Wembley Atmosphere Rises as Swansea Soar: Review of the Championship Play-off final.

Me Celebrating the famous win.

What could be better than a football final day? How about a final which takes place at Wembley and the prize is considered the richest prize in football? Yes, the Championship play-off final may be a nerve wrecking and torturous feeling but the atmosphere and the delight you get, should your team be lucky enough to win, is unbelievable. I was fortunate enough to attend this incredible event and even more fortunate to watch my team Swansea City beat Reading FC, gaining a place in the Premier League.

People have talked about Wembley days as a memorable event but I could never understand the hype. I had watched international games there in the past and despite how impressed I was with the structure itself, I felt the atmosphere was poor, the travelling was awkward and the cost was extortionate. However this was not going to stop me purchasing a ticket to see Swansea play in this iconic match. The match was played on a bank holiday Monday and it couldn’t have gone any better. The day started quietly with an early start to avoid any potential travel problems. We found a quiet bar just a short train ride outside of Wembley, slowly but steadily the football supporters from both clubs started gathering and the atmosphere became excitable.

The weather on that day was exquisite and was a real advantage. It certainly helped shape my opinion of the overall day. Whilst the pub supplied quiet anticipation and light hearted banter between the two sets of friendly fans. The train ride into the stadium was a step up in intensity as a sea of black and white flooded the carriages. The singing was loud and enthusiastic, the train was full yet the seats were unused. The Swans fans were largely friendly but no Reading fan dared get on the carriage as the ‘banter’ would be too much, like-wise with a swans fan on the Reading fans carriage.

Inside the stadium, the atmosphere once again got turned up a notch. The music blared around as the travelling ‘Jack Army’ danced and waved their flags. Black and White balloons were being passed around like champagne at a wedding and as the teams emerged from the tunnel, the heart rate was up and the nerves were unbearable.

The game itself was not one for the faint hearted. Swansea won 4-2 in an entertaining spectacle. Two goals from Scott Sinclair and one from Stephen Dobbie gave the South Wales team a comfortable 3-0 lead at half time. The second half was a different story as Reading struck back with two quick goals, putting the game on a knife edge and silencing the Swans supporters for the first time that afternoon. In the 80th Minute, my fellow Swansea supporters and I could relax once again as Scott Sinclair slotted home his second penalty of the afternoon and in doing so, completing a memorable hat trick. Swansea had won and Reading had to make the short trip home knowing they will be playing their football in the second tier of English football for another season. The Swansea fans belted out renditions of ‘Swansea, O Swansea’ and ‘Hymns and Arias’ as the jubilant players paraded the play off final trophy around the stadium.

The whole day was simply perfect. The true football fan would always choose automatic promotion to the Premier League but should your team have to endure the play off final drama, I thoroughly recommend the trip to Wembley. I can only speak as a Swansea City fan, but for a stadium known for its poor atmosphere, the Jack Army certainly raised the Wembley roof.

5 Sport blogs with that 'Competitive Edge'.

Before starting my blog, I wanted to look at some existing work in this field. I have found five blogs which particularly interest me and have highlighted their good points as well as their flaws. I will use this analysis as a guide when working through the ‘The Competitive edge’ to ensure a high standard of blogging.

I have looked at three blogs based in the UK and two based in America. Some are specific to a certain sport or topic, some are more varied.

http://escribbler.blogspot.co.uk/

This blog is written by a former professional footballer, which makes the content a lot more appealing. You want to read about someone who has been there and done it a lot more than you would an outsider looking in. There is a range of different features on the blog such as ‘quote of the day’ and ‘training programs for professionals’. There is also a number of different links to other blogs. There is a large amount of content on this blog with some interesting views and opinions present. However, the layout is poor. The first thing that jumps out at you is the adverts, you have to do a lot of scrolling before you get to any of the well written sport content. The template and the colours are also very dull.

http://fantasyepl.blogspot.com/p/epl-coverage.html

Fantasy Premier Blog has a very similar concept to mine. It’s a blog that offers opinion and humour on sport. However, it is specific to only football and especially the Premier League. I particularly enjoy this blog because the content is very entertaining. There is a lot of focus on fantasy premier league which is a game that a lot of my target audience would play. I believe it provides humour and a good, light- hearted discussion point. The blog is pleasing to the eye and the dark writing on the white background makes it easy to read.

http://britishsport.blogspot.com/

This blog offers opinion and analysis on the less publicised stories in British Sport. It does cover a lot of sport but misses the comical and entertainment element. I also find the headlines don’t draw me in like some of the other blogs I have read. The whole design of the blog could be better as well, It doesn’t scream ‘sports blog’ when you first look at it. The posts are very infrequent but when one does come, it is very detailed, well researched and extremely interesting. Creator, Gary Cook, is a very good journalist.

http://www.adamssportsblog.com/

Adams sport Blog is a well worked Sports blog. It differs to mine in that a lot of Adams posts are on American sports and very few of mine will be on that topic. However, he has managed to cover so much. There is something for every sports fan. The blog is laid out fantastically well. He was listed all the Sports and key sporting topics in a column and by clicking on those sports, you can bring up the posts. It is very easy to get around the website and there is a good mix of strong content, light humour and pictures to make this a perfect sports blog.



http://sports-law.blogspot.com/

This is a very professionally made blog. The designer has made very good decisions regarding the template and use of colours. Everything looks like it belongs together. Despite it being a ‘sports law’ blog, there is still an element of humour in this blog. One of the posts looks at the laws of beer pong. There is also a good mixture of images and videos present in this blog. Like Adams Sport Blog, this blog has a strong focus on American sport.