After spending Saturday night in Misterton, the plan was to drive back to London Sunday afternoon. We left the house at 11:30 am for the 3 hour drive back to London. With Nicole and British Caroline planning to spend Sunday afternoon shopping in London, I had 3 matches in London to choose between (in order of preference):

1) Arsenal at Chelsea – kickoff at 4 pm.
Commentary: I thought tickets might be difficult to find or expensive since it was the local derby, but the match was close to where we were staying in London and had a later start time.

2) Everton at Tottenham – kickoff at 3 pm.
Commentary: Tear ’em down Todd attended the Blackburn at Tottenham match a week prior (November 23) and said he bought a 37 pound ticket for 20 pounds – a much easier ticket to get than Chelsea, but not as conveniently located.

3) Bath at Harlequins (Guinness Premiership) – kickoff at 3 pm.
Commentary: With the Guinness Premiership not as prestigious as attending a Premier League match, this was my third choice. However, with tickets available at the box office, the local proximity to where we were staying and the fact I had not watched rugby on the trip, this match was a strong second choice.

We made it to the outskirts of London (12 miles to Central London) at 2 pm. With Tottenham not on route, I had already eliminated that possibility. Plus, British Mick said I should really attend the local derby – Chelsea vs. Arsenal.

Next thing I knew we were in some of the worst traffic I have ever seen on city streets. With no real alternative route, we were a prisoner to the chosen one. Realizing there was no way to make the rugby match by 3 pm, the Arsenal at Chelsea match was my only choice. We dropped Nicole and Caroline off in Central London at 3:10 pm and I was dropped off at the Victoria Train Station about 10 minutes later.

By the time I found the bathroom, an ATM machine, purchased my underground ticket and found the correct tube line to Stamford Bridge it was already 3:35 pm. It took 15 minutes to get from the Victoria tube stop to the Fulham Broadway tube stop. The match started at 4 pm. Thus, I would only have 10 minutes to find a scalper, negotiate a ticket price and enter the stadium. Still scarred from my failure to purchase a ticket at Anfield in Liverpool on February 24, 2007, I was nervous about whether I would be successful.

Obtaining Tickets
A ticket scalper was standing directly outside of the underground stop as I exited the station. I asked if he had a single and he said he wanted 200 pounds for the ticket. Knowing tickets were approximately 50 pounds, I said I would only pay 80 pounds. He continued to reduce his price – 150, 120, 100. Finally, he started arguing with his partner, but I could not understand what they were saying. They split up their pair and sold me the ticket. With such a quick price drop from the scalper and the fact he split up his pair, I had a feeling I was paying too much. I made sure the ticket looked legit – proper holograms, etc and bought the ticket.

As I walked to Stamford Bridge, I did not notice many people selling extra tickets, so I started to feel better about my purchase. I sat in my seat about 30 seconds before the match kicked off. About 10 minutes later a man from Brazil sat down next to me with the same crease in his ticket I had. I knew that was the second ticket. I asked him how much he paid. With a happy smirk, he said 40 pounds. “That’s pretty good. Don’t you think?” he asked. I told him yes. He also mentioned that he only had 40 pounds to spend and that there had been a few people selling tickets outside.

Ticket Scalping Tip: The best way to get a good price from a scalper is to only have a certain amount of money available to spend. Scalpers will want more, but if you do not have any more money, the scalper may drop their price and sell you the ticket. This worked in the Brazilians favor.

If I had arrived to the Stamford Bridge area earlier, I figured I would have been able to purchase a ticket on the secondary market for around 40 pounds (if not less), which was less than face value. I talked to some Chelsea supporters during halftime and they could not sell their extra single ticket for face value (47 pounds) outside so he ended up eating the ticket.

The Game
Arsenal won the match 2-1 after scoring a controversial first goal. Robin van Persie’s first goal was scored from an offside position but the referee did not make the call.

Stamford Bridge was a great old stadium. Although I did not see much of it, it is better than Arsenal’s new home, Emirates Stadium. At halftime, I purchased the English meal deal for the first time – a pint and a pie. Remember, fans are allowed to drink beer at Premiership matches before the game and during halftime – they just cannot bring the beers to their seats.

Post Game Thoughts
After the game, I began thinking how can a Brazilian, whose English is not very good and who is in London for 4 months learning to speak English, pay half as much as the Ultimate Fan. It all comes down to the Liverpool match I failed to find a ticket to back in February 2007. That was the only game I have ever tried to attend in which I could not find a ticket. And the irony was that tickets could be found. I was just not in the right place at the right time.

The other few games I have not bought a ticket for were because I thought ticket prices were too high. I began to realize that I have successfully bought tickets for 99.75% of the games I have tried to attend. Granted some of those games were harder to obtain tickets and more work was involved. However, I need to stop worrying about not finding a ticket. In fact, I still made it to an event after the Liverpool match – the Track Cycling World Cup in Manchester, England – it just was not the match I wanted to attend that day.