Looking for a professional sporting event to go to
 

I'm going to be in London next month doing touristy stuff (nothing in particular) and was thinking of maybe heading to some type of sporting event while there. Thing is I have no idea what sports are in season and what's not. (Am I correct that the English Premier League matches are only on weekends?) I arrive late on a Monday afternoon Oct 20 and leave midday Thursday Oct 23.

I will not have a car while in town. I'm not completely opposed to renting one, but would like to avoid it. I know about the NFL games, but won't be around for any of those. My travel dates/times can not change.

football matches also occur mid-week. - usually Tuesday or Wednesday but sometimes Monday and Friday. It depends on the league and their timetables.

You'll find details of premier league matches on the premier league website.

Darn, if you had been there just a few weeks later, you could have seen a premier international sport in England: WWE is there from Nov 5 - 13.

Chelsea have a champions league tie (against NK Maribor) on the Tuesday evening. Remaining tickets should go on general sale in a few days.

You can check fixtures at espnfc.com for example.

You should be able to get tickets for Chelsea-Maribor, but it might be a rather one sided game. Tickets are GBP 35.

On the 21st there is a full program in the Championship (the second highest league). In London I see Charlton and Brentford. The latter is near the Thames on the flight path into LHR from the east and features advertising on the roof. (You also see Craven Cottage/ Fulham and sometimes Chelsea too). Brentford's ground is famous for having a pub in every corner of the stadium structure.

I have been to Charlton. Nice stadium.

I think you might get a flavor for real, old school football than the oligarch funded Chelsea playing against a hapless Slovenian outfit. There is also Watford playing at home, which is in the northern suburbs. They were a top team in the 1980s when Elton John funded them.

OK, thanks. This gives me some good ideas. For some reason it never occured to me to check ESPN! I was hoping for either football (real, not American) or rugby, but I'm not terribly picky. Except: :D Thanks but no thanks. :D

I agree with this. I think a Championship game would probably be more fun than Chelsea. I'd go to Charlton, interesting old ground and easy to get to. Watford is further away and the ground is quite a long walk from the station. I haven't been to Brentford but it is supposed to be a nice ground to go to.

Midweek rugby seems unlikely, at least at a decent level. University games are wednesday afternoons but they tend to be played in venues with very few facilities and the standard is variable to say the least.

You might also consider racing - horses, greyhounds, possibly cars of some kind.

I think a Championship match sounds pretty interesting. One dumb question: When they list the teams, is the home team listed first or second? I'm used to baseball and basketball where the home team is always listed second. Don't want to accidentally roll up to an empty, dark stadium!

Everywhere but America home team is first

Quite a good question to ask really. It certainly stumped me when I started following American football

I've been to Vicarage Road it's a nice ground but Watford is a bit of a shelp from Central London. Where in London are you staying?
Cheers
Howie
Ps. Has anyone been to The Den these days? I've always been intrigued about seeing a match there.

My brother went to the Den a few years ago. Still at the more intimidating end of the scale apparently

I don't know if I'd describe Brentford as "nice". It's a pretty basic old ground that doesn't really have the amenities of the bigger new stadia.

I checked the fixture list before my above post.

The options in metro London on that day are Charlton, Brentford and Watford.
Both Fulham and Millwall play away games. Millwall would have been a great intro to old school English football and "fan culture".

If you step down one league there is also MK Dons. Beat Man U 4-0.....

Watford vs. Notts Forest looks the best game on paper, though as has been pointed out, Vicarage Road is a bit of schlepp. Charlton vs. Sheffield Wednesday would be my second choice based on likely quality on the pitch.

IMHO, MK is a bit of a trek for 3rd division football.