Stamford Bridge

On July 10, I toured Stamford Bridge, Chelsea FC’s soccer stadium and grounds. Chelsea is one of five London clubs in the Premier League, England’s top division of soccer. They were also crowned champions of the Premier League this past season, winning the league comfortably ahead of Arsenal, Manchester City, and Manchester United. While I am not a Chelsea fan, I am a fan of anything soccer related, so I could not pass up the opportunity to visit one of the stadiums I have only ever seen on TV. The stadium itself is not far away at all, only two tube stops on the westbound District Line towards Wimbledon, and you can even just walk around the outskirts of the stadium for free. Costs for standard tours are about £25, but I only had to pay £8 through AIFS.

The tour begins with you getting to sit in stadium seats, only a few rows away from the field, while the tour guide quickly introduces Chelsea’s history. You then transition to the press room, where upwards of 100 reporters and journalists sit after matches to ask the manager and players questions. The away lockers rooms are introduced, and you really get to see how Chelsea designed them to put their opponents at a disadvantage. They are not air conditioned, are cramped, have small lockers, and the tactics board is placed right next to the door, which has to be kept open at all times for “safety reasons.” Chelsea’s luxurious home locker rooms are then shown for comparison. They are spacious, air conditioned, have nice showers and bathrooms, and their tactics room is larger than the entire away dressing room. Probably the coolest experience was walking out of the tunnel and onto the field at the halfway line, just as players do on match days. After the main tour, you can explore the Chelsea Museum and learn about the history of the club and see all the major trophies they have won, which was awesome.

I chose to visit Stamford Bridge because I am such a big fan of the Premier League and soccer in general, and the tour did not disappoint. To physically experience one of the stadiums that I had only every seen on a screen was a surreal experience for me that I will never forget. I highly recommend any fan of soccer to go on a tour or at least just visit the stadium, as you get to truly understand the sporting culture of England and how large of a role soccer plays in the locals’ lives. While the tour may not directly appeal to an engineer, as with the V&A, engineering can be found if one looks hard enough. The structural aspects of the stadium are impressive, the logistics behind the design of the locker rooms and press room are fascinating, and even biomedical aspects of engineering can be appreciated when considering how team medics and physios have to keep players at the highest level of fitness at all times. ~Tyler