Arsenal Stadium Tour

Hi everyone,

Hope you’re all well!

I recently attended Emirates Stadium to do a stadium tour with my friend Lucy – who unfortunately is an Arsenal fan!

This was the first time I had travelled to the Emirates from Wembley, but thankfully the journey was straightforward only needing to take a tube and a bus.

Unlike any other stadium tour I’ve done, the Arsenal tour was self-directed so on arrival we were given mini devices with earphones to guide us round. I’m not sure what I think about it as I personally didn’t want/have time to read all the information and frankly kept forgetting to, so would say I prefer the more traditional tours with a guide. With that being said, everyone started at different times so for the majority of time we didn’t see anyone else so would get our photo’s undisturbed and unrushed! With Christmas being just around the corner the stadium was decorated with the holiday sprit! There were staff on hand to help direct and take photos, they were all lovely despite being Arsenal fans!

The tour began with going through the Directors Entrance to the Directors Box, where we got our first view of the pitch. We went late in the afternoon so the floodlights were on and the surroundings were so peaceful as we looked over at the freshly cut grass which was ready to be used the following day. On display in the box was the Premier League trophy won by the Invincibles in 2003/04 season.

We then went to another fancy area, the Diamond Club. I assume it is a matchday restaurant used by very rich people! We checked the menu’s and no prices were displayed, that’s when you know it’s going to be expensive! The interior featured many trophies Arsenal have won over the years along with cinema looking seats circulating plenty of tables. The view of the pitch was poor and I can only assume people rely on the screens to see the game, I never will understand why people pay so much money to sit so far up in a box and not see the game properly.

We then reached the Players Entrance. I always find it enjoyable to see what we see on TV in real life! The entrance was a luminous tunnel which had the quotes “We are the Arsenal” and “Victory through Harmony” displayed over each side.

The tunnel led to the changing rooms, with the first one we looked at being the home side. Adjacent to the changing room was manager Mikeal Arteta’s private office, which was ridiculously big and could’ve fit my bedroom in at least twice! The changing room was very big with the Arsenal logo plastered on the floor, “We are the Arsenal” once again displayed and a board for team talks. Round the edge of the room were this seasons shirts showcasing their current players from both the men and women’s team. I being a fan of Bukayo Saka of course had to have a photo with his number 7 shirt, next to him was The Croydon De Bruyne aka Emile Smith Rowe who I am also a fan of. The facilities available to the players were insane with multiple physio rooms, individual showers and ice baths at their disposal.

In contrast to the home changing room, the away changing room was small, bland and empty. Capitalising on their home advantage Arsenal give their visitors the bare minimum with hard wooden benches filling room.

We next exited out through the main tunnel to pitch side where the dugouts are located. It was very dark by the time we reached there so we relied purely on the lights to see the pitch, looking up we were surrounded by the four walls of the Emirates Stadium overlooked by the clock in the South Stand.

Finally we saw the press area. On the walk towards the press conference room we went past multiple interviewing rooms, that actually fitted my wheelchair which I was pleased to see. Unfortunately the Press Conference Room itself wasn’t accessible for me to be in as a journalist due to the steps leading to the seats along with the outside press area, there may have been different routes but from what we could see there wasn’t. I was able to reach the managers seat in the room so of course had a photo there! On the way out we passed through the Media Centre, where journalists wait prior to the match, this was accessible so I couldn’t really understand why the other parts weren’t.

Our ticket also gave us access to the Arsenal Museum where they showcased their lengthy history of both the men and women teams. Being a non-Arsenal fan I wasn’t particularly interested but did enjoy seeing the centre circle they dug up from their previous stadium, a map that showed where across the world their players are from, Patrick Vieira and Bukayo Saka!

Overall the tour wasn’t one of my favourites but the stadium itself was nice!