THE INTERNATIONAL PEN

As a typical football fan, I will never miss any chances to watch any matches in this local city. Recently, I made a visit to the FA cup competition, the atmosphere in Nottingham amazed me, I literally got so overwhelmed by the match!

The day was the third round of the oldest competition in the world, the Football Associations’ Cup, or more famously known as the FA Cup. Premier League side West Ham United, from London, were the visitors to Nottingham Forest’s City Ground stadium. I just got off the bus outside Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, and already you could see fans, decked out in the local team’s colours of red and white, streaming in the direction towards the stadium. As I entered into the stand named in honour of the legendary Brian Clough, you could feel the anticipation and sense of excitement amongst the supporters. Chanting and taking photos of the players as they were warming up, the fans were clearly in full voice and you could sense a possible upset on the cards.

The atmosphere just grew and the defining chants were getting awfully loud, marking the start of the game. If I thought the fans could not get any louder, I was proven wrong on the 12th-minute mark. After Djamel Abdoun converted a penalty to send the hosts into the lead, the stadium simply erupted with joy. This joy turned into ecstasy in the second half when new boy Jamie Paterson scored three goals within a mere 14 minutes! Nottingham Forest’s place in the fourth round of the FA Cup was as good as secured, and the fans were just revelling in this magnificent performance by their boys.

As I looked left towards the West Ham supporters sitting in the lower tier of the Bridgford End, it seemed all doom and gloom, with some leaving the stadium already. The contrast between both sets of supporters was so stark. Nottingham Forest added a fifth goal at the end of the game to further torment the West Ham team, and it completed a superb afternoon for the locals.

This was definitely an experience I could not have imagined, and I simply soaked up all the atmosphere. From watching the FA Cup ‘live’ on television back home in Singapore, to actually attending a FA Cup game for the local team where my university is located, it was essentially a dream come true for an avid football supporter like me.

I used to travel to other cities like Liverpool for the football matches, this FA cup competition get me to realise supporting the local team at the place where I live is awesome, experiencing the fever with Nottingham supporters enhanced my sense of belonging considerably to the university and this wonder city.