EMIRATES ARSENAL FOOTBALL STADIUM TOUR
People aren’t wrong when they say that the atmosphere at a football stadium makes for a truly unique experience! Even though it wasn’t a match day and there were few people there, it was incredible – so you can only imagine what it would be like on a match day. We were lucky enough to get complimentary passes for the self-guided audio tour, which, as neither of us had been inside a football stadium before, we were rather excited about.
We started our day by catching the Piccadilly line from Kings Cross St. Pancras, which took us all the way to Arsenal station. We hopped off the tube and followed the sign to the Emirates Stadium, which was an easy five-minute walk from the station. Once we got to the stadium we were amazed by its vast size and atmosphere, with the sun shining and clear blue skies, we were excited to get going! Once we had explored the outside of the building, we followed the signs to the Armoury Store, which is where the tour was due to start.
Upon arrival, we were met by the team who gave us our own set of Arsenal headphones (to keep!) and a small portable media player. Once we were clued up on how to use them, we were off! Each area in the stadium had a clearly displayed number, and this number matched up to the chapter on the media player, so everywhere we went we had running commentary about what we were seeing and various interesting facts about each room and what sorts of things go on during the football season.
This was a great way to be toured and highly efficient as we could go at our own pace and pause, play and rewind whenever we needed to. There is also no time cap for the tour, so we could spend however long we wanted in each section and go back if we needed to! The first part of the tour took us to the Restaurant and Bar, which had access to the VIP spectators box on the side of the pitch. We then continued the tour and followed the numbers all the way through to the Directors Box, Home and Away Changing Rooms, Players Tunnel, pitch-side, Trophy room and Press Conference Room. On the way to each room, there were various statues and memorabilia which the audio would explain more about as we made our way around.
Our favourite sections were definitely the Players Tunnel, as we got to see what the players see as they walk out on to the pitch. The Pitch was also magnificent, even though we didn’t get the chance to walk all the way around, it was still amazing to be on pitch level and sitting in the managers’ seats! Did you know that the manager decides on match day whether the players get to wear long or short sleeves? And everyone on the team has to match each other, so their uniform is always the same!
We finished our tour stocked up on knowledge about the widely loved Arsenal Football Team and all its players, and buzzing with everything we had just seen and learnt. This was a truly unique experience and we would highly recommend going (especially on a sunny afternoon), even if you’re not a massive football fan! Tickets also include entry to the museum, which is by the Armoury Store, which gives a more historical context to Arsenal players, fans and the Emirates Stadium.
We woud like to say a massive thank you to the team at Arsenal and letting us come and meet them and enjoy this fantastic London day out.
