At Sunderland's Stadium of Light, a magical new world opened up to the two young sons of James Helm
IT WAS THE moment of truth. The excitement had been building in our house for days, if not weeks, and now the teams were walking out. A huge, throaty roar greeted the players, and more than 43,000 other fans rose to their feet.
Beside me, two boys were about to have their wishes granted and see their first big match. I felt the same way that many of the players down there on the lush turf below us must have been feeling: nervous.
The build-up had gone well, with an easy journey over, lots of football chat, and a good, welcoming atmosphere around Sunderland's Stadium of Light. As the Liverpool team had arrived, my two got a thumbs up and a wave from their two biggest stars, Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres.
Their jaws dropped - as did mine. One to tell their schoolmates about when term restarts. We hung around waiting for kick-off, limbering up by buying a match programme as a souvenir, and looking around the club shop. We took in the colour and the atmosphere as thousands of men, women and children in red and white striped shirts streamed towards the ground for the first game of the new season. Food was the typically unhealthy match day offering of hot dogs and chips.
As a journalist I have been lucky enough to watch sport all over the world, and to report on some of the biggest events. Watching with my children, however, was an entirely different prospect.
I was hoping they would love the occasion and the experience, but nervous too that the noise, the chants, the sheer passion of the crowd might all be too much.
I had taken Joseph (nearly seven) and Patrick (almost five) along to other sports before, but a Leinster rugby crowd, even in full cry, is an altogether different experience to Premier League soccer in the northeast of England.
For months, I had been told about classmates who had been taken to see games over in England, and I'd been asked if, some time, please could we go to a game. They had been swept up in the soccer card-collecting craze, so they knew their Pepe Reinas from their Craig Gordons.
Eventually I had relented. After all, it was a treat for Dad too.
As we took our seats behind the goal, there were lots of other family groups around us, a far cry from my own early days of going to matches in the 1970s. Being from the region, the Sunderland accents were familiar to me, but they mingled with plenty of Irish voices too.
Sunderland's strong Irish links, through its owners, chairman Niall Quinn, manager Roy Keane, and lots of Irish players, mean plenty of fans make the trip over for games. Last season Sunderland had about 800 Irish-based season-ticket holders, and one in three of the corporate boxes were taken by the Irish. The Ryanair service from Dublin to nearby Durham Tees Valley Airport makes it straightforward to travel over to see the team play.
When the referee signalled the start of the game, the noise reached a crescendo. The two young spectators beside me were - to my relief - delighted rather than perturbed. They were busy spotting the players who, until now, they had only seen on TV or in their soccer-card albums.
The game was not a classic - a cagey early-season affair - but that didn't matter. As Sunderland tried in vain to find a way through Liverpool's defence, my mind wandered back in time. I couldn't help but remember my own first match-going experience, the crowds, the excitement, scalding my mouth on a half-time cup of Bovril. A soccer-mad aunt, who is now in her 70s and still goes every week, took me along as a birthday treat. (For the record, it was Middlesbrough versus Stoke, just down the road, and it ended 3-0.) Now, more than 30 years later, I was the one in charge of youngsters, and it was a great thrill.
Inevitably, my younger son's attention wandered, and before half-time, I took him out to meet Mum at the back of the stand. There were two of us left, and we loved it. When there was a lull in the game we watched the crowd and its reactions. I had worried about the language and some of the songs, but the air didn't turn blue. It was all vastly different to analysing the game from the press box, as I had done before, or going along with a bunch of friends. More goals might have been nice, but that was the one part of the day that Dad couldn't organise in advance.
Liverpool won the match with a late beauty from Fernando Torres, sending the Liverpool fans opposite us into raptures. Unfortunately it also reminded me of soccer's darker side, as a couple of men nearby took the goal as a signal to lay into each other. We moved away quickly, but it didn't take the edge off the experience and, according to those with children sitting around us, it was highly unusual.
The defeat meant the diehard Sunderland fans went home disappointed, but they should do fine this season.
For us, it was all part of a great family day out, in which my two youngsters got to see a new, exciting, even magical world. The Premier League, with its millionaire players, its wealth and its cynicism, can still fire young dreams. As we listened to the match reports on the car radio on the way back to our hotel, we agreed that we should go to another game together sometime soon.
Ryanair ( www.ryanair.com) flies from Dublin to Durham Tees Valley Airport and to Newcastle International Airport. Aer Lingus (www.aerlingus.com) flies from Dublin to Newcastle International
All you need to know to get to an English Premier League match
Club contacts
Arsenal, Emirates Stadium Tickets 00-44-2077-044040 Price €41-€119. Concessions of €17-€26
Aston Villa, Villa Park Tickets 00-44-121-3272299 Prices €19-€49. Concessions €13-€32
Blackburn Rovers, Ewood Park Tickets 00-44-871-2221444 Prices €21-€48. Concessions €9-€35
Bolton Wanderers, Reebok Stadium Tickets 00-44-844-8712932 Prices €26-€46. Concessions €13-€32
Chelsea, Stamford Bridge Tickets 00-44-207-9152900 Prices €51-€82. Concessions €22-€28
Everton, Goodison Park Tickets 00-44-870-4421878 Prices €38-€45. Concessions €19-€29
Fulham, Craven Cottage Tickets 00-44-870-4421234 Prices: €32-€70. Concessions €6-€50
Hull City, KC Stadium Tickets 00-44-870-8370004 Prices €25-€32. Concessions €4-€20
Liverpool, Anfield Tickets 00-44-870-2202151 Prices €35-€49. Concessions €20-€37
Manchester City, City of Manchester Stadium Tickets 00-44-870-0621894 Prices €38-€48. Concessions €12-€30
Manchester United, Old Trafford Tickets 00-44-161-8688800 Prices €33-€61. Concessions €13-€25
Middlesbrough, Riverside Stadium Tickets 00-44-844-4991234 Prices €33-€48. Concessions €19-€30
Newcastle United, St James's Park Tickets 00-44-191-2611571 Prices €40-€67. Concessions €9-€55
Portsmouth, Fratton Park Tickets 00-44-844-8471898 Prices €48. Concessions €28-€35
Stoke City, Britannia Stadium Tickets 00-44-871-6632007 Prices €31-€53. Concessions €10-€36
Sunderland, Stadium of Light Tickets 00-44-871-9111973 Prices €27-€42. Concessions €13-€28
Tottenham Hotspur, White Harte Lane Tickets 00-44-2079-981068 Prices €35-€95. Concessions €19-€35
West Brom, The Hawthorns Tickets 00-44-871-2719780 Prices €32-€51. Concessions €13-€32
West Ham United, Upton Park Tickets 00-44-870-1122700 Prices €45-€80. Concessions €22-€44
Wigan Athletic, JJB Stadium Tickets 00-44-1942-770460 Prices €28-€38. Concessions €6-€25
Package deals
Some clubs, such as Manchester United and Sunderland, have their own travel services that offer trips to games. Tickets generally go on sale for non-members a month or two before a match, and some teams now operate a seat-exchange policy (www.seatexchange.com), whereby season-ticket holders sell tickets at face value for matches they cannot attend.
Most Premier League grounds are within relatively easy reach of at least one of the main English airports such as Birmingham, London, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle.
If you are not travelling independently, it is worth noting that a lot of travel agents do not include flights in their prices as some matches can be moved at short notice for TV purposes.
Abbey Travel01-8047102, www.abbeytravel.ie. Two-night hotel and match ticket deals for Liverpool matches start at €319, while one-night packages for Manchester United start at €219. Sunderland packages are available for €79-€199 per person.
Two-night trips for Chelsea and Arsenal games, including flights, cost from €499 plus tax. The company covers other teams on request, including Spurs and West Ham.
Celtic Horizon Tours01-6292000, www.celtichorizontours.com. Coach and ferry trips or deals for hotel and match tickets only are available for most Premier League teams. These start at €135 per person, rising to €399 per person for certain two-night deals.
Dawson Travel021-4274397, www.dawson-travel.com. One-night packages for Arsenal start at €279 or at €399 for more exclusive packages. Weekend packages are priced from €359.
Chelsea games start at €359 for one night and €399 for two. Two or three-night packages to see Liverpool cost from €419. Deals for both clubs include four-star accommodation.
One-night Manchester United deals start at €229. Trips for other Premier League clubs can be arranged on request.
Gohop.ie01-2412397, www.gohop.ie. One-night deals for Manchester United games start at €189 per person sharing, rising to €299 for bigger matches. Two-night deals for Liverpool start at €319 for two people sharing. Flights are not included.
Gohop.ie also offers some day trips and covers other teams on request.
International Sports Travel01-8061753, www.istsports.ie. International will be covering Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Sunderland and West Ham this season. One-night packages including accommodation start at €199 per person.
Keith Prowse01-8783500, www.keithprowse.com. Keith Prowse is offering trips to Arsenal, Fulham, Manchester United, Sunderland and West Ham games this year.
One-night deals for Manchester United start at €205, with executive lounge packages also available. Trips to Arsenal, including club level seats and a pre-match meal, start at €253 per person sharing.
One-night hotel and ticket packages for Fulham, Sunderland and West Ham matches start at €113-€123 per person sharing.
Marathon Travel01-4755010, www.marathon-travel.ie. One-night hotel and match ticket packages for Liverpool and Manchester Uniteds Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup fixtures are available from €199 per person.
Similar trips to Everton and Sunderland games start at €129. Flights are not included but extra nights are available on request.
Sportsbreaks061-204444, www.sportsbreaks.ie. Two-night deals for Manchester United start at €310 per person sharing, while Everton deals cost from €370 per person. One-night deals for Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Spurs start at €219 per person sharing.
Sportstours01-4572311, www.sportstours.ie. Weekend deals for all Premier League teams are available on request. Sportstours is an official agent for Manchester United in Ireland and the main demand for their packages is for the Old Trafford club, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs. Two-night deals for the top clubs start at about €449, including flights and accommodation.
MARK RODDEEN