A trip to London meant visiting football stadiums in England was an opportunity for me. As a massive football fan since I was a young boy, I was excited to see the stadiums which I had previously seen only through the television.
I narrowed down our itinerary to the stadiums that belong to the ‘Big 6’ Football Clubs (FC) in London (Arsenal, Chelsea & Spurs) and of course, the iconic Wembley Stadium.
We took a trip out of London to Liverpool. I managed to score us tickets to catch the live EPL match between my beloved Liverpool FC against Sheffield United. We did the stadium tour of Anfield the next day.
We made an impromptu short trip to Manchester after Liverpool. Zee wanted to visit Old Trafford before we head back to London.
Even though we were in the same city, we had to miss out on some stadiums like Goodison Park in Liverpool and The Etihad Stadium in Manchester. Due to time constraints and bad planning on our side, we had to miss more stadiums such as The London Stadium, Selhurst Park and Craven Cottage. A perfect excuse to visit London (and England) again soon!
Content List
Stamford Bridge (Chelsea)
Best Accessible Stadium
Halal Food Nearby
The Emirates (Arsenal)
Best Photo Opportunity Stadium
Halal Food Nearby
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Best Merchandise Store
Halal Food Nearby
Wembley Stadium
Best Stadium Tour
Halal Food Nearby
Anfield Stadium (Liverpool)
Old Trafford Stadium (Manchester United)
Stamford Bridge (Chelsea)
Best Accessible Stadium by London Underground
Stamford Bridge – the home stadium of Chelsea FC is in Fulham, London. It was the closest stadium to our accommodation in central London. It is also the most accessible by public transport in London.
Fulham Broadway, the nearest tube station is right beside the stadium and is on the District Line. Alternatively, there are bus services 14, 211 and 414 that stop right outside the stadium on Fulham Road.
Entering via the Britannia Gate on Fulham Road, you’ll get to the exterior of the West Stand which is the primary ‘face’ of the stadium where the statue of Chelsea legend, Peter Osgood takes prominence. This is where the best photo opportunity of the stadium is.
What I like about Stamford Bridge is that Chelsea have utilized the immediate surroundings of the stadium, making them part of the stadium. You can find bars, restaurants, hotels and even an apartment complex in very close vicinity. There is also The Shed Wall on the southern end which is famous for celebrating great players from Chelsea’s past with images and words along its length.
You have to visit the club’s Megastore for its memorabilia and souvenirs. The store has two floors; the ground floor mainly consists of souvenirs and children’s gear, and the first floor offers mainly apparel, including training jerseys, jackets, coats, and replica team jerseys. There is also a display of replicas of the various trophies the club has won throughout the years.
Halal Food Nearby
One of the top priorities when visiting football stadiums in England is definitely the ease of finding halal food nearby. The restaurants around Stamford Bridge do not serve Halal food so we headed on to the nearest outlet of German Doner Kebab along Fulham Broadway. It’s a 5 minutes walk away which is about 400 meters away from the stadium.
The Emirates (Arsenal)
Best Photo Opportunity Around the Stadium
The Emirates Stadium, the home stadium of Arsenal FC located at Hornsey Road is the second largest stadium in London. Coming in third in size within the whole of England, after Wembley and Old Trafford.
We took the tube from Victoria station on the Piccadilly line and alighted at the appropriately named Arsenal station. The stadium is then a short 3 minutes walk away from the station.
Coming from Arsenal station, the first sight that greets you is a ticket office and a small club store called “All Arsenal”. We were confused as we couldn’t see the stadium from where we were. It only dawned on us that we had to cross over the bridge to get to the main stadium.
I later learnt that bridge is the Ken Friar Bridge named after Ken Friar OBE, a former board member, managing director, secretary and appointed life president of Arsenal FC. There is a plaque and a statue of him as a boy, in tribute to him, on the other side of the bridge.
The stadium was impressive and made a lasting impression. What I love most about the stadium is the entire border would take you down a trip through the club’s history. There were many photo opportunities around the stadium.
From the Arsenal cannons at the main entrance of Hornsey Road to the statue of club legend Thierry Henry with the “Spirit of Highbury” mural behind it. There are 8 large murals placed around the exterior of the stadium.
If you are an Arsenal fan, you’ll be giddy with excitement with all the photos you can take without even paying for a stadium tour. Not forgetting, the main megastore “The Armory” that stocks pretty much everything an Arsenal fan would want or need in their show of allegiance to the club.
This is the most Instagram-worthy stadium in London by far.
Halal Food Nearby
We had to walk out about 650 meters away from the stadium for lunch. We had lunch at Pepe’s Piri Piri on Holloway Road which serves Halal flame-grilled chicken, similar to Nando’s. Alternatively, you can head to Finsbury Park about 1.2km away, where there is a mosque and various Halal food stores around it.
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Best Merchandise Store
The newest football stadium constructed in London is Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium, the home of Tottenham Hotspurs (FC). It is the largest club ground in London.
Interestingly, the stadium is not only designed to hold football matches and concerts which is typical of most other stadiums in England. It is also the home to the American Football (NFL) games in London. To accommodate this, the stadium features the world’s first dividing, retractable football pitch, which reveals a synthetic turf field underneath for the NFL games.
We took the train from Victoria to Seven Sisters station, and then the bus to the stadium.
The stadium looks imposing and massive when you first lay your eyes on it. It certainly stands out in its grandeur, amidst the red and brown brickwork of its surrounding buildings. Personally I was very impressed at how they could fit such a large, tall stadium in such a tight space.
I just wished there was a bit more character to it. Don’t get me wrong, the stadium looks great but I can’t help but feel that it looks a little cold. Maybe it’s due to the modern structure of metal and glass. The exterior was further enhanced by large LED screens.
Walking around the stadium looking for photo opportunities was almost futile. There wasn’t much to see or take photos from outside the stadium. The only spots that were camera-worthy were the cockerel sign, a symbol of the club, by the main entrance and the club’s motto, “To Dare Is To Do” emblazoned to the left side end of the stadium.
To be fair, from what I read, the stadium is more impressive on the inside and should be fully experienced via a stadium tour or if you are lucky enough, getting tickets to a match here.
I hope to be able to do this in a future trip! Our next visit will need to be planned around visiting football stadiums in England that we haven’t!
As always, we had to pay a visit to the club store for souvenirs and expectedly, it was well stocked with club merchandise and souvenirs. The store is well spread out over two floors with a large screen screening highlights of previous Spurs matches.
There were even PlayStation consoles on the second floor to get your EA Sports FC kicks while you shop. Being the home of the NFL in England, there were some NFL kits and merchandise to buy. It was really a great shopping experience even for non Spurs fans.
Halal Food Nearby
The Hotspurs Stadium was the best experience visiting football stadiums in England for getting halal food easily.
Just across the High Road from the stadium, you’ll find an outlet of Mother Hubbard’s, a chain of restaurants serving Halal fish & chips. They have been around since 1972 so you know you are getting the real deal here. Sit by the window and you can enjoy your plate of fish & chips with a side (we recommend the mushy peas) while admiring the view of the stadium.
Wembley Stadium
Best Stadium Tour
If you only have time for one stadium, make it the granddaddy of them all – the one and only Wembley Stadium. Football fans all over the world regard this stadium as one of the most sacred grounds in football history.
A visit to this iconic stadium is a must in your London itinerary. It should always be in the list of visiting football stadiums in England.
Wembley is England’s national football stadium and hosts the majority of the national team’s home matches. Wembley also hosts the FA Cup Final annually, the closer to their domestic football calendar and various divisions’ playoffs finals. The seating capacity of the stadium is 90,000, making it the largest stadium in the UK and the second largest in Europe, behind the Nou Camp in Barcelona, Spain.
Exiting the turnstile from Wembley Park Underground station (which runs on the Jubilee and Metropolitan lines), you are immediately greeted with the stadium’s iconic arch structure in the distance.
After making your way down a tall flight of stairs, walk to the stadium via Olympic Way, a wide walkway that links the tube station to the stadium.
You will then find yourself outside the northern side which is the main entrance of the stadium with the arch structure directly above you. Take yourself up to the second floor for a photo with the statue of legendary Bobby Moore – the only English captain to have lifted the World Cup so far.
If you are a rugby fan, just 50 meters from the Bobby Moore statue, stands the statues of five all-time greats – Eric Ashton, Billy Boston, Martin Offiah, Alex Murphy and Gus Risman.
It’s highly recommended to do the stadium tour of Wembley. Tickets for the tour are £25 for adults and £18 for children under 16. You can make your bookings here.
Halal Food Nearby
Right outside of the Wembley Stadium sits London Designer Outlet mall. There are a handful of halal-serving restaurants. We chose to dine in Big Moe’s which reminds us of a Grease, the 1970s movie.
Big Moe’s serves great diner food. The burgers and fries are a huge portion for our cute Asian stomachs. We did not get to try their highly-recommended milkshakes as we were too full after our set meal.
Anfield Stadium (Liverpool)
Being a lifelong Liverpool fan, visiting Anfield was the top most priority for me. I had set my mind that if I could not get tickets to catch a live match, I would be more than happy with just a stadium tour of Anfield.
Tickets were hard to come by as it was the then-Liverpool’s manager, Jurgen Klopp swansong season. When I finally scored tickets to a match that fits our schedule at a decent price – I planned for a 2-night stay in Liverpool for us.
So yes, I am thankful I get to fulfill my childhood dream of watching Liverpool live at Anfield finally.
[An extension to this will be on its own post – soon!]
Old Trafford Stadium (Manchester United)
We did not make any plans to visit Manchester. But seeing how the trains were available after a weekend of strike, we made an impromptu decision to visit Manchester before heading back to London.
Due to time constraints against the train schedule, we could only visit Old Trafford in Manchester. We had to skip the Etihad, the other major stadium in Manchester which is the home of league champions, Manchester City. And also Old Trafford won the toss because the wife grew up as a United supporter.
From the train station in Manchester, we made our way to Old Trafford via the tram. Alighting at the conveniently named Old Trafford tram stop, it was an almost 1km walk to Old Trafford stadium, walking past the Old Trafford Cricket Ground.
Old Trafford is the largest club football ground (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wembley) in the United Kingdom at a capacity of about 74,000. It’s nicknamed “The Theatre of Dream”, first coined by club legend, the late Bobby Charlton.
Walking from the tram stop, you will arrive at the East Stand of the stadium where the landmark of the ‘United Trinity’ statue stands. It honors United’s ‘trinity’ of legends – 3 of their best players in history; George Best, Dennis Law and Bobby Charlton.
Another statue, that of Sir Matt Busby perched on top, overlooks the East Stand forecourt. Here is also where the club megastore is, for those looking to shop for United souvenirs.
There are also paddlers selling scarves and badges here on the eve of match days and on match days themselves. Most Instagram photos of your friends visiting Old Trafford are most likely taken here at the East Stand.
So, that’s a recap on visiting football stadiums in England during our time in London! I thought 6 is not a huge number, but to share about all of them in a single post now seems like a lot!
Perhaps next time, we can plan a better return to both Anfield and Old Trafford among other stadiums we have not visited.
At the time of this post being published, we are still working on separate posts for Wembley and Anfield stadiums.
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