Leicester vs. Chelsea

Football is a phenomenon. Hundreds of millions of people across the globe live and breathe it, playing it with their friends and watching their heroes. There’s no difference in the UK and Coventry. Football is considered very important here, sometimes even a way of life. Exactly why you should watch at least one game in a crowded pub or even better, live in a stadium!

On a rainy Saturday, my roomies and I took the bus to Leicester to watch the Leicester vs. Chelsea game. The original plan was to watch it in a pub close to the King Power Stadium, home of Leicester City. However, during the bus ride, Rik got a call by one of our other Belgian friends that they had a spare ticket for him. Lucky guy! We decided to ask the ticket counter if there were any seats left and there were … So, we thought “Why the hell not?”

Amazing atmosphere

The atmosphere in the stadium was amazing. Almost the entire stadium was dressed in blue and white to support their favourite team, Leicester City, and Chelsea fans chanted very loud throughout the game. The vibe was a little less towards the end though, when it became clear that the game would end at 2-2. It was also nice to see our Belgian boys, Youri Tielemans, Dennis Praet and Michy Batshuayi, in action. A nice preview for the European Championship!

The only drawback was that we didn’t know we weren’t allowed to drink beer or other alcoholic drinks in our seats, meaning we had to down our beers in front of the security guards. In England alcohol can be sold within the stadium but cannot be drunk “in view of the pitch”. This prevents fans from drinking while in their seats but allows booze to be sold before the match and at half-time. Lesson learned for next time!

Important note

Due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, there will be no professional football in England for the remainder of March. The FA, Premier League, EFL, Barclays FA Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship have collectively agreed to postpone the professional game in England until Friday 3 April at the earliest. This action, which will be kept under constant review, has been taken due to the increasing numbers of clubs taking steps to isolate their players and staff because of the COVID-19 virus.

© LCFC

Even if you’re not a football fan, watching a game in the UK is a unique experience. If you have the chance to watch a game while you’re still studying in Coventry, I would definitely do it, but safety comes first!