of the game programme the background on her tablet.
I’ve mentioned before how surprised I am at how much I enjoy watching football on TV. Experiencing it live was even better.
I’m marking this one down as a parenting win
If you’re American, no, I’m not talking about that kind of football. I’m talking about the kind that everyone else in the world calls football—or association football. For most of my life, though, I called it soccer.
When I was little, my parents encouraged me to be active and take up a sport. I wasn’t naturally good at sports, but I did play soccer from around age five until I was about 11. I wasn’t the best player, but I knew how to play and genuinely enjoyed it.
Despite playing soccer, I never really followed professional sports. Sure, I had favorite teams in American football, baseball, and hockey, but I didn’t actively watch games or check the standings. I never even had a basketball team. Among all the major U.S. sports, I liked hockey the most. There was something about it—maybe the fast-paced, low-scoring nature of the game. You had to stay focused on the action, even during quieter moments, because if you looked away, you might miss a goal. Baseball was just too slow for me, and I could never get into basketball. American football never fully grabbed my attention either—I’d watch, but I was never really invested.
When I moved to England, not much changed at first. In the first year or two, I didn’t follow any sports, just like I hadn’t in America. But as I started chatting with people, I used sports as a conversation starter. I would ask if they preferred football or cricket. To my surprise, the question was wrong—the real question, they said, was football or rugby. Even though it wasn’t the perfect icebreaker, I learned about people’s favorite teams and why they supported them.
Out of curiosity, I eventually watched an England women’s national team game, and to my surprise, I really enjoyed it. The same reasons I liked ice hockey seemed to apply to football as well. It’s a low-scoring game, and if you step away for a snack, you might miss a goal. But the real challenge came when I tried to pick a team to follow. Talking to locals, I noticed that many people supported a team based on family tradition or where they grew up. As an expat in London, I didn’t have that kind of loyalty. There were three Premier League teams that could be considered “local” to me, and one was particularly popular in my neighborhood.
Some colleagues suggested I support Manchester United, but these were colleagues from India, not locals. I had to explain that living in London, I wanted a team that felt more local.
A lot of people in my neighborhood were West Ham United fans, and their stadium was nearby in Stratford. But I never really felt drawn to West Ham, even though I had nothing against them. Supporting them would’ve been the easy choice, given how popular they were locally.
I knew a couple of people who supported Tottenham, and their history intrigued me. I seriously considered them. I also had friends who supported Arsenal, and I considered them too. For about two years, I was torn between Tottenham and Arsenal, though for much of that time, it was more of an academic debate since I wasn’t watching much football.
Then, the Women’s Euros and the World Cup came along. We watched the England women’s team, and we really enjoyed the games. We also watched several matches from the men’s World Cup. By this spring, I knew I had to make a decision.
In the end, two factors helped me choose. Between Arsenal and Tottenham, Arsenal seemed to have more of a historical edge—by that, I mean they had old records of winning streaks that stood out. Tottenham had always been a strong team, but they didn’t have that same kind of legacy. It’s hard to explain, but it just felt like Arsenal had more history behind them.
The final decision came when I was out at lunch with the girls one day. We talked about it, and since it was going to be a family decision, I let them weigh in. They agreed on Arsenal, and just like that, we became Arsenal fans.
We don’t have any team gear yet, and we haven’t been to a game either, but I’m looking to get tickets for one of the women’s matches at the Emirates this fall. I think it’ll be the perfect introduction for the girls to live football since they’ve already seen matches from the Euros and World Cup, both men’s and women’s.
I was surprised at how much I’ve come to enjoy watching football. When I think about it, the similarities to hockey explain a lot of it. Now, we’ll see if I keep up with the games during the season.
I wrote this over the summer. I figured it was time to post since we are going to our first match tomorrow. More on that another day.
My kids may love living in England. However they may not yet have fully native however. This is based on their request to watch the USA vs Iran World Cup match instead of England vs Wales.
Of course after the USA’s first goal the girls did have me switch to the England game. That and we are watching football so their is that.
I think the whole family is slowly getting into football. The girls convinced me to stay up a bit beyond their bedtime to watch the beginning of the game. I did however they really did not get to watch much. Their interest was good.
I can see some aspects of the game that keeps things interesting. Even after the girls are in bed now I have the game on the BBC! We will know I am hooked when I purchase team swag. I haven’t, yet…
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