My girlfriend and I will be in London for a few days next month, and one of the things we’re looking to do will be to is to try going to a Premier League game, although we don’t know a ton about the teams. It looks like there three games in London during the time we’re there:
Charlton Athletic v. Arsenal
Chelsea v. Aston Villa
Tottenham Hotspur v Portsmouth
We’ve already kind of ruled out the Chelsea game, as tickets are a) going to be too expensive b) probably too hard to get. I have some of the same concerns about the Tottenham Hotspur game, as well as the fact that it doesn’t look to be a great matchup. The Charlton Athletic might be more promising, but this is a team I’ve literally never heard of. Tickets look cheaper (About 20 pounds), but I don’t know anything about the area the stadium is in. If it’s a rat infested hell hole in an area where we’re likely to get mugged, well, that’s something I’d rather skip.
Another question is whether since they’re hosting Arsenal, are the tickets going to be impossible to get because it’s an inter-city matchup?
Not in this case; Arsenal and Charlton don’t have a particular rivalry. Arsenal and Tottenham, however, would be a big match, as would Arsenal and Chelsea (but then they’re both big teams anyway).
I haven’t been to any of those grounds, so I can’t speak as to their quality. Everything else… Well, as you say, the Chelsea match will be expensive. The Tottenham match has no top-level teams. The Arsenal match is the one i’d see… Depending on how it goes, it could be either a boring match or a fantastic one as the Gunners throroughly thrash Charlton.
I am an Arsenal fan, though, so I admit I may be slightly biased.
Here’s a really dumb question: How, exactly, do you go about getting tickets? I keep reading that one of the results of the Taylor report is that only club members can get tickets. Fine for those that live there and want to sit in the home or away stands, but what about tourists who are neutral and want to see a game? Do you just walk up for “rush tickets” at the box office?
You can get tickets for most games, phone the club and ask. I’m not entirely clear how far the Taylor recommendations were implemented., but I suspect that club membership is a factor only in the allocation of tickets to away supporters. The OP I reckon has a pretty good chance of getting a pair of tickets for the Charlton-Arse game. They are not yet on sale through the club, but this link:
Struan’s link is the correct one - as it shows, the Arsenal game isn’t on sale yet. The match against Man Utd is still restricted to members, and I suspect a derby against Arsenal will be equally-popular. Keep revisiting that page daily, and also http://tickets.cafc.co.uk/main_tickets.ink for updates of when tickets will be available.
And hey, who says you have to go to a Premiership game? There’s another half-dozen teams to choose from in London, y’know
Oh, and while Charlton is hardly the centre of the universe, I’d say the fans are the most welcoming of all the south-of-the-river teams. (Faint praise, me? )
I was hesitant to recommend anything about travel to the ground 'cos I’ve never really been south of the river. Would hate for a visitor to blunder into a “Warriors” type scenario!
A quick search on www.nationalrail.co.uk says that on Saturdays, the trains to Charlton (surprise surprise!) run every half-hour from Cannon Street. On a match day I’d not wait for the latest train, but get there earlier.
It looks like I missed another one on the list of games, West Ham United vs Reading. That’s about equal in cost and distance to the Spurs game. It’s looking like the Charlton game is the best option though.
GorillaMan, I looked at the lower tier schedules since you mentioned them, but I figure since I’m going to be all that way, I’d rather see as high up a level as I could.
