Chow In Europe '09: Football Crazy Edition

UK is a football crazy nation. It spawned a highly profitable industry.

I was very lucky to catch 2 live matches during my short stay in Liverpool. I'm a MU supporter. Stepping into the home ground of our bitter rival is considered blasphemy. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to catch an MU match as they were in Turkey for an away game. So had to make do with Liverpool's game. Still it was un-missible - a real live British football match.

By the way, my boo is a Liverpool fan. So it was a dream come true for him.

Before the game, we were invited as VIP guests to a match played by teams in a lower division. Even our local host didn't know which division they belonged to. The game was in the neighbouring town of Chester.

A small team like Chester City FC already has an actual stadium, full fledged VIP pampering service, complete with regular programme booklets and full-time working staff and footballers. The footballers from such a small team earn about 3000-4000 pounds a month. That's why every boy wants to be a professional footballer. If luck strikes, they will propel to super stardom. If not, they can still earn a decent income comparable to normal executives.

As I said, football is big business in UK.

The game ended 2-1 to the home team. They have actual supporters who buy season tickets to their matches okay? Maybe in 20 years' time, they can reach the ranks of the English Premier League.

Dean Saunders, ex-Liverpool player, Chester City fan

The next day, we visited the Liverpool megastore in the local shopping mall. Fans from Hungary were pouring in to watch their team play Liverpool that evening. They visited the store too. Many mocked at the shop by posing outside with their team's gear. So did I. Harmless rivalry is fun, eh?

After paying for a mountain of merchandise, it was time to proceed to Anfield.

And so, Liverpool scraped away with a 1-0 win. Not the most impressive performance but the stadium atmosphere was still overwhelming for a first timer.

Since there was no chance to have a good look at the stadium that evening, we made a trip back the next morning. Torres was supposed to do a book signing that afternoon. But we couldn't stay cos... I was going to Old Trafford in Manchester - just a half hour drive away!

There was no game going on, of course. But I was elated to just step on the soil and visit the merchandise store. Unfortunately, we wasted some time finding the way, I only had 30 minutes to shop. I dashed around grabbing stuff into my arms until it was time. The guard genially shepherded me to the cashier, calling me "my love".

Whee!

We were scheduled to leave the next day. Our host gave a tip - wait at the gates of the Liverpool's  Melwood training ground before 9am, the football stars reporting for training might just stop and sign autographs. They were more accommodating to overseas fans.

And we did just that, in the cold morning wind. Looking like idiots.

After numerous flashy cars whizzed past, including Gerrard, Carragher and Benitez, we could only give up. And we proceeded to the train station for the next leg of the trip.

The last picture was Steven Gerrard in his car, by the way.

And that's the full account of the biggest highlight of the holiday :D