photos: tottenham hotspur vs athletic club...
On the 6th of August Athletic played a friendly against Tottenham Hotspur in London, and since it was also a welcome opportunity to see blue_eyed_miss again, there was no way I was going to miss that.
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Athletic Club Bilbao.
Before we went to London, Becky had contacted a London-based Athletic fanclub and received an itinerary for the day of the match. The plan was to get all the travelling Athletic fans together for a group picture, and which location would be better suited than Trafalgar Square with its gigantic lions? :D Salvador, the guy from the fanclub, also brought quite a lot of bowler hats for everyone to wear. This is because his fanclub is called Peña Mr Pentland (Fred Pentland, an Englishman, was one of the most famous and successful coaches of Athletic and the reason why in Spain coaches are often called el Míster). We got quite a lot of stares from tourists, hehehe.
Once we'd taken the group picture we went to a pub to have some drinks and chat a little. Becky and I were a little shy at first, seeing as we didn't really know anyone, but after a while we started talking to two guys from Manchester who were both called John (but we called them Big John and Little John to avoid confusion XD). Fortunately they're not Manchester United fans but support Wigan Athletic. And Athletic Club Bilbao, obviously. XD
We also sang songs:
After a while we went to a second pub, an Irish pub where Salvador had reserved seats for all of us. Becky and I hadn't had lunch yet, but when we got to the Irish Pub they said they'd just stopped serving lunch (it was already after 3pm), so we had to stick to liquid food (i.e. beer). XD In the Irish Pub, Big John gave me a collection of Athletic match programmes as a present - he'd brought them for someone else originally but that someone didn't show up so he said I could have them. They are fantastically awesome. :D
Afterwards, we took the Tube to the station nearest to the stadium, which was TONS of fun because we kept chanting the Athletic anthem very loudly in the train and everyone was staring at us:
From the station, we walked to the stadium. On the way I chatted about the Basque Country and Basque politics with a guy who wore a long ponytail and a Basque hat, which was fun even though his English was not good and my Spanish isn't good either. XD I also chatted with another guy called Rubén, who works in Nottingham during the week and goes back home to Barakaldo every weekend (or so). Apparently his company is paying the flights. o_O (Too bad my employer would never dream of paying flights to Bilbao for me every weekend.) He was quite impressed by my knowledge about Athletic, especially when we started talking about the cantera and I mentioned Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta.
When we arrived at the stadium and had found the entrance of the section we were supposed to sit in, we were promptly NOT let in. The reason? We were wearing the colours of the opponent and the section we'd bought tickets for was just for home team supporters. WTF? Why would you even let us buy those tickets, then? Thankfully we could exchange the tickets in the ticket office and got to sit with all the other travelling Athletic fans, which was an absolutely brilliant experience, not just because we were sitting a lot closer to the pitch than we would have originally. XD The section for the away fans was small, but at some points we were chanting even more loudly than the home fans! :D And we were chanting so much! I recognised most of the songs and chants, and those I didn't recognise I had memorised after the second repetition. The most popular song was, obviously, the Athletic anthem, but we also sang "Ikusi mendizaleak" and "Lepoan hartu" and "Batador Mari Jaia", and I was very grateful to xurda87 for having given me all those songs on CD when I was in Bilbao in February. XD
The match itself was good overall, even though we lost 2-1. We had a couple of very promising scenes and fought bravely, and I was especially pleased to see Ander Herrera integrating himself well in the team. Also, Gorka Iraizoz (a.k.a. "Supergorka") saved a penalty against Niko Kranjčar. This and the honourary goal for Athletic, scored by Mikel San José, made the travelling supporters go MENTAL. XD Yes, including myself. *LOL*
The most impressive thing happened once the match was over: The Tottenham fans got up from their seats and applauded us. No, I'm not kidding. And we applauded them back. Even when we were gathering outside the stadium again, the passing Tottenham fans stopped to applaud us again. I'd never seen anything like that!!
While everyone was unsure what to do next and Salvador was nowhere in sight, Becky and I decided to join Rubén and two of his friends for some more drinks but at some point Becky wasn't feeling too well and went back to the hotel. I stayed, grateful for the opportunity to practice my Spanish (Rubén and his friends spoke little to no English). After one drink Rubén got a text from someone, telling him which bar the others were in, and we promptly went there. In that bar, I met Juan, who was excited to meet an Athletic fan from Germany and told me that I should give him a nudge when I'm in Bilbao again because he can get me match tickets. (In the end I didn't need to do that because xurda87 and her sisters queued with J and me in September. XD) It was rather late when I left, accompanied by Rubén's friends Raúl and Santi, who had to get back to their hotel because they had an early flight home the following day, and was lucky to catch the last Overground train to my hotel.
Of course, there are also pics! My only request is that you don't repost or share them anywhere without my permission. Feel free to direct people to this post instead. And DON'T HOTLINK, or I'll call Gaizka Toquero and he'll kick your ass. (No, not in a good way.)
The fans gathering at Trafalgar Square.
Some already picked the best seats for themselves. XD
The entire group, including bowler hats! XD
Walking to the first pub.
In the second pub. Hilariously enough I saw the guy in the green shirt again at this year's Deusto Bier Festa in Bilbao. XD It's a small world!
Outside White Hart Lane.
The crowd behind me. Note the guy in the front wearing the shirt of the Basque NT! :D
More Athletic fans! You can see Santi biting his nails and Raúl looking at his camera, LOL!
Of course, the fans also brought banners!
Including this one demanding that Basque prisoners should be returned to the Basque Country.
In the crowd there was also a fan of Real Sociedad who received some gentle teasing. XD
I asked them to shake hands for a pic, hehe. :D
The pitch!
My match pics didn't really turn out so great but well, you recognise the major details. Like Javi looking directly at the camera. XD
Hello there, Fernando Llorente. O_O
I really like this pic. XD
Óscar de Marcos! (Though I bet july_v will not even notice anyone other than Gorka here. XD)
Here, july_v, have some Gorka! :D
And some more Gorka!
And some close-up Gorka!
Okay, enough Gorka. Here's Fer, Javi, and Gurpe's back instead!
Action shot of Javi! Guh, I just adore his legs.
I said enough Gorka, right? Well, apparently not. XD
I don't know why they're all looking at me like that. I clearly didn't shout "Javi and Fer have the hots for each other!" out loud. XD
Javi has a very sexy back.
Action shot of Gorka!
july_v will be very pleased to see this. XD
You have to love Gorka, always eager to look his sexiest for his admirers. XD
Gabilondo! I still can't believe I sat two tables away from that guy in a café in Bilbao!
Hello, Ander!
Gurpe and San José expecting a free kick.
In case there are any Tottenham fans here reading this, I decided to include this pic of Crouch, Bale and someone else warming up. (Pardon my lack of knowledge about the Tottenham squad.)
Obviously I found it a lot more interesting to watch the Athletic guys warm up! The adorable little thing on the left is Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta, then there's Toquero, David López, Jonás Ramalho, Jon Aurtenetxe and Markel Susaeta (though you can't really see that much of him).
Warming up is obviously a lot of fun. Not. ;)
I took quite a lot of pics of the warming-up.
Ahem.
Javi again! I obviously took quite a lot of pics of him too. XD
And we're back at the guys warming up.
De Marcos running after a ball (which you can't see because it's outside the picture).
Javi posing. XD
Igor!!
The "kids" warming up.
Can't blame Ćorluka for wanting to grab that.
Gabilondo again!
And a close-up of Ander!
Action!
Hello, I'm Gorka, do you still remember me? XD
And just in case you have forgotten about these three... ;)
Spurs have quite a lot of rather hilarious banners in their stadium. XD
Gorka can't believe Athletic isn't winning.
Markel looks like he's about to fall asleep. XD
Javi is pointing and shouting orders while Gurpe is tucking his shirt back into his shorts. XD
Ander looks like someone kicked a ball against his arse. XD (And look, there's Javi and Fer!)
Close-up of Susaeta's behind for july_v. XD
Half-time break!
Hello Iker!
Have I mentioned that the banners are really hilarious?
I'm not sure what that's supposed to be, but it looks mental... XD
The second half started with - yep, the same people warming up. XD
Eventually Toquero got subbed in. (Btw, one of the fans in front of me kept shouting stuff at him while he was warming up, and at some point Gaizka waved and grinned. XD)
Javi is tall already, but Crouch is even taller.
This looks like Igor is instructing the ref how to take free kicks. XD
Iraola and Iturraspe are allowed to pose, too.
Igor and Fer!
David López, finally subbed in too!
You can see this is the posing section of this picspam. XD
Once the match was over, two players kindly decided to bare their torsos and give me a nice view.
Javi, stop checking out Fer's ass. (Or wait, don't stop. XD)
No need to hide, Óscar!
I want to lick along Javi's spine. *coughs*
And with this excellent view ends my photo spam! I hope you enjoyed it and my lame captions didn't hurt your brain too much! ;)
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Athletic Club Bilbao.
Before we went to London, Becky had contacted a London-based Athletic fanclub and received an itinerary for the day of the match. The plan was to get all the travelling Athletic fans together for a group picture, and which location would be better suited than Trafalgar Square with its gigantic lions? :D Salvador, the guy from the fanclub, also brought quite a lot of bowler hats for everyone to wear. This is because his fanclub is called Peña Mr Pentland (Fred Pentland, an Englishman, was one of the most famous and successful coaches of Athletic and the reason why in Spain coaches are often called el Míster). We got quite a lot of stares from tourists, hehehe.
Once we'd taken the group picture we went to a pub to have some drinks and chat a little. Becky and I were a little shy at first, seeing as we didn't really know anyone, but after a while we started talking to two guys from Manchester who were both called John (but we called them Big John and Little John to avoid confusion XD). Fortunately they're not Manchester United fans but support Wigan Athletic. And Athletic Club Bilbao, obviously. XD
We also sang songs:
Click to viewAfter a while we went to a second pub, an Irish pub where Salvador had reserved seats for all of us. Becky and I hadn't had lunch yet, but when we got to the Irish Pub they said they'd just stopped serving lunch (it was already after 3pm), so we had to stick to liquid food (i.e. beer). XD In the Irish Pub, Big John gave me a collection of Athletic match programmes as a present - he'd brought them for someone else originally but that someone didn't show up so he said I could have them. They are fantastically awesome. :D
Afterwards, we took the Tube to the station nearest to the stadium, which was TONS of fun because we kept chanting the Athletic anthem very loudly in the train and everyone was staring at us:
From the station, we walked to the stadium. On the way I chatted about the Basque Country and Basque politics with a guy who wore a long ponytail and a Basque hat, which was fun even though his English was not good and my Spanish isn't good either. XD I also chatted with another guy called Rubén, who works in Nottingham during the week and goes back home to Barakaldo every weekend (or so). Apparently his company is paying the flights. o_O (Too bad my employer would never dream of paying flights to Bilbao for me every weekend.) He was quite impressed by my knowledge about Athletic, especially when we started talking about the cantera and I mentioned Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta.
When we arrived at the stadium and had found the entrance of the section we were supposed to sit in, we were promptly NOT let in. The reason? We were wearing the colours of the opponent and the section we'd bought tickets for was just for home team supporters. WTF? Why would you even let us buy those tickets, then? Thankfully we could exchange the tickets in the ticket office and got to sit with all the other travelling Athletic fans, which was an absolutely brilliant experience, not just because we were sitting a lot closer to the pitch than we would have originally. XD The section for the away fans was small, but at some points we were chanting even more loudly than the home fans! :D And we were chanting so much! I recognised most of the songs and chants, and those I didn't recognise I had memorised after the second repetition. The most popular song was, obviously, the Athletic anthem, but we also sang "Ikusi mendizaleak" and "Lepoan hartu" and "Batador Mari Jaia", and I was very grateful to xurda87 for having given me all those songs on CD when I was in Bilbao in February. XD
The match itself was good overall, even though we lost 2-1. We had a couple of very promising scenes and fought bravely, and I was especially pleased to see Ander Herrera integrating himself well in the team. Also, Gorka Iraizoz (a.k.a. "Supergorka") saved a penalty against Niko Kranjčar. This and the honourary goal for Athletic, scored by Mikel San José, made the travelling supporters go MENTAL. XD Yes, including myself. *LOL*
The most impressive thing happened once the match was over: The Tottenham fans got up from their seats and applauded us. No, I'm not kidding. And we applauded them back. Even when we were gathering outside the stadium again, the passing Tottenham fans stopped to applaud us again. I'd never seen anything like that!!
While everyone was unsure what to do next and Salvador was nowhere in sight, Becky and I decided to join Rubén and two of his friends for some more drinks but at some point Becky wasn't feeling too well and went back to the hotel. I stayed, grateful for the opportunity to practice my Spanish (Rubén and his friends spoke little to no English). After one drink Rubén got a text from someone, telling him which bar the others were in, and we promptly went there. In that bar, I met Juan, who was excited to meet an Athletic fan from Germany and told me that I should give him a nudge when I'm in Bilbao again because he can get me match tickets. (In the end I didn't need to do that because xurda87 and her sisters queued with J and me in September. XD) It was rather late when I left, accompanied by Rubén's friends Raúl and Santi, who had to get back to their hotel because they had an early flight home the following day, and was lucky to catch the last Overground train to my hotel.
Of course, there are also pics! My only request is that you don't repost or share them anywhere without my permission. Feel free to direct people to this post instead. And DON'T HOTLINK, or I'll call Gaizka Toquero and he'll kick your ass. (No, not in a good way.)
The fans gathering at Trafalgar Square.
Some already picked the best seats for themselves. XD
The entire group, including bowler hats! XD
Walking to the first pub.
In the second pub. Hilariously enough I saw the guy in the green shirt again at this year's Deusto Bier Festa in Bilbao. XD It's a small world!
Outside White Hart Lane.
The crowd behind me. Note the guy in the front wearing the shirt of the Basque NT! :D
More Athletic fans! You can see Santi biting his nails and Raúl looking at his camera, LOL!
Of course, the fans also brought banners!
Including this one demanding that Basque prisoners should be returned to the Basque Country.
In the crowd there was also a fan of Real Sociedad who received some gentle teasing. XD
I asked them to shake hands for a pic, hehe. :D
The pitch!
My match pics didn't really turn out so great but well, you recognise the major details. Like Javi looking directly at the camera. XD
Hello there, Fernando Llorente. O_O
I really like this pic. XD
Óscar de Marcos! (Though I bet july_v will not even notice anyone other than Gorka here. XD)
Here, july_v, have some Gorka! :D
And some more Gorka!
And some close-up Gorka!
Okay, enough Gorka. Here's Fer, Javi, and Gurpe's back instead!
Action shot of Javi! Guh, I just adore his legs.
I said enough Gorka, right? Well, apparently not. XD
I don't know why they're all looking at me like that. I clearly didn't shout "Javi and Fer have the hots for each other!" out loud. XD
Javi has a very sexy back.
Action shot of Gorka!
july_v will be very pleased to see this. XD
You have to love Gorka, always eager to look his sexiest for his admirers. XD
Gabilondo! I still can't believe I sat two tables away from that guy in a café in Bilbao!
Hello, Ander!
Gurpe and San José expecting a free kick.
In case there are any Tottenham fans here reading this, I decided to include this pic of Crouch, Bale and someone else warming up. (Pardon my lack of knowledge about the Tottenham squad.)
Obviously I found it a lot more interesting to watch the Athletic guys warm up! The adorable little thing on the left is Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta, then there's Toquero, David López, Jonás Ramalho, Jon Aurtenetxe and Markel Susaeta (though you can't really see that much of him).
Warming up is obviously a lot of fun. Not. ;)
I took quite a lot of pics of the warming-up.
Ahem.
Javi again! I obviously took quite a lot of pics of him too. XD
And we're back at the guys warming up.
De Marcos running after a ball (which you can't see because it's outside the picture).
Javi posing. XD
Igor!!
The "kids" warming up.
Can't blame Ćorluka for wanting to grab that.
Gabilondo again!
And a close-up of Ander!
Action!
Hello, I'm Gorka, do you still remember me? XD
And just in case you have forgotten about these three... ;)
Spurs have quite a lot of rather hilarious banners in their stadium. XD
Gorka can't believe Athletic isn't winning.
Markel looks like he's about to fall asleep. XD
Javi is pointing and shouting orders while Gurpe is tucking his shirt back into his shorts. XD
Ander looks like someone kicked a ball against his arse. XD (And look, there's Javi and Fer!)
Close-up of Susaeta's behind for july_v. XD
Half-time break!
Hello Iker!
Have I mentioned that the banners are really hilarious?
I'm not sure what that's supposed to be, but it looks mental... XD
The second half started with - yep, the same people warming up. XD
Eventually Toquero got subbed in. (Btw, one of the fans in front of me kept shouting stuff at him while he was warming up, and at some point Gaizka waved and grinned. XD)
Javi is tall already, but Crouch is even taller.
This looks like Igor is instructing the ref how to take free kicks. XD
Iraola and Iturraspe are allowed to pose, too.
Igor and Fer!
David López, finally subbed in too!
You can see this is the posing section of this picspam. XD
Once the match was over, two players kindly decided to bare their torsos and give me a nice view.
Javi, stop checking out Fer's ass. (Or wait, don't stop. XD)
No need to hide, Óscar!
I want to lick along Javi's spine. *coughs*
And with this excellent view ends my photo spam! I hope you enjoyed it and my lame captions didn't hurt your brain too much! ;)