Tries, Pies and Testicles: My first time in a press box

I’ll be honest – if you told me that in my second year of university I would be enjoying the free pie and chips of the Ricoh Arena press room, I would have struggled to believe you. Yet that is exactly where I found myself on the day of the Varsity finale, and what a day it was.

Stepping off the bus from campus to the stadium, I was firmly under the impression that Sport Editor Shingi Mararike and I would be covering the Wasps v Harlequins game and the Varsity fixture from the stands. Imagine my surprise when, after approaching a set of doors guarded by security, we barely had to explain ourselves before being whisked through as media. We collected our press passes and made it through two more levels of security, no questions asked. Someone had obviously pulled some strings for us.

Image: James Roberts

As an aspiring journalist, experiencing a stadium media section for the first time was fascinating. The L-shaped room consisted of rows of booths set aside for those that needed to work, a bar, and various tables, one of which was stocked with food and drink. After cautiously making our way over to a table in the corner, we grabbed some food and tried to look professional.

If the last half an hour hadn’t already been unbelievable, what happened next certainly was. After we were handed the official Wasps v Harlequins team sheet, former England player Austin Healey entered the room. But this wasn’t the moment I am referring to. Sitting just a few feet away from Healey meant we overheard when he was asked if he would be staying to watch the Varsity game. “Varsity?”, he replied. “I’d rather barbecue my own testicles”. Well that answered that.

With 15 minutes to go we made our way to the press seats. Though everything up to this point had been a new experience, the buzz of entering a sporting arena was oh so familiar. I tried to appear as if I knew what I was doing as I laid out my match programme and notebook on the desk in front of me.

The match itself started slowly, but once Wasps registered their first points it burst into life. The most memorable point of a half that ended 21-5 to the home side was a streaker who ran the length of the pitch before disappearing into the stands. I really had seen it all.

At half time I moved inside to take advantage of the warmth and more importantly, the novelty of having doors opened for me. Once my simple mind was satisfied, it was straight back to my freezing plastic seat for the second half. With various newspaper and radio journalists scribbling and chatting away around me, not to mention three ‘Quins coaches, I felt genuinely privileged at the level of access we had been given.

Wasps continued to fly over the try-line, eventually securing a 42-10 win. As the majority of the 15,000 spectators streamed out, Warwick’s players warmed up for the real highlight of the day’s events. Though I would spend a total of four hours sat in my eternally cold press seat, I would do it all again in a heartbeat.