Travel
From city centre it was a 40 minute journey to the stadium, which all things considered is good in my opinion. I travelled a little further as I came from work. Altogether it took me 1 hour and 30 minutes, and it was roughly the same getting home. Mid-week games are always harder to justify going to if you can’t get home reasonably for work the next day. For me as long as I can get home before 1am then I’m there, otherwise if the game is important and I need to be there I’d book a day off work. I have to say with this game I was extremely surprised to get home as quick as I did considering Wembley was at 69k capacity!
Before the game I predicated England 3-1 Hungary but unfortunately the Actual Result was England 1 vs 1 Hungary.
Game Value
When going to any football match you want to see entertainment and goals, but most importantly you go to see your team win. When the team was announced I was surprised but very excited. It looked attacking and dangerous, tactically I was wondering how they would line up but excited nevertheless. From the get go England lacked a lot of sense of urgency, the play was slow and they didn’t particularly look that creative. We had plenty of possession but yet Hungary still went up which was frustrating but in my opinion the correct call. After the goal we saw England actually thread a few passes together and try the silky turns and eye of the needle passes. We picked up more free kicks and corners which is ultimately how we got our goal, perfectly taken by stones! Who in my opinion deserves an honourable mention, solid as ever for England and moved the ball okay. Sterling coming very close to taking England into the first half 2-1 up but it wasn’t to be. Although I thought we were better in the second half and had chances to put it away we still lacked any urgency, the players looked lethargic and personally I think some may have had there mind on the matches at the weekend for their clubs. Kane was no existent all night, which isn’t exactly ideal but I guess that just sums him up at the moment. Overall I think my man of the match has to go to Grealish, every time he got on the ball he looked like doing something and creating a chance or winning a foul, however no one really stood out this was a hard man of the match to hand out.
Ticket Value
I paid £30 for my ticket and I was very happy with my seat, you can see from the Instagram post how close we where. Obviously sitting a little lower would have been great but for thr price you pay for those tickets I don’t think it matters too much. The game had 2 goals and some decent chances so I think overall great value. If it had been a 0-0 and took me 2 hours to get home I think my experience and opinion would be very different!
Match Day Programme
So to start off it was £5, having been to a fair few games now that’s about right for a match day programme, 74 pages in total with plenty of interviews. This issue was a special one as it is Black History Month which was interesting to read and learn about the facts and stats from some incredible individuals leading the way for the youth. Also it was very classy from England to have a piece for both Jimmy Greaves and Roger Hunt, two England icons of the game but most importantly two players from the 1966 world cup winning team! I will say this reading through the interviews by the players it seemed so scripted, it just didn’t sound like them as a person. As a fan we want the raw emotion as that’s what we relate to so when you see them same sort of answers everytime it gets boring.
Food & Drink
It is custom to get a pint and pie at the football and that is just what I did, normally I would go for a burger but even getting a pie was very fortunate 5 minutes earlier and I wouldn’t have it was just pure luck that the chef pulled them out of the oven when I was paying.
I don’t pretend to be a pie expert but it tasted nice and was warm which definitely helps on a cold night. For a pie, beer and mars duo I paid £12.25. I think this is a little steep but then again I am at Wembley and prices will always cost more at the ground. Would I have it again? Definitely would but hopefully it wouldn’t be because I lucked out with timing but they actually had enough food around naturally.
This was my experience and I would recommend to anyone that loves football or live events in general that you go to as you would enjoy a match at Wembley!