MAIN » ARTICLESMy First Football Match
Hello, my name is Iain Christopher Rawson, and last week I attended a professional football match for the first time. This is my story.
Jay first suggested to me the idea of going to the match, and from the moment he asked me to go with him I could barely contain my excitement. As a young boy I had always dreamed of going to the football with my father and sharing those Saturday afternoons bonding in the way that only a father and his son can. Sadly, I never forfilled that dream growing up, and spent most of my time playing Doom and experimenting with sound systems, but I looked upon this as an opportunity to make up for it.
I had lived in Lincoln for over 3 months now and despite the best of intentions, had never got around to visiting the stadium and checking out a game. Luckily it was not only the last match before the Christmas break, but 'The Imps' had also decided to charge only £3 entry for students. This worked out well for me, since I was low on cash after blowing it all on hookers, fine cigars and strong oriental liquors.
At around 1pm, Jay arrived at my flat and we got ready to go. I didn't know the way there, but luckily he did. I wrote the name of the stand on my palm just incase both of us had terribly short-term memories, and we began the journey. It turned out to be fairly simple; 7th left after the level crossing and then first right. After a while I began to see other people walking in the same direction who looked like football supporters. A warm feeling of acceptance passed over me, I was walking amongst these people and they treated me like I was one of their own. This was quite a relief, as I hadn't been sure what to expect.
We walked around the stadium taking in the atmosphere. At first I didn't know how or where we were going to get in, but fortunately Jay has been going to football matches for years and so he took control. I was quite nervous as we stepped inside the ground - it was huge! I had never seen anything like it, and it almost took my breath away. I kept my composure, and we went to choose some seats on the far side - on the front row no less! After a few minutes we were joined by the gang: Ross, Chris, Al, Laura and Tom. It felt really good to have those guys there for support, and I knew we were going to have a good time.
The match went well and a few of the others talked light-heartidly about where to get food from at half time. I still wasn't completely relaxed so I found myself turning around a lot and grinning as much as I could so everybody knew how much fun I was having. Jay kept saying how it would be great if I was to catch the match ball, or indeed get hit in the face with it, but I knew nothing that great would ever happen to me.
However, after quite a while one of the players hit a shot that went wide and suddenly the ball was bouncing straight towards me. I leaped from my seat and grasped the ball firmly with both hands. My friends began to shout instructions at me from behind, but instincts took over and I blocked them out. I threw the ball as far as I could with both hands and then turned away quickly without seeing where it went. The adrenaline rush was incredible!
I then realised that my chums were laughing quite loud, so I wondered whether one of them had told a good joke. I was soon told that my throw had not been the best one and that it didn't even make it back onto the pitch. Jay reassured me that it was okay though, and that the goalkeeper had been able to reach over an grab it. I was very surprised and extremely happy that I had the chance at my first match to touch the match ball - a lot of boys would never get to do that. Jay told me he was very proud, and I could tell the others were too.
The match finished 0 - 0, but I didn't mind because of what had happened. I really enjoyed my first match and I can't wait until I get to go again. Hopefully next time I will see my first ever goal at a football match - that would be very special.
Written by J. King as Iain Christopher Rawson
Jay first suggested to me the idea of going to the match, and from the moment he asked me to go with him I could barely contain my excitement. As a young boy I had always dreamed of going to the football with my father and sharing those Saturday afternoons bonding in the way that only a father and his son can. Sadly, I never forfilled that dream growing up, and spent most of my time playing Doom and experimenting with sound systems, but I looked upon this as an opportunity to make up for it.
I had lived in Lincoln for over 3 months now and despite the best of intentions, had never got around to visiting the stadium and checking out a game. Luckily it was not only the last match before the Christmas break, but 'The Imps' had also decided to charge only £3 entry for students. This worked out well for me, since I was low on cash after blowing it all on hookers, fine cigars and strong oriental liquors.
At around 1pm, Jay arrived at my flat and we got ready to go. I didn't know the way there, but luckily he did. I wrote the name of the stand on my palm just incase both of us had terribly short-term memories, and we began the journey. It turned out to be fairly simple; 7th left after the level crossing and then first right. After a while I began to see other people walking in the same direction who looked like football supporters. A warm feeling of acceptance passed over me, I was walking amongst these people and they treated me like I was one of their own. This was quite a relief, as I hadn't been sure what to expect.We walked around the stadium taking in the atmosphere. At first I didn't know how or where we were going to get in, but fortunately Jay has been going to football matches for years and so he took control. I was quite nervous as we stepped inside the ground - it was huge! I had never seen anything like it, and it almost took my breath away. I kept my composure, and we went to choose some seats on the far side - on the front row no less! After a few minutes we were joined by the gang: Ross, Chris, Al, Laura and Tom. It felt really good to have those guys there for support, and I knew we were going to have a good time.
The match went well and a few of the others talked light-heartidly about where to get food from at half time. I still wasn't completely relaxed so I found myself turning around a lot and grinning as much as I could so everybody knew how much fun I was having. Jay kept saying how it would be great if I was to catch the match ball, or indeed get hit in the face with it, but I knew nothing that great would ever happen to me.
However, after quite a while one of the players hit a shot that went wide and suddenly the ball was bouncing straight towards me. I leaped from my seat and grasped the ball firmly with both hands. My friends began to shout instructions at me from behind, but instincts took over and I blocked them out. I threw the ball as far as I could with both hands and then turned away quickly without seeing where it went. The adrenaline rush was incredible!
I then realised that my chums were laughing quite loud, so I wondered whether one of them had told a good joke. I was soon told that my throw had not been the best one and that it didn't even make it back onto the pitch. Jay reassured me that it was okay though, and that the goalkeeper had been able to reach over an grab it. I was very surprised and extremely happy that I had the chance at my first match to touch the match ball - a lot of boys would never get to do that. Jay told me he was very proud, and I could tell the others were too.
The match finished 0 - 0, but I didn't mind because of what had happened. I really enjoyed my first match and I can't wait until I get to go again. Hopefully next time I will see my first ever goal at a football match - that would be very special.
Written by J. King as Iain Christopher Rawson