Football trip London - Birmingham
Football trips to London are extremely popular. In London, you can vistit several top Premier League matches in just one weekend or visit a fun game in the Championship, not to mention all the populaire highlights of London. After several trips to London, this time we wanted to do something different: visit some football clubs we had not yet seen.
We decided to go for a combination trip: starting in London and then travelling to Birmingham afterwards. We waited until all Premier League matches were officially confirmed and we booked our trip: Day 1: London: Brentford FC – Brighton. Day 2: Birmingham: Wolverhampton Wanderers – Forest. Day 3: Birmingham: Aston Villa – Chelsea. An eventful weekend!
[Part 1]
Crayton Greyhound Track
After a simple lunch at the hotel, we still had some time to kill before tonight’s match started: Brentford FC – Brighton. We decided to do something real British: gamble at a dog race. Dog races have been popular for many years in England. There used to be 250 stadiums for dog races in England; now there are only 21 left.
We travelled an hour by train to Crayford to visit the Crayford Greyhound Track. The track was rather small, and the entrance looked kind of like a big canteen – the entrance was free. We ordered two big pints and took a seat behind the window. Old blokes and young men were pacing back and forth behind the window, notebooks and pencils in hand, while writing down strategies before betting. Such a lovly experience!
Brentford FC - Brighton match
After diving into the British culture for an hour and a half, we boarded the train and travelled to our next destination: Brentford FC – Brighton. Brentford's stadium was totally reconstructed in 2020; Griffin Park was swapped for the brand-new Gtech Community Stadium. The new stadium is located in the middle of a neighbourhood and the atmosphere around the stadium is very cordial. Brentford’s and Brighton’s supporters come together in local pubs and entire families head out for the match. Scarfs were sold on the streets surrounding the stadium. We also spotted a very cute Brentford fan.
Brentford Gtech Community Stadium
Fans are entertained with loud music at the stadium and when ‘Hey Jude’ from the Beatles is played, all red and white scarfs are pulled high and the whole song is roared along from start to finsih. Goose bumps!
The match was not particularly spectacular, but it unexpectedly was a lot of fun. The Bees played very fierce from the start and also scored the first goal. During the second part of the match things moved a bit slower for Brentford, and Brighton were given some nice chances. Brentford FC’s keeper was absolutely the man of the match because he stopped Brighton from scoring any goals. The match ended in 2-0. A very exciting match!
Contrary to what we are used to at many football matches, almost all the fans remained at the stadium when the match was finished and the entire stadium applauded Brentford loudly once again. We walked away at the end of the match and when we got downstairs, we saw all the scarfs up in the air again, accompanied by loud singing. It’s obvious that they are proud of their club. A great experience!
One of the benefits of smaller clubs with smaller stadiums is that you exit the stadium within minutes. We called an Uber and we were back at our hotel after 30 minutes. The first day of our journey was already unforgettable!
London - Birmingham
We continued our football trip to Birmingham on Saturday morning. We would see the Wolverhampton Wanderers competing against Nottingham Forest in Birmingham and Aston Villa would face Chelsea. Will you stay with us? Continue reading at part two of our football trip London – Birmingham.
