A Day-by-Day Look by junior Shaun Stone and sophomore Scott Hoch
The Furman Men's Soccer team along with family members and friends of the program, took a trip to England from Friday February 22 through Sunday March 3, 2002. It was an unforgettable, once in a lifetime experience for everyone involved. A brief description of our week follows:
We arrived on Saturday, after flying through the night, in Manchester to wind, rain, sleet, hail and snow. After being herded together and having all cleared customs (except for Mo whose Kenyan passport didn't sit well with the airport officials) we went straight to the bus to take us to Old Trafford, which is the home of Manchester United. The experience of the stadium was something that I'm sure none of us will ever forget. 67,000 fans singing in unison were there waiting for us as we arrived at halftime. To be able to see the best players in the world playing live makes you appreciate the game that much more. Manchester beat Aston Villa 1-0 on a Van Nistelroy goal. We headed to the hotel, which was about 15 minutes from the stadium but was an hour drive with the traffic after the game. None of us seemed to mind because jet lag was seriously taking a toll on us by that time. Our guide for the week, Ryan, woke us as we arrived at the hotel with his famous words "Wakee, Wakee, boys". We would come to hear these words often on the trip, as bus rides were always good for naps after long, long nights. After our naps we headed down to eat and enjoy the 70/80's theme party in the hotel. Needless to say, we were the only ones under 50 at the party.
We woke up early the next day and headed to downtown Manchester that is home to Salford University. We felt like the bad news bears walking into their locker room and quickly appreciated our good facilities at Furman. We were forced to play outside on their turf field due to the amount of rain they had received. As we were warming up a few of the Salford players told Kenny Penn to remember not to "pick it up and start running with it". 6 goals and a bruised ego later, they were most definitely regretting the comment. Clint Dempsey had his first career hat trick at Furman, and a goal each by Butter, Tony, and a surprise front-runner named John Hanley. After the 6th goal Coach decided to put Tony in goal and told Kidd and the rest of the defense to make sure the other team got a 1 v 1 against Tony. Let's just say it was the weakest attempt to save a goal we had ever seen, but it was worth a good laugh. We ate lunch at a Pub with some of their team members and watched English Premier League games on the "tele". Throughout the week we were surrounded by soccer, on the T.V., radio, in the papers, having soccer all around us was a huge difference to the United States. We took a tour of Old Trafford and learned everything one would want to know about Manchester United.
Monday after another long night, we got on the bus and took an hour drive North to Liverpool, the hometown of the Beatles. Our Beatles tour guide Silvia who most likely burned out during the 60's, decided to do the tour from our bus due to the 25 m.p.h winds, and rain. Silvia was a Beatles fanatic, who in between pointing out Beatles sights, would hit on our bus driver Malcom. After the Beatles tour we headed to Anfield Stadium, which is the home to Liverpool and took a tour. We returned back to the hotel relaxed, and warmed up after a long day of sightseeing.
Tuesday morning we woke up early and headed to a training session, which was about an hour from the hotel. We're not going into the details of the training except the field was extremely muddy, it was very cold, and a rare appearance of Rudy highlighted the morning session. After showering for what seemed like hours to get the mud off, we went back to Old Trafford and ate at the famous Red Café. Lunch was good and it was nice to be indoors and get warmed up again. The Café was a really cool place and once again we were surrounded by soccer, which was such a difference from the United States. After lunch we all crashed and that night Nantes played Manchester United in a Champions League game. We got there early; some took pictures, some decided to have a pint or two with the locals. But whatever we chose to do before the game no matter where we went around the stadium the atmosphere we were surrounded by was incredible. We saw 6 goals including a Beckham freekick right in front of our seats, unfortunately Butter was in the bathroom and missed it. After the game we went back to the hotel.
Wednesday morning we left Manchester but we were really excited about the next few days in London. The bus ride was about 5 hours long but John Hanley said it was worth it as long as we could stop at the Wedgewood Factory and look for pottery. Upon arriving in London at dusk the scene was like something from a movie. All the building were old, and quaint, we instantly got the impression of how different life is there. Some guys wanted to sleep but most others wanted to see what Wednesday nights were like in London. If you really want to know how Wednesday nights are in London, Matt Foxhall could give you a pretty good idea.
Thursday morning we woke up and drove an hour outside London to see the Chelsea Football Club train. Unfortunately they trained about 300 yards from where we were standing but afterwards we were fortuante enough to get a picture with the striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbank and Zola. We headed back to the hotel and some of the guys went to see Les Miserable in London which was a great experience. Andy Kidd was amazed at the caliber of acting. That night guys did there own thing in London or around the hotel.
Friday was the main sight seeing day in London. We all split up, took our cameras and wallets and hit the sights. London has to be one of the most amazing cities in the world the size and beauty of the buildings was simple inspiring, and the history to go along with the beauty was definitely intriguing. A couple of rolls of film and a lot of walking later we were all back at the hotel wishing that we had more time and more energy (tourism is tiring) to see more of this fascinating city.
On Saturday afternoon Fulham FC played Liverpool in a premiership match. But before going to the game a few of us couldn't resist the temptation of sneaking off to see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. It was a spectacular event that compares to nothing we've got back home. The history and tradition attatched to it is so deep and old that it demands respect. So after that cultural experience it was time for another type of cultural experience; a soccer game. Fulham's stadium was quite a bit smaller than Old Trafford, our seats were in the standing room only behind the goal so we were very close to the action. Liverpool won 2-0. That night was spent packing and getting ready for the trip home the next day.
This was an incredible experience that none of us will forget. We returned more cultured, more grateful for America's way of life, and most of all inspired by what we had seen and experienced in England.