I hopped off the train in Manchester with my coat and an umbrella.
You better have read that in the same way Miley Cyrus sings “Party in the U.S.A.” The only difference between Miley and I’s experience is that instead of looking to my right and seeing the Hollywood sign, I saw sheep in the British countryside. Okay, maybe that’s not the only difference.
Before getting on the train though, the class first had to arrive at the correct station without the professors’ help. Thankfully, one week in we were now pretty familiar with the tube. The new part of this route would come once we arrived via tube and had to go to the national rail service area of the station. This is where we met the professors as well as Cathy and Neil Drysdale, parents of the esteemed Callum Squires, who would be joining us on the trip to a city they knew well: Manchester.
As we spent time in London, I totally kept forgetting about Manchester. It just felt fake that we would get to take a train to an entirely new city and have that city be home to two of the most famous football clubs in the world. Well, it was not fake. We all received our train tickets, and after Dr. Tingle was stopped by a groupie who knew him from Twitter, we were off for northern England.
The two hour train ride let me take a nap, catch up on my journal and observe the towns we’d zoom past. And yes, there were sheep! This was a nice way to become familiar with the parts of England that aren’t London. Before I knew it, however, we had arrived in Manchester.
We took another train ride, this time on the city’s line, all the way to MediaCityUK. We got off here because we could walk along the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal and see the many media headquarters in the area, including BBC Sport! There were also many shops, restaurants and museums around so the walk was very nice. As is typical in Manchester, it was raining and chilly, but once again I loved it since back home it was likely miserably hot.
Our long walk past MediaCityUK ultimately led us to Alex Ferguson Way. That could only mean one thing: We had arrived at Old Trafford, home of Manchester United Football Club.
We first captured some pictures with the statues outside the stadium and took in the moment of being here. Unlike many of our London activities, Dr. Breidenstein Dr. Tingle and Dr. Nishikawa had never been here, so it was a new experience for them as well which was fun.
After taking some pictures, we were seeking to eat something before our tour. This led to a bit of chaos, but some flexibility from our class and the staff at the stadium allowed us to eat pizza and “chunky” chips (fries) at the Red Cafe inside the stadium. As Sam Demmon and I now agree, all chips should be chunky.
Eating gave us a nice boost, and we were now all ready for a tour. Our guide introduced himself as Tony, and he was excited to hear that we were from San An”Tony”o. He took us up some stairs and there we were, entering the “Theatre of Dreams” as the great Bobby Charlton called Old Trafford. 74,000 bright red seats sat quietly as the rain poured down onto the pitch. It was a scene straight out of a storybook.
Tony was an extremely knowledgeable tour guide. Among many things, he taught us more about the Hillsborough Disaster that we had learned about at QPR that forced all teams to have all-seater stadiums. Manchester United, however, got to introduce safe-standing sections during the previous season to much success, so now other teams in Britain get to try that out. He also explained that Old Trafford is the largest club-only stadium in England since Wembley is home to the national team, not a club.
Another major thing we learned about was how Manchester United claimed the “Treble,” an incredible accomplishment that saw the Red Devils win the Premier League, the UEFA Champions League and the Football Association Cup. To this day, United is the only English club to ever win the Treble, and they are very proud of it. There is an entire section of their museum dedicated to it, and there are reminders of it everywhere.
As we traveled from section to section, we got to walk through the concourse underneath the seats. This area reminded me of Wrigley Field in Chicago or Fenway Park in Boston just because of how old yet classic everything felt. Old Trafford, built in 1910, is one of the oldest stadiums in England. Many people believe Manchester United may soon seek to build a new stadium despite the upgrades they’ve attempted at Old Trafford. We learned a bit later that any big concerts such as Taylor Swift go to Etihad Stadium, home of Manchester City, since it is much more modern. At Old Trafford, it is pretty much all about the Red Devils.
We got to go in the locker room, where all of us raced to take a picture with the iconic Cristiano Ronaldo’s jersey. Then we went pitch-side by the team benches and got to sit right where the players do during games. This is where we took an awesome picture of a few of us acting as if we were celebrating a goal.
It was especially great to experience all of this with Coach McGinlay, THE soccer legend at Trinity, as well as Philip Dueñez, who plays soccer at Trinity and whose favorite team is Manchester United. They were clearly loving this moment, and I loved being there with them.
After a trip to the press conference room our tour came to an end, but we weren’t done yet. Next up was an educational session taught by Matt Cross, who worked as a teacher for Manchester United. I loved the entire concept of the team having teachers to welcome classes and teach them all about the club or a specific concept. We had signed up for a lesson about racism in football, but Cross taught us about pretty much anything and everything.
A few highlights from the class for me were learning what a big impact signing Ronaldo had on the club. In one week after the signing, Adidas made 187 million pounds and United’s value increased by 215 million pounds. Wow! This prompted Cross to explain that about 50% of Ronaldo’s salary would go towards taxes in the United Kingdom because they have so many social services. Imagine that…
I also found it interesting to understand why many Manchester United fans do not like their owners, the Glazers, who also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Devils fans feel they are not present for United. Cross also explained that football clubs are now using analytics after that was introduced in American sports, which is fascinating to hear.
I seriously have almost two fully typed pages of notes from Cross, as he spoke for over an hour and it felt like everything he said had value. I loved getting to meet him and learn from him.
One last goodie for the class came in the classroom, where Cross let us all try on some game-worn jerseys from some pretty impressive players, from David Beckham to Ronaldo himself. Everyone took turns taking pictures wearing the jerseys, and we took one where each of us had a jersey on as if we were a football club. I mean, we did have the great Coach McGinlay right there to lead us!
Of course no tour is complete without a trip to the gift shop. First I acquired my fifth and final scarf of the trip. Then I was going to buy a t-shirt, but Alex Barner convinced me to instead buy a jersey that was on sale that made it basically the same price as a t-shirt. I guess I’m a Manchester United fan now! I do hope to now get more into the Premier League, and it would make sense to root for the team whose stadium I toured. We will see what happens.
Once everybody finished shopping, we had a fun walk back through MediaCityUK. We thought we’d have some more time to explore Manchester, but our delay after eating earlier pushed things back and forced us to have to get back to the train station right away.
At the station, which was called Manchester Piccadilly, there happened to be a piano just waiting to be played. I heard it calling my name, so I pulled up and started playing my collection of pop songs highlighted by “Havana” by Camila Cabello. Did I ever think I’d play the piano at a Manchester train station? Nope. Did I ever think I’d get to do anything that we had done on this trip? Nope. Every single moment was so special, especially the small, unexpected ones like these.
After my mini-concert, it was time to head back “home.” Emily Ellis and I had a wonderful time on the ride to London sitting next to Niko and Finnegan. The two hours flew by and we quickly returned to Kentish Town.
Just like that, in one day we took a train to Manchester and back. Oh, and in between, we just happened to tour one of the most well-known stadiums in the world. As Sir Charlton said, a “Theatre of Dreams” indeed.