The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Men's Soccer Diary
8/18/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Aug. 18, 2003
The UAB men's soccer team is currently in England where it has played the first of five games against professional soccer teams. While in England, the players were asked to keep a diary of the day's events and their thoughts. Each day, uabsports.com will post a player's diary and keep a running record of the trip.
On Sunday, August 17, senior Kareem Morgan was asked to keep a diary of the day's events. Below is what he wrote:
DAY FIVE- Kareem Morgan
We woke at 9 a.m. to start our journey to Leeds to watch the Leeds vs. Newcastle soccer match at Elland Road Stadium in the city of Leeds. The trip took 2 hours but it was well worth it.
When we finally got there we had trouble finding a place to park our bus as we had to park in a certain parking lot, being Leeds supporters for the day. Once we entered the stadium, the atmosphere was like nothing I've ever experienced before. The fans were chanting from kickoff, all the way throughout the match and even after the final whistle blew. It was different to see how the fans were separated from each other. We sat among 36,768 people in the Leeds supporters section and we were lucky to be sitting right beside the visiting Newcastle supporters - it was total madness. Newcastle supporters were yelling at Leeds supporters and vice-versa. They both had several different chants and it was very entertaining, even though I couldn't understand half of what they were saying. All I could understand was that Alan Shearer was hated at Elland Road for scoring two goals against Leeds.
In the end, Leeds and Newcastle tied 2-2. I'm glad that I was able to see a premiership game first hand and I know that everyone else appreciated being able to watch the game as well.
