Gentlemen, I went to London last week and took the Emirates Stadium tour.
I almost cried.
I went into the Directors lounge where the big boys have a drink and lounge before and after the game;
Went to the basement level where the players park and enter the stadium; They walk into a room with a huge white wall with the Arsenal crest before proceeding down a long hallway with pictures of past and present Arsenal greats.
Went into the dressing room! Amazing! It is a semi-circle (Wenger says it is better Chi) with benches with red leather cushions with "Arsenal" embroidered on them. The captain sits in the middle of the semi-circle. Goalies sit nearest the showers, then defenders, midfielders, and forwards (so as to avoid cliques). On Wenger's orders, only English is allowed to be spoken in the dressing room. There is a massive whirlpool which can hold six or seven players. A small area to kick the ball around and stretch. And a training room with three tables. The floor is a special soft non-slip material for safety. There is a large table in the middle of the room which has a built-in stereo system for music. It is short enough to allow players on opposite sides of the semi-circle to see each other and talk. Wenger ensured that there were no poles in the middle of the dressing room for players to hide behind, or to hamper the flow of energy.
Went into the Away dressing room. What a difference! lol It is a square! No cushions on the benches either. There is a table in the middle, but it doesn't play music, and is tall enough to prohibit cross room talk as players on opposite sides of the room cannot see each other. The floor is rubber. No non-slip material on the floor in there! No whirlpool. Very tiny stretching area. A massive pole in the middle of the dressing room! The coach has to break his neck to talk to players at halftime if he is using the whiteboard.
Went from the dressing room, through the tunnel... out onto the pitch!!!!! Did you know that the pitch at Emirates is astroturf? It actually is. But there is grass growing on top of the astroturf! That way it looks and feels real, and there are never any patches. They were sanding the field while we were there, preparing to put new seed in. They said that they had scraped up all the grass the week before. The field looked perfect of course as the astroturf was there. Once they lay the seed, they cover the pitch for four days, then raise the tarp and Voila! Grass like peas.
Sat in Wenger's seat on the bench! Seats are heated, bredrins! Along with a blower for players' feet.
Then went to the press room. There are seven small individual press rooms for interviewing single players or coaches. There is also a large press room for press conferences post game which holds 200 media people. The tour guide said that when the Champions' League is in progress, the game with Barcelona for example, they get close to 2,000 requests for media passes, and give out about 400. EPL and other leagues is significantly smaller in media size.
Then went to the media lounge which has laptop spaces for 100 journalists.
Then proceeded out to The Arsenal, which is the store.
What an unbelievable tour.
Taking the Emirates Stadium tour: 15 pounds.
Time Spent: 1 hour
Memories generated: Priceless
