London 2012 Olympics Part 2 - Watching the Football in Coventry

Last week I went to see an olympic football match in my home city Coventry. I'm very proud of my home city, it has such a rich and interesting history (might have to do a post or two about it if anyones interested) and hosting part of the London 2012 Olympics just adds to that.

I hadn't intended on going to the football, when tickets first went on sale I only requested them for two events, and both were at the Olympic park, I just never thought about the football. Olympic banners started appearing in Coventry and I started to get really excited about it all, and then we even got a huge set of Olympic rings, the final straw was when I heard that the British team were going to be playing a match at the City of Coventry Stadium, I just had to experience it so I went and got a ticket for me and my Dad. :-)

Compared to getting tickets for the venues in London, getting tickets for Coventry's stadium was a breeze, I just turned up outside and queued for 20 minutes and then got them, nice and easy.

Two days later and it was match day, I was so excited, I painted my nails especially, red and blue spots over white, with union jacks hand painted on my thumb nails, very patriotic, I thought I'd get into the spirit of it all and it was an excues to paint my nails and try some nail art. :-)

It was the quater final match of the womens tournament with Great Britain playing Canada, womens football isn't really followed by the public in Britian, so it was good to see them getting some well earned attention from the press and public alike, especially as they were playing better than the mens team.

My Dad and I had a great night, most of the crowd were loud and wonderfully supportive of both teams, which was good as Britain lost. The Canadian team deserved their win, and were cheered on by a lot of fans, I saw alot of Canadian flags, so there was plenty of people that had travelled a long way to cheer their girls on.

One aspect that I loved and wasn't expecting was the mexican waves, we did them before the match which was cool and it was a lot of fun to watch and be part of, it was funny to see it start and work it's way round the stadium and then go back round again.

I took a few photos throughout the night, so here are a few of the better ones.

The crowd just before the match, lots of red, white, and blue.

The Canadian and British teams during the playing of the national anthems before the match.

During the match I thought it might rain as the sky got very dark.

Action around the goal, near my end of the field.

This was the best "action" shot I managed to take.

Stormy sky overhead added to the drama of the match.

Game over and the players wave to the crowd.

I'm not a football fan, and I'll probably never go to another football match in my life, but I'm so glad I went to this match, I loved being part of the crowd and cheering on both teams. It's also a part of my home city's history, I remember when Coventry won the F.A Cup back in 1987, I watched that on TV with my Dad, and it was nice to watch an Olympic match together, in years to come, hosting the Olympic football matches will be something the city will always remember and I was lucky to be a part of it. :-)

Cheerio for now,

Heather. :-)