Brown men’s soccer experienced the world’s game in England with an eight-day trip over the 2023 spring break. During their time in the country, the team attended four games and toured stadiums, met alumni, played two games against teams in professional systems, and saw the sights of a handful of cities across England.
“What an amazing and life-changing experience we just had touring England,” said Chase Wileman, the Friends of Brown Men's Soccer Head Coaching Chair. "We wanted to focus on three areas during the trip: have fun, team bonding, and experience England's football culture on and off the field. The student-athletes, staff and administration experienced moments that we will all remember for the rest of our lives. I want to say thank you again to everyone who made this experience possible."
Saturday, March 25
After a red-eye flight and breakfast at Toby Carvery, ‘the home of the roast’, the team arrived in London and quickly departed for a tour of Stamford Bridge, the home stadium of Chelsea Football Club.
Following the tour, the players got some much-needed rest and relaxion before heading out to meet Brown wrestling alum, Jim Esposito ’90 and his family, who treated the team to a welcome dinner at No. 50 Cheyne in the heart of Chelsea. The players loaded their plates with an assortment of appetizers, different meats, and desserts and came away in agreement that it was the best meal of they had ever had.
Sunday, March 26
Day two in London began with an early morning training session at PowerLeague Shepards Bush on a pair of mini-sized football pitches to get ready for their upcoming matches.
That afternoon, the team hopped on the tube to Wembley Stadium for England v. Ukraine in the qualifying round for UEFA Euro 2024. Wembley welcomed Ukrainian refugees, who had their own section of the stadium blocked off to view the game. England came away with a 2-0 win, with Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka scoring goals. Kane recently became the all-time leading scorer in England football history.
Monday, March 27
On the final day in London, the team was given a free day in the center of of the city. After a boat tour on the River Thames, the group split up to see Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, The London Eye and much more. Players also did their fair share of shopping before dinner at Wagamama.
Tuesday, March 28
Finally match day for the team against the under 23’s from Millwall FC at Hayes Lane, the home of Bromley FC. Millwall came in as the No. 1 team in their league with a 13-3-6 record and while we are not allowed to share the result, Brown played well.
Everyone then ate at a restaurant attached to the stadium and headed to watch the England v. Croatia under 21 match at Craven Cottage, which was converted from a hunting cottage to a football stadium in 1896. Croatia came away with a 2-1 win. After the game, the team boarded the bus to Nottingham.
Wednesday, March 29
The following morning, the team toured City Ground, the home stadium of Nottingham Forest FC, who won the European Cup in 1979 and 1980. After the tour, the group was given free time to explore the city where some players saw the City of Caves and the statue of Robin Hood, who we learned was a real person from Nottingham.
Taymour Roushdi and Timothy Weaver, who both work in the front office at Nottingham Forest FC, then spoke to the team about the business side of football and held an hour-long question and answer session with the team.
Thursday, March 30
An early morning bus trip to Newcastle greeted the team for their second and final game of the trip against the under 21’s from Newcastle FC at the Newcastle United Academy. Among the competition was Ryan Fraser, who has appeared in eight Premier League games this season (313 minutes played), starting three of them. In his career, Fraser has played eight total seasons in the Premier League for both AFC Bournemouth and Newcastle United, he has 21 Premier League goals. He was recently sent to train with the U21 team - details about that can be found HERE.
Friday, March 31
The team had time to explore the streets of Newcastle and later met for a tour of St. James’ Park, the home of Newcastle United. At the end of the tour, the group met with Brown soccer alum and hall of famer Darren Eales ’95, who is the CEO of Newcastle United. He shared his career journey and told the team about his favorite memories as a Brown soccer player.
That night, the team went to the Burnley v. Sunderland match at Turf Moor, the home stadium of Burnley FC. It was a rowdy crowd that cheered and chanted from start to finish and the game ended in one of the most exciting nil-nil finishes that the team will ever see.
The trip concluded with a game between Manchester City v. Liverpool at Etihad Stadium. Coach Wileman made sure that the team was at the stadium early to soak in the whole experience. The away team scored first and the sectioned off Liverpool supporters lost their minds. City then scored four unanswered to send the frantic crowd home happy as Manchester City moved within five points of the top of the Premier League.
The team then prepared for the long flight home the following the day.
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