A fans perspective: your first game

It’s often hard to capture that feeling we have all had as football fans, when we get to attend our first game, live and in person. That nervous excitement, the combined feelings of dread and expectation in equal measure; the first game you attend live is likely to make or break whether you come back for more. With that in mind, please enjoy the following guest contribution from a fledgling Crystal Palace fan named Shadia and her account of her first visit to the hallowed turf of Selhurst Park...

It’s hard to describe that feeling in your stomach, that sense of anticipation that only comes from attending your first game, the butterflies, the nervous energy. The mixture of excitement and tension can be a lethal combination. If you’re honest, that feeling deep down in your stomach, it can translate into you feeling a little poorly.

As fans it’s a feeling we’ve all experienced at some point, and overcoming it has been going on for decades, centuries even. There’s a reason things become tradition; because they’re right, they’re meant to be, and nothing says tradition at a football game than a large, piping hot, cup of Bovril. Reassuring and warm, it’s been settling nervous fans stomachs since Royal Engineers were competing in FA Cup finals. Last Saturday nothing tasted better than Bovril.

Bovril; the perfect antidote to the nervous trek from Thornton Heath Station, all the way to the Promised Land. Walking to the ground, a lot had been said. You’d heard it was a shed, a bin, one massive toilet; perhaps it was these fears as much as anything that was playing on the mind and in the stomach. The nearer you got, the bigger the apprehension, and yet the greater the anticipation, until, bang, there she was; Selhurst Park in all her glory.

Almost at once, nervousness gave way to excitement, and before you knew it the turnstiles were upon you. Small, dark rooms, with old men shrouded in the shadows. Men you suspected had been there for a very long time; every Saturday, come rain or shine ready to welcome those new fans to their first game. Once inside, up the metals stairs, into a beautiful world of concrete, corrugated iron and rusting metal, from there, the hallowed turf was not far away.

Experiencing the pre-match build up is to engage in the atmosphere of blind faith and optimism, tinged with that sense of fear at the 90 minutes about to unfold in front of you that grabs everyone around the ground. The stadium is a bundle of nervous energy, of hope and expectation. New fans to the ground being welcomed by those who have seen it all before, reassuring them it will be alright. Before you know it the two teams are upon you, entering to the pitch to a riotous, cacophonous fanfare. You’re in it now, the passion of the occasion having swept you up completely.

The match itself, whilst exciting and engaging is not really what the day’s about. The team lose 2-1, have a man sent off and concede a penalty, but in a way, that’s not the point. The atmosphere, the setting, the fans, the ground, the sights and the sounds, that’s what you’ve come for. You leave the ground with a hint of disappointment that the result has not gone the way you hoped, but its better that way. Better that you don’t experience a win in your first game, better that your expectations aren’t raised to an unobtainable level; “why can’t it be like this every week?”

You leave the ground, happy and contented. You were a little nervous before, but have enjoyed the day and one day see yourself coming back for more. Fingers crossed the result will be better that way, that you’ll see more goals and that you’ll see a victory, but more than that you just hope to come back to enjoy and embrace the experience. You never forget your first game but you definitely hope it won’t be your last.