One of our website reporting team, Mike King, has just sampled the Olympic atmosphere by watching the men’s TEAM GB football team in action, and in this article shares his experience of the day.
Rather than go through the exhaustive procedure to obtain tickets for the London Olympics and ending up with tickets to see the Beach Volleyball (an Olympic Sport?) or no ticket at all, and the expected travelling problems getting in to London, I decided to wait for the Football tickets to become available and duly selected a venue I had never been to before (the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff), with 2 games available in one session to justify the mileage, one game being Team GB, not knowing at the time of booking which players Stuart Pearce would be selecting for his squad – Beckham or not.
With Team GB winning and drawing their 2 games so far, a game against Uruguay looked like being a good game on paper, as GB needed a point to qualify and Uruguay a must win to go forward to the quarter finals. The first game was to be Mexico v Switzerland, with a draw or win respectively to qualify.
As there were traffic restrictions around the Millennium Stadium as stated on the London 2012 website, I decided to pick a car park only 5 minutes walk away from the stadium, so pre-booked a parking space at £15. It was a 15 minute walk!
Leaving home in Huntingdon with son Scott, we travelled to Newport Pagnall to meet my son, Neil, loading up his car with plenty of food to last us the day (and night!) – thanks Mum. Across country to pick up the A34 at Bicester, then down to Newbury to join the A4, we then stopped at Membury Services for a drink and have lunch from our huge stash of food.
On our way again, we arrived near Bristol and queued for a few minutes in the road works (why do them in the Summer holiday period?), but then headed for the Severn Bridge, crossing okay but then red lights seen in the distance. Joined the queue and this took 25 minutes to get through the Toll, but several cars now decorated with the Union flag were on the M4 so begun to feel like we were on our way to the Olympics.
Soon we were in another queue near Newport, stop, start, stop as the usual cars that cut-in at the last moment made the blood pressure rise, but through the tunnel and we were mobile again, probably losing about 40 minutes in the traffic queue. Off the M4 and on to the A48M, moving okay but as we hit the outskirts of Cardiff, more queues, and down to one lane due to Bus Lanes, and several sets of traffic lights which seemed completely out of phase for the volume of traffic, we were in the City Centre (why did they build the Millennium Stadium there?), we eventually passed John Lewis and arrived by the river at our car park.
Warned of security and body searches before entry to the stadium, we took nothing with us (although we saw plenty of bags and rucksacks later), and walked past Cardiff Central railway station, as the volume of people increased. Following the signs to Gate 2, we arrived at the Security section, told to empty the contents of our pockets into a (free) plastic bag and then the body search – phew we were clean!
Into the stadium, visit to the loo (we were all bursting by now!), and because of all the delays, as the Mexican and Swiss teams came out of the tunnel, we arrived at our seats, 4 rows from the front, level with the penalty spot. The Millennium Stadium was impressive and bigger in terms of its height than expected, and as no advertising was on display, only London 2012 signage was visible. A small group of Swiss fans were behind one goal, but there were more Mexican fans around the stadium, noticeable with their sombreros and large, black moustaches! (Real or fake).
The game started, and the Swiss were the better team as the Mexicans sat back, but probably the hi-light of the first half was the rendition of, you've guessed it, the Mexican Wave around the stadium, which the youngsters in the crowd really enjoyed, as was better than the football. 0 – 0 at half-time.
The officials came out with blue tops, changing from bright yellow ones that clashed with the Mexican keeper's top. Lose a mark there! The second half was marginally better, as the Swiss finally realised they needed to win, but then the only goal of the game as the Mexicans took the lead. Expecting the Swiss to go for it, the game ended as a tame affair, with Mexico going through as top of their Group. We felt Team GB would beat either of them.
Before the Team GB kick off at 7.45, we had about 50 minutes to obtain a drink and some grub, so we joined the queue which must have been 100yards long. I went to see if there was an alternative counter as the sons patiently waited, but no, the only place there was no queue was the Official Merchandise counter, no one there, probably due to the extortionate prices! Boos rung out each time Luis Suarez's name was announced, not a surprise there!
Back to my sons who had moved about 20yards, but the queue did move very slowly, and about 10minutes before kick-off we arrived at the counter. Pouring drinks from bottles into plastic cups loses time and the hot food we wanted was still being prepared, so another 5 minute wait. We couldn't believe a better system of queuing and serving supporters has not been devised over the last 12 years, and do the Rugby supporters put up with this?
Paying the ridiculous prices, with food and drink in hand, we arrived back at our seats as the National Anthem was being played and sung, probably by the English masses in the crowd and not the locals and Welsh players (enough said about that!). The stadium was, by now, almost full, and a good atmosphere contributed to the experience. Giggs was on the bench with Sturridge starting up front, Richards moving to the centre of the GB defence.
Keeper Butland and centre-back Caulker are tall lads, whereas Taylor and Bertrand are just the opposite, and we were keen to see how ex-Foxes and Man. Utd's Cleverley played after 2 good performances so far.
Team GB started the better, but Suarez and Cavani up front for the Uruguayans would surely test the young GB defenders. Ramsey, playing on home soil, had the chance to shine and has some nice touches. Bellamy was on the wing just in front of us and he seemed pleased he was receiving excellent support from the fans rather than the normal boos he is used to. Joe Allen has skill and no wonder the 'big' clubs are looking at him. Sinclair tested the Uruguay keeper early on but after the bright start, GB settled back as they didn't want the Uruguayans to obtain any advantage, but the visitors seemed fairly negative with the 2 forwards receiving little support from their mid-field.
Efforts from Suarez and Ramirez were easily dealt with by Butland. One noticeable fact was the lack of control of the ball by Sturridge when it was played to him, with more of the touch of a Championship player than a Premiership one! Bellamy was a threat down the right and was giving his full-back a hard time but crosses came to nothing, although Ramsey was unlucky from a Bellamy cross.
As 45 minutes was up, GB deservedly took the lead. Having seen less of the ball on the left, Sinclair ran at the defence, slipped the ball to Allen who crossed through the 6 yard box past 'keeper Campana and found Sturridge who couldn't miss from 4 yards. The Stadium went mad as the half-time whistle blew.
A large banner showed Uruguay's previous honours but the insertion of 2014 (World Cup) as winners seemed rather optimistic. News of Team GB's medal winners was enthusiastically cheered during the break with some inflatable balls keeping the kids entertained.
As the second half progressed, Suarez received more of the ball and looked an increasing threat, his undoubted class beginning to show and he gave the GB defence a torrid time as Uruguay went for the equaliser. Butland, our MOM, made 3 superb saves and he looks a good deputy for the full England squad and did his chances no harm in front of the watching Roy Hodgson.
Uruguay were resulting to heavy challenges, as Senegal did to GB in the first game, the Japanese referee struggled to keep control, as several yellow cards were flashed around at the Uruguay players and a tackle in the GB penalty box had our hearts in our mouth, as pushing by several players could have turned nasty.
GB were now hanging on and at the end of normal time, a Ramirez thunderbolt smacked the cross bar that was still shaking several seconds later. GB dropped deep but thankfully held on for a deserved victory much to the delight of the GB crowd. The announcer then informed us that Team GB will play South Korea on Saturday, back at the Millennium Stadium, and with a victory could meet Brazil in the Semis.
It took time to exit the stadium, and getting past the station crowds queuing for trains did not help or the masses queuing for Park & Ride busses. It was grid lock and surely the past 12 years the local police would have learned something about crowd control? No!
Back to the car and it took ages to get into the lines of traffic. Lights changed, nothing moved, cars entered yellow boxes, grid lock. It took us one hour to do half a mile and 1 1/2 hours back to the A48M. We're on our way – wrong. Joining the M4 it was stationary – yet more queuing as we crawled at maximum 10mph, the signs above suggesting 40mph – we wished! Finally through the Newport tunnel as we got to 60mph, but for past midnight, the traffic was still heavy suggesting many English fans had gone to the Match. 5 Live mentioned several times the chaos with the trains in Cardiff as Bristol passengers were being bussed to England, and the traffic in Cardiff. Surely the Welsh Assembly can do something about it all?
Foot down as we passed Swindon and the traffic eased, then up the empty A34, arriving back at Newport Pagnall at 2.10am and finally home at 2.55am and off to bed past 3.00am – a long day.
Was it worth the journey and the cost? Yes to see the Millennium Stadium. Yes to see Team GB (and win). Yes to see something in the London 2012 Olympics. A definite NO to the journey and the traffic on the M4 and in Cardiff, so we are very unlikely to visit the Millennium Stadium ever again, unless going by helicopter!
Mike King
PS Sons mobile kept us informed of the Foxes game at Burton Albion – a win there and only 2 weeks to the first game of a new season. Has there been a summer?