London

[BritPat]

Interesting. Hopefully the pitch will be better. Not that it matters, but would England have played more than one home WCQ in 2008? I remember they beat up on Kazakstan pretty good, but I'm not sure where that game was. I think they also must have played a friendly or two that Spring -- they beat the U.S.A. in the spring at Wembley.

Anyway, with this latest group play in the WCQ Wembley has looked pretty good.

They play all their home games at Wembley and have done since June 2007 - it was just a bad pitch, they've had massive problems with it since the stadium was completed and have relayed it several times already, it's probably well into the teens, just two years after the stadium opened.

And the stadium itself is amazing.

 

[gomezcat]

Hopefully there will be some Mancester united fans in the staduim booing the Bucs!!! Glazer family took the richest sports club in the world and saddled them with 800 million debt! Plus they have raised the ticket rices at Mancester pricing out true fans. I believe they are doing a similar thing at the Bucs!

That would be me. I am not only a Pats fan, but a United one as well. It's fair to say I hate them with a passion.

 

[jan08]

That would be me. I am not only a Pats fan, but a United one as well. It's fair to say I hate them with a passion.

LUHG!!
10 chars

 

[gomezcat]

LUHG!!
10 chars

LUHG? Leeds United something or other?

 

[BritPat]

By the way -- how did you come to be a Patriots supporter? As an arsenal fan, Brits love to call me a glory hunter. I'd be interested to hear the other side of the coin -- how does a Brit settle on the Patriots when selecting an NFL team? I basically was introduced to the EPL in the late 1990s through international soccer -- which was all you could see in the states and became a Thierry Henry fan; hence the Gunners. What mad you a Patriots fan?

Henry, what a player.

As for me - I started following the sport in the late 80's, and although I didn't really have a team I was sympathetic towards the Giants (Giants are bigger than everyone else right?) and the Lions (king of the jungle etc) - yes I know, childish reasons - but I was a child.

I followed the sport for a long while, and became a fan of some of the Cowboys players, although I must stress I wasn't a Cowboys fan - that crap about America' team and all of the arrogance was embarrassing - but I was a big fan of Deion, Emmitt and especially Troy Aikman. Their success ended about the same time I discovered girls and alcohol though, and when I started work I completely lost track of the sport.

Several years later (2002) I was reading through the newspaper and saw the match report on the Superbowl, Buccs had beaten the Raiders, and when I went home I went online and started reading more about the game. I then got Sky Sports (who show the games) and decided to start watching it again, and made the effort to pick a team.....

I'd read abut this kid called Brady, clean cut, all American, budding superstar, and this genius of a head coach - I decided I'd keep tabs on them, and they managed to win the SB the next year which really sparked my interest, but the key thing was Bob Kraft being linked with buying Liverpool in 2004. I knew what he'd done for the Franchise, and the fact he wanted to buy the footy team I follow sealed it. I've not missed a game in 6 years, it can be a ***** staying up until 4:30am or so, but for the vast majority of the time it's been worth it.

Incidentally, assuming you're a Burnley fan, sorry about the Derby yesterday. You'll get 'em at home.

Nah, I'm not a Claret, but I did watch it with several friends in the local club (bar to you ) and the atmosphere was brilliant. For all of four minutes. Blackburn played really well.

 

[BritPat]

That would be me. I am not only a Pats fan, but a United one as well. It's fair to say I hate them with a passion.

Typical Bitter Manc.

Looking forwards to the game on Sunday?

 

[jan08]

LUHG? Leeds United something or other?

Love United Hate Glazer. My brothers a big United fan and a big anti Glazer lad

 

[BritPat]

I wish people would stop calling it the PITCH.

When we're talking about footy (not Football), it is a pitch.

 

[Rossmci90]

Whatever people in England say about Wembley, it sure is a beautiful stadium.

 

[BritPat]

It should be for what they spent on on building it!

 

[Ciara's Dad]

Well, for what it's worth, I'm the Gooner in the thread, and I'm in the states.

I'm certainly not surprised that anyone living in Glasgow would mention their footy affiliation up front. Don't they put your old firm affiliation right on your driver's license in Glasgow, even before gender and marital status?

It's a strange thing, being Pats fans, that we can put our differences aside and I would have no hesitation sharing a brew with the Rangers fan who posted earlier on. I'm not sure if it is just me getting older, turned 45yo last week, that has mellowed me, but it's fair to say that in my youth, I didn't have any friends in royal blue!!

As for Arsenal, up until the Eduardo incident, I had a lot of respect for your team, fans and manager, but I'm afraid to say now I hope you get punted right out of the Champs League this year.
Fever Pitch will always be one of my favourite films though. What an ending!!

 

[italia44]

I wish people would stop calling it the PITCH.

sorry sport.........however,I'd be amiss if I didn't point out that:It's their friggin' COUNTRY!
Get used to another local descriptive........"zed"........as in......you are a....

 

[PatsFaninAZ]

As for Arsenal, up until the Eduardo incident, I had a lot of respect for your team, fans and manager, but I'm afraid to say now I hope you get punted right out of the Champs League this year.

Yeah, he shouldn't have done it. But I bet even he wishes that at this point. It's not as though no Hoops player has ever used a bit of deception! And I think they were the better side in the two games notwithstanding the phony penalty.

I don't think the dive was indicative of the way Arsenal play in general or the way Wagner manages. But I agree it was unfortunate.

 

[Ciara's Dad]

Yeah, he shouldn't have done it. But I bet even he wishes that at this point. It's not as though no Hoops player has ever used a bit of deception! And I think they were the better side in the two games notwithstanding the phony penalty.

I don't think the dive was indicative of the way Arsenal play in general or the way Wenger manages. But I agree it was unfortunate.

You're correct. There are players in all teams who will do anything to gain an advantage. We have them to. I think it was the fact that there was no way we were going to win anyway that pissed us all off. He just didn't need to do it.
Anyway, bygones and all that. Looking forward to Sunday!

 

[Mike the Brit]

I've always liked Americans and American culture (anyway, like it or not, you grow up with a lot of it in Europe!) I understood a lot of things, of course (sex, drugs and rock-and-roll -- well, maybe not the sex) but I found American football quite mysterious. It appears in quite a few U.S. books and films and I can even remember a cartoon when I was a kid called The Jetsons (sort of Flintstones of the future) where there was a football game played entirely by robots with just two coaches at the controls -- anticipating Madden by forty years!

Anyway, I started learning a tiny bit by being with American friends who were into football. My first, Joe, was a Jets fan! But he couldn't help it -- Fordham boy from New Jersey, Catholic family, five brothers, one a Jesuit, another a saloon owner, you get the picture ... Then there was Tim, my big buddy in graduate school, who, despite being from New England, was a Cowboys fan (boo!). Then I got to live for a year in New England in 1981-82. My best friend then, also Mike, liked football and he was a Rams fan (Angeleno). The Pats, needless to say, were terrible and most of their home games were blacked out, but I watched quite a lot of football and learned (some of) the rules. I remember seeing this Pittsburgh quarterback and thinking he looked pretty amazing -- well, he went on to be very good (Dan Marino). I think that I was attracted to the Pats for two reasons: sympathy for the underdog (you didn't get lower than the Pats that year) and the desire to have a team that wouldn't offend any of my U.S. friends -- kind of the opposite of bandwagon jumping.

I was, of course, absolutely thrilled with the run to the Superbowl in 85 (by this time there was a fair bit of football on UK TV), but lost contact somewhat as I got busier, football moved to satellite and the Pats went through the Lisa Olsen incident and the near-moves. Now, here I am in New England again!

If anyone caught the Patriots Fifth Quarter after the game on Sunday, you'll have seen Scott Zolak interviewing Mr Kraft about the up-coming trip to London. It seems that SZ had a trip in the summer which he didn't enjoy that much (trouble with the language, I assume ) so he wasn't very upbeat. Mr Kraft was, of course. He did, though, advise people to bring plenty of euros!

Anyway, I hope everyone has a great, great time. Truth is -- as I'm reminded every day -- they are two VERY different countries. I love them both, though.

 

[furry]

It's a strange thing, being Pats fans, that we can put our differences aside and I would have no hesitation sharing a brew with the Rangers fan who posted earlier on. I'm not sure if it is just me getting older, turned 45yo last week, that has mellowed me, but it's fair to say that in my youth, I didn't have any friends in royal blue!!

Well my friend if you're at any of the same events as me pre match I will lift that jar with you, old firm bollocks out the window on sunday, it's all about the pats.

For what it's worth I reckon most folk in the UK couldn't tell you what happened in 2006, let alone 1776!!

 

[Ciara's Dad]

Well my friend if you're at any of the same events as me pre match I will lift that jar with you, old firm bollocks out the window on sunday, it's all about the pats.

For what it's worth I reckon most folk in the UK couldn't tell you what happened in 2006, let alone 1776!!

No probs
Myself, a Motherwell fan and an Airdrie fan are trying to get tickets for the tailgate bash. They got them last year no problem down there. So if you overhear 3 Scots accents discussing the merits of the T.B cheerleaders, introduce yourself and we'll share a brew.
Don't get me wrong, I'm still a season ticket holder at Celtic Park, so I bleed green and white, so once the Pats game is over let normal hostilities resume.

Hail! Hail!

 

[Gwedd]

No probs
Myself, a Motherwell fan and an Airdrie fan are trying to get tickets for the tailgate bash. They got them last year no problem down there. So if you overhear 3 Scots accents discussing the merits of the T.B cheerleaders, introduce yourself and we'll share a brew.
Don't get me wrong, I'm still a season ticket holder at Celtic Park, so I bleed green and white, so once the Pats game is over let normal hostilities resume.

Hail! Hail!

I have to admit a fondness for Glasgow. As an older Goth, it was a great place to stay for a few weeks. Nice pubs, good people, great music, etc.

Pretty good looking women, too...

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Am I the only one here who doesn't understand maybe half the stuff that's being said in these posts? English is such a confusing language.

 

[Patspsycho]

Am I the only one here who doesn't understand maybe half the stuff that's being said in these posts? English is such a confusing language.

Like Churchill says... "Two great countries separated by a common language!"