Try attending soccer games on your next trip

During my last business trip to Amsterdam, I tried something different for a change. I looked up the upcoming Dutch league soccer matches, and to my delight, it was the big match between Ajax and Feyenoord. This is one of four high-risk Ajax matches, and what that basically means is ten times the excitement, if things go well. And lucky me, the match was just the next day after my conference, that all I had to do now was to get a ticket.

Now the problem with top soccer games is tickets are usually expensive, and hard to get. On my first day in Amsterdam, I took a tour around the Ajax Amsterdam ArenA, where they would take you around the stadium, explain about the facilities and history of it, and you get to walk into the press conference room, and set on the very same chair top Ajax players have been in. It was a quite joy.

The let down however was when I knew only season ticket holders are allowed to get a ticket for the big match. Now when you find yourself out of luck getting tickets directly from the club, there are other places to look for. Good amount of people end up selling their ticket online (for a higher margin ofcourse), and you can usually find the ticket you’re looking for. One such site is Sports Events 365, where people offer their tickets usually for a profit margin.

The experience for me turned out to be the highlight of my trip, especially with the thrashing 5-1 victory of the home team. I would really advise anyone (not just soccer fans) to try it out. It’s a bit costly yes, but it’s once in a while thing, and would give a memory that lasts.

Guidelines:

1. Find the match you want: Start by looking at the soccer schedule from places like Soccerway or Koora.com. Or you can even use Sports Event 365, as they usually highlight the big games. Look for big games, rival matches, or decisive ones. Don’t just go to any ordinary game.
2. Find your flight ticket (if you haven’t already). Dohop is a favorite place to start for me.
3. Find your hotel. You can use our hotel price comparison search service for this, or any other that you might prefer. Just pay attention to how far you are from your match.
4. Find your game ticket: You should try first booking from the official team site, or official league/cup site. If that doesn’t work, you’re off to find people selling their tickets at sites like Sports Events 365. Take care of the seat location. Some places are quite breathtaking, others aren’t worth your time and money. Luckily Sports Events usually tries to give you the seat location in a visual way. No guarantees though. It all depends on the seller’s provided info.
5. Do a bit of research: You don’t wanna go to a match without knowing what the hell is going on. It’s more enjoyable of you know a bit about where the team stands, who are his top players, and what does this match mean to him.
6. Get your self the Home Jersey: Don’t feel cheap about it. For one, you will meld and feel the joy of cheering up for the home team, and two, it’s also your insurance policy shall things get out of control. Fans would see you on their side rather than an intruder. I mean let’s face it, sometimes fans go mad :).

This was the last goal I recorded from the match.