A Sporting Kansas City Fan’s Trip Abroad
Boleyn Ground (Upton Park) in East London
I am not unlike many American soccer fans in that I also claim a team abroad in addition to my love for Sporting Kansas City. My team is Cardiff City FC; the team that’s known as the Bluebirds but wears red and black with a dragon on the club crest. That just happened last year, and I won’t go into it here.
Recently I completed my master’s degree at University College Dublin in Ireland and before returning to Kansas I took some time to see more of Europe, and included several sporting events in my trip.
I saw a friendly between new-to-the-Premier-League Cardiff play a friendly in Wales against Italian Serie A club Chievo Verona, a German Second League match between TSV Munchen 1860 and Sandhausen at Allianz Arena in Munich, and a Capitol One Cup match between West Ham United and Cardiff City at the famous Upton Park.
The stadiums there have history. They have dirt and grime. They are different from the ones that we have here in the United States. Upton Park or the Boleyn Ground are known places, and they really make the experience something special. Cardiff City Stadium and Allianz Arena are new, but still have some allure.
The stadiums are not the destination in Europe; it’s the pitch inside. Upon walking into each of the three stadiums I visited, that was the first thing I noticed. The stadiums are really just concrete shells full of stairs, signs for seat sections, and a couple of concession stands.
Cardiff City Stadium in Cardiff, Wales
They were nothing like Sporting Park, and even farther from the Boulevard Member’s Club. There were no “views” of the pitch from the concourses, and nothing done for cosmetic value. I love Sporting Park and visiting these famous stadiums only made me feel more proud of our club back in Kansas. History is made with time, and our stadium and club is young, building history as we go.
Upton Park will no longer be the home ground of West Ham United soon, and Cardiff City Stadium as well as Allianz Arena are relatively new homes for their clubs and are implications that European clubs are looking forward and starting to let go of their old roots.
The stadiums are bigger and modern looking but one thing stays the same: the pitch inside the shell is the most important part. Even the new stadiums have little in the way of comfort once you walk to the concourse and away from the game.
The fans are just as passionate, with flags and songs and scarves. The players play just as hard, and as many others have said before me: the talent gap on the pitch is shrinking. Even the stadiums, if you can call them stadiums, of the Airtricity Premier League in Ireland would fill up with colors and swell with song in the cold rain. Especially fun was when clubs like Shamrock Rovers or Bohemians would visit my university’s campus to play matches against UCD (yes, somehow our university’s squad is in the top division of Ireland, and it’s just as big of a surprise to the Irish).
I stood outside of Sparta Praha’s stadium, of Olympija Ljubljana’s, of FC Koper’s and Rapid Vienna’s…and could not attend matches. It only makes me want to travel to more MLS stadiums, more stadiums abroad, see more matches in more leagues. The more you learn of soccer culture, the more you want to know.
Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany
So please, visit Sporting Park or, if you’re abroad, find the local club and see if they’re playing a match. Tickets won’t run too much most likely. If you’re already a Sporting KC fan, take a friend that isn’t one yet to a match or two and be patient with them as they learn.
It’s the city’s team, and right now they’re competing for the MLS Supporter’s Shield (the best record in the league throughout the season), and beginning the playoffs. Help them build their, and our, history.