In this case, football = soccer. I’m British now.

We’ve more or less adopted the Queens Park Rangers (QPR) as “our team” when it comes to a local football club. I use the term “adopted” loosely because we’ve only been to a few games but we now own a scarf and winter hat so we’re thoroughly invested. Anyway, when we have company we enjoy taking them to a QPR match mostly because they’re relatively close and have inexpensive tickets.

The way leagues work here is somewhat similar to baseball in that there are various levels. I say this as if I know how baseball works but I don’t. Anyway, after a quick Google search I discovered that QPR is in the English Football League Championship which is just below the Premier League (the top tier, think Arsenal, I also had to Google search that). The entire team is able to move up or down in leagues which I found interesting.

The games are fun to attend just like all live sports but there are a few big differences between an American game and an English match (I’ve assimilated).

One big difference is that you cannot bring alcohol to your seat. To be fair, a lot of the fans seem to be shitfaced by the time they arrive but, if you want a beer during the match, you have to order it and drink it in the hallway before returning to your seat.

The biggest difference of all is that the fans are kept separate and crossing the lines could result in banishment. We found this out the hard way the first time we went. We arrived a bit late and discovered our seats had been taken. We were told we could just find a seat anywhere so, we found a relatively empty section and made ourselves comfortable. It was only after a while of observing the other section antagonizing a man near us and realizing the entire stadium was chanting at us that I put two and two together and realized we were sitting in the away team section.

Another time we went to a match we took my sister and her family. Before we went, we explained the basics of attending a football match which everyone pretty much took to heart. My nephew though, bless his heart, is a fan of the underdog and when the first goal was scored by the away team he started to cheer. Mind you, at this time he was all of 10 or 11 but a woman sitting behind them started to get worked up about the fact that he was cheering for the away team when my sister and her husband stepped in and corrected the situation. This is all to prove just how seriously they take the separation of fans that a grown woman was ready to have words with a child.

Even local pubs segregate the fans and you could be denied entry if you’re wearing the colors of the opposing team. I’m not aware of this level of separation of teams in the US but, I’m just a naive sports girl so it could be this is true for everywhere. Correct me if I’m wrong!