That. So. Rocked.
Phil and I bailed from work a little after 7pm, caught the bus into town, and got off just about four blocks from Seahawks Stadium. Walked in, and found our way to our seats — which, as you can see from the above shot, were incredible! About thirteen rows back, practically right on the goal line. Even better, the entrance that the teams came out of to get on the field was directly to our left — there were a few too many people in the way for me to get a really good shot of them taking the field, though. Still, just being close enough that I could clearly see their faces was great.
Turns out that Seattle is definitely primarily a Man-U town. There were definitely Celtic fans in the crowd, but the roar every time Man-U scored or prevented a goal was pretty telling. The game itself was almost schizophrenic, though. Celtic played a very offensive game, and Man-U couldn’t seem to keep the ball out of their side of the field for the majority of the game, but the few times they did manage to push the ball down the field they scored almost every time. Their goalie, though, did an astounding job for the whole game — while the defense was good enough that Celtic didn’t get too many shots, he didn’t let any of them get through. Just gorgeous to watch.
In the end, Man-U took the game, four to nothing — a total shutout. There was also an announcement midway through the second half of the game that the final attendance tally was 66,722 people in the stadium! Blew my mind, and apparently that was record attendance for the stadium, too! Kind of funny when a soccer game creates more of a draw than the local sports teams do — but then, this was one hell of a soccer game.
All in all, one hell of an evening. While I’m sorry that Phil’s girlfriend couldn’t make it…damn but that was fun!
Update: Writeups are already posted on the local news sites.
- Seattle P-I: Man United struts its stuff before 66,722, beating Celtic 4-0
- Seattle P-I: Celtic’s best chance nets only missed PK
- Seattle P-I: Fans of Man U, Celtics get rare chance to see soccer heroes
- Seattle P-I: Beckham up next? Liverpool-Real Madrid visit rumored in works
- Seattle Times: Soccer holds Seattle under its spell
- Seattle Times: Solskjaer steps in for Beckham as Man U beats Celtic
- Seattle Times: Photo Gallery: Soccer’s day in the sun
- Seattle Times: Notebook: Man U fans make biggest fashion statement
- Fox Sports World coverage: ChampionsWorld Central
Sweet photo. But I didn’t think soccer fields were that big?
/s/The Ugly American
;-)
Agree with Brian, love the photo! There a full version for those of us with dual monitors and who are suckers for panoramas?
(grin) Even if you’re just being a smartass, I figured I’d go look it up. I knew pro soccer fields were bigger than pro football fields, but I didn’t know how much. According to the Seahawks Stadium page, though:
Football: 55.3 yards by 120 yards: 6636 square yards
Soccer: 70 yards by 110 yards: 7700 square yards
So that’s 1064 square yards more playing field — roughly 3,192 more square feet than a football field. Yowza.
Sure! While my digital doesn’t have quite the quality that I wish it did (which is more obvious on the full size panoramic), you’re welcome to check it out.
Man-U vs. Celtic panoramic (1 MB .jpg)
Enjoy!
No fair! I wanted to go to that game. Ok, I got Mt. St. Helens with no clouds and you got Man U. We’re even. Those of us here in “Soccer City USA” (Portland) are quite upset that Man U came here to practice (at Nike’s HQ) but for some reason chose not to play here.
I like what you’ve done with your site. I’m still “growing” mine.
I was there too. Awesome game. WE NEED SOCCER BACK IN SEATTLE!
looks like i just found a bug in TP.
I entered my comment, but it didn’t validate because i had improperly input my email address. I fixed it and posted, but then it posted twice…
I’m always amazed by how HUGE outdoor soccer fields are compared to football. What a terrific difference in the althleticism required of a soccer player vs. a football player. My son is in a soccer camp this week and players from the Dallas Sidekicks (indoor soccer) are the coaches. Those guys are FIT.
Oh, I know! I’m really not a sports person at all (much more the classic “geek”, perpetually with my nose in a book or a computer screen), but my brother was a soccer player for years, and that got me interested in the game.
Bigger fields than football. More constant motion (rather than the start-stop-start-stop of football games). No padding, other than shin guards. And — and this is a big one for me — a scoring system that makes sense. One ball goes in one goal scores one point. I can cope with that.
All in all, I’ll take soccer over any other sport any day of the week.
Well, aside from Co-Ed Strip Crisco Twister. But soccer’s a close second. ;)