Forza Sydney!

With not really knowing what to expect, I took Kate & Brooke to the soccer yesterday to see Sydney FC win through to the Grand Final with a 2-1 (4-3 aggregate) win over Adelaide United.

I have always been a soccer player and fan, but had only gone to see a match in the old NSL once when about 5 blokes and a dog turned up to a Parramatta vs Auckland match.  But yesterday was something all together different.  I picked up my mate Noyz from his place down near Campbelltown and we drove up the M5.  Past the airport we hit a traffic jam.  Yes a traffic jam some 10 or so kilometres long queuing to get to the Sydney Football Stadium to see a soccer match.

We crawled through, parked at Sydney Girls High and had to get the girls to frog march pretty quickly to the ground.  But the thing was there were heaps of people in our predicament who had similarly been caught short and were held back by the crowd.  This was amazing as Driver Avenue was filled with people wearing the Sydney colours of Sky Blue marching into the Stadium.

I picked up the tickets whilst Noyz, to save time, took the girls to the merchandising stand to buy some flags for them and we took our seats about 3mins before kickoff.  The ground was packed and friends of ours Siebs & Denise had text me that they were there and saving us seats.  Funnily enough Wayne from cricket was also there, 10 rows in front of us, so a bit of a Greystanes / Wenty Waratahs soccer club Old Boys club had inadvertently gathered to see a local soccer game.  Never has this happened before.

The crowd was massive and we were sitting half a bay from “The Cove” which is the area behind the northern goals that host the hard core Sydney fan.  The chants and the flag waving was amazing and the whole stadium, supporting one team save for a clump of red Adelaide fans at the far end, cheering for Sydney gave a great atmosphere.

And I suppose I was a little bit apprehensive taking a 4 and a 6 year old girl to a soccer game, but the fans were in good spirit and very family friendly.  People were drinking beer (take note SCG Trust!) and there was no trouble whatsoever.  Families were everywhere and the girls got right into it, particularly Kate who spent the last 20mins standing on her chair with the crowd with her flag in the air joining into the “ole ole” and the “Sydney Sydney Sydney!” chants.

For $40 a family pass (2 adults, 2 kids) it was great value and a great atmosphere.  Well done Sydney!

With the win, it means Sydney hosts the Grand Final in 2 weeks.  I think today I might buy some more tickets!