Guest Post: Brian Hatch Reviews Football at Fenway

The beer was cold. The crowd was loud. The rain held off. The infield at Fenway disappeared under fresh turf. There were languages I didn’t understand. On the heels of the World Cup, European soccer made its way to Fenway Park Wednesday night. As anyone could probably tell you, the popularity of soccer in the U.S. ebbs and flows, and the powers that be at Fenway were smart to schedule the match following the World Cup to build on the increased interest as of late. My biggest question heading to the match was easily what type of crowd could I expect? The answer turned out to be quite obvious.

Much like the crowds that fill Yawkey Way and Lansdowne Street during Sox games, the loyal supporters of both Celtic FC and Sporting Clube de Portugal came out of the woodwork. It might as well have been St. Patty’s Day in Beantown, as one of the primary colors for both teams is green. Fenway became a sea of jerseys and flags…and more importantly, not a single vuvuzuela was heard by my ears. It was tough to determine who was cheering for whom at times, but that just made it all the more enjoyable to watch the crowd.

The fans of both sides were passionate and loud, but it never veered toward obnoxious. I attended with a few buddies, one of whom is of Scottish heritage. Based on that fact, we became Celtic FC fans for the day. Sitting on third base line, in seats I could never afford for a Red Sox game, we were surrounded by fans young and old. There were chants I could barely decipher, although another buddy of mine had done his research via fanchants.com, and he was able to join in from time to time.

The game was well played from our vantage point, with Celtic getting a goal via penalty kick in the 72nd minute, and Sporting equalizing less than ten minutes later with a nice header after the ball deflected off the crossbar. The match was tied after 90 minutes, and even though it was classified as a “friendly” match, it went to penalty kicks to determine the winner. And frankly there was no way the crowd was going to leave Fenway with a tie on the board. Celtic finally prevailed 6-5, and the Bhoys supporters flooded the streets celebrating the win.

Football at Fenway was a resounding success, and I personally hope another 42 years doesn’t pass before we get to see it again. In a city renowned for their rabid fan base, getting to watch two great football teams battle on hallowed ground shouldn’t be a once in a lifetime experience. Hopefully I’m not alone in that opinion.

*Photo by Brian Hatch