Undercover fan in Arsenal’s victory at QPR
I was at the QPR – Arsenal game this weekend, but in the home end when I was an away team fan. I thought I’d give a recollection of how I view the QPR spectrum from an outside perspective on match day.
It was the usual train journey to London, crowded and confined into a metal box that bounces at every possible opportunity. I did not see a single football shirt until I got to Clapham junction, where I saw a Fulham fan, I’m pretty sure that is the first Fulham fan I have seen in the “wild” per se. We jumped on the train to Shepherd’s Bush, where a group of Arsenal fans boarded the train instantaneously opening a can of Strongbow each, admittedly, they did come across as a bunch of louts at first sight, but with then erupted into an in depth analysis of the Championship and the teams that were promoted and relegated yesterday, I must admit, they did surprise me just a tad.
We turned up to Loftus Road a few hours to pick up our tickets from the box office section on the South Africa road, and surprisingly, it was packed, with hundreds of fans hanging about the gate in which the players arrive to the game. I went into the club shop and it was manic, too, but I presume the all 3 strips of kit being reduced to £20 was a “post-relegation” incentive and it seemed to work.
After stopping for a drink at the Springbok which is a home only supporters pub and this is where I viewed the QPR fans in a mass, and they seemed relatively upbeat, no one seemed dour towards the team before the match kicked off, although a few sour opinions were voiced during the actual match, which Arsenal won 1-0 after a goal from Theo Walcott after 20 seconds. The R’s fans were in great voice and I’m not the biggest watcher of QPR and don’t really have anything to compare it to when it comes to other QPR home matches whilst in the crowd but I wouldn’t of been too surprised if they seemed downtrodden after going down 1-0 so early on but they grew into the match with every passing minute.
The train home was a general consensus of they will be promoted straight back into the Premier League, Bobby Zamora is useless and they hope they can secure Andros Townsend on loan once again next season from Tottenham, overall, I was very happy with the experience as a whole, great fans, great stadium all the same.
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