During my time in London, I was able to visit multiple soccer (football) stadiums. Soccer has been my primary sport since I was young. I started playing around age 6 and played all the way through high school, and have always kept up with the Premier League (the top English Soccer League). When I was around 10 years old, Liverpool came to St. Louis, and I’ve been a Liverpool fan ever since. During my time in England this summer, I was able to visit Liverpool’s stadium, Anfield, and see the Premier League Trophy (which they just won), and see their museum. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see the field because of upcoming concerts, which was a bummer, but it just gives me an excuse to come back! In the museum, I was able to see all six Champions League trophies they have won as well. This experience was a real dream come true for me.

Soccer is the biggest sport in England and means so much people. While walking around Liverpool, it becomes very apparent just how important the team is to the city. There are murals on every block, jerseys sold at every shop and flags outside so many buildings and homes. The people around Liverpool were also extremely friendly and always open to talk about the new team news with me. This made me really happy and helped me justify choosing to be a Liverpool fan. I was also able to do a stadium tour of Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge. This was cool for me because this tour was a little more immersive than Anfield. We were immediately taken down the field, and you could really feel the history. So many great moments happened on that field, and it was cool to feel that energy. We then got taken into the press room at Chelsea, where we took some pics and acted as if we were players during a post-match interview.

After the press room, we were taken to the locker rooms. The home locker room was one of the most impressive locker rooms I have ever seen. Lots of high-tech recovery technology and impressive designs made it a real sight to see. The away team locker room looked like my high school locker room, extremely run down and dry. I love that they did that because it allows the home team to get a real advantage and is what I would do if I owned a sports team. Soccer is so special to me, and it was a great feeling seeing how important it so to this entire country. In my head, it has really justified my love for the sport.

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Learn more about this blogger’s study abroad program: Business: London Internship