VIP Soccer Tour of England: Behind the Scenes Access

It's the weekend in England, and thousands of football games are about to kick off. From the 200 fans that turn up to watch a village team, to the 75,000 at Old Trafford, Saturday is when half the country stops at 3 pm to watch the action unfold. Land in London and you're transferred to a five-star hotel in Mayfair, the country's most celebrated address. Central London's iconic attractions are all within walking distance, so after the games, you can easily wander to Westminster, Trafalgar Square, the West End, and all the other famous names. Today you'll have time to freshen up from the flight and enjoy lunch before you're guided out to southeast London and the EPL's most atmospheric ground.

No, it's not Arsenal. Or Chelsea. Or another of the clubs that usually occupy the highest rungs of the Premier League ladder. Crystal Palace doesn't play the same style of lovely passing football, but Selhurst Park is a raucous and intimate fortress. The single-tiered stands practically tumble onto the pitch, and the supporters are always in full voice. Crystal Palace has only been in the top division for two seasons, so there's no expectation to win. But win, lose, or draw, the crowd is always singing their hearts out. Hidden amongst the working-class streets of South London, Selhurst Park also provides an authentic immersion in the English style of watching football. A local guide introduces the culture. Raise a glass at a traditional pub, bite into a meat and potato pie (no hot dogs here), and sip on a polytene mug of Bovril. Then feel the roof almost come off the stadium as the teams emerge. 

While Selhurst Park is vibrant and vociferous, Arsenal provides an afternoon of VIP entertainment in England's finest stadium. A concierge welcomes you to the Emirates, guiding you to a champagne reception in the Directors' Box. A few former Arsenal icons are in attendance, warmly greeting you and always willing to share their thoughts on the game. You're guided down to pitch side by one of the former players, enabling you to take a few steps on the manicured turf. It's still early, two hours before kick off and you're taken into the players' dressing rooms, the kits elaborately laid out in pristine red and white. A current Arsenal player comes to greet you, presenting a signed football and stopping for photos.

Returning to the Directors' boxes, you sit down to a four-course a la carte meal with complimentary wine and beer. Table chatter focuses on the 90 minutes that's about to be played out, and the former players are still floating about the crowd. Then the game, Arsenal with their trademark passing style, cheered on by over 60,000 as you watch from prime centerline seats. While yesterday you were snacking on pies, today's halftime treats are fine wines and canapés. Even if Arsenal doesn't win, the journey into the interior of the club means you still leave the ground smiling. Following the game, you'll be picked up by your chauffeur for the transfer back to the city and your central luxury hotel.

It's Monday, and the newspaper headlines shout about what happened at the Emirates Stadium yesterday. After the drama, the Olympic Park offers fields of tranquility. You're guided around the 2012 Olympic Stadium, along with the myriad of the exhibition sites that dapple the park. This is East London, home to tradition and colorful suburbs that feel a thousand miles from the opulence of Mayfair. Banksy graffiti artwork covers the walls; market traders send calls through the streets, and you're immersed in the local side of the capital. While Central London has the iconic architecture, these enchanting suburbs provide an intimate journey through the fabric of London life.

This itinerary provides an example of the adventure that's possible in England. Of course, it's dependent on your travel dates and the fixtures taking place. England's football season runs from the middle of August to the middle of May, with Premier League fixtures on almost every Saturday and Sunday. Traveling over two weekends provides a wide spectrum of fixtures, as every club should be playing at home at least once during this time. Late September to early November sees the first round of midweek Champions League fixtures. The knock-out stage runs through March and April.

Wembley Stadium is unmistakable, its iconic archway towering high above the entire city. On a stadium tour, you enter the home of English football (perhaps world football); wander through the changing rooms, gaze up at over 90,000 seats, walk the steps to the royal box, then lift the F. A. Cup. Okay, so you didn't go out and win it. But raising the famous trophy above your head is special for any football fan. After being transferred back into the city, the rest of the day is at your leisure. Westminster, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Piccadilly, Convent Garden – you're within walking distance of it all from your five-star hotel.

The world's premier football competition always brings drama. There's a clash of styles on the pitch and an elevated sense of tension in the stadium. European home games are rare, only a handful a season, and that's only if the club has even qualified for European football. Supporters know that home advantage is crucial, so rousing renditions of club anthems blast out before the game. An early goal creates unadulterated joy while an away goal only intensifies the anxiety. A Champions League match is the pinnacle of club football, and the live atmosphere reflects its importance. Goosebumps rise on arms, voices join the chorus, and the sense of pride is immense.

Today you travel by first-class train to Manchester, where you're transferred to a five-star hotel in the city's center. In the late afternoon, you head out to the City of Manchester Stadium, the blue half of Manchester. Premium centerline seats enable you to wallow in football's theater, Europe's best playing out 90 minutes down below. Much like the EPL, the Champions League is beamed onto millions of televisions around the world. But it's so much realer when you see it live.

You probably know the beautiful game as soccer. But in England, it's firmly known as football, something that the National Football Museum attempts to explain in one of its exhibits. Inspiring and informative, the museum takes you on a journey through sporting history, starting with barbarians kicking around severed heads in Scotland, extending through mob football, and gradually coming into the first international matches of the 1870s. Thousands of rare items line this shrine to football's development, including antique match tickets, unusual programs, medals, trophies, balls from world cup finals, and hundreds of famous shirts. There's even the collar from Pickles, the dog that found the World Cup trophy buried beneath a hedge in 1966. A journey through the English Hall of Fame completes your tour; reading through it, you realize you have met one of the names at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. The National Football Museum is walkable from your hotel.

Manchester and Liverpool rise high and handsome, their mills and warehouses a poignant memory of the 18th and 19th centuries. These were two of the world's first industrial powerhouses, and the streets continue to be dominated by the faded stone of ancient factories. Liverpool's collection of industrial architecture has become a World Heritage Site. There's nothing too elaborate or ornate about it all, but the sense of grandeur comes from a phenomenal scale and sublime architectural simplicity. You're transferred to Liverpool by luxury vehicle and spend the afternoon getting guided through the Victorian icons of the city. This is also the city of The Beatles, so you climb aboard a Magical Mystery Tour that unveils the history of the band. With classic tracks playing out, you visit Paul McCartney's childhood terrace home, then onwards to a Yellow Submarine, Strawberry Fields, and Penny Lane. Complete the tour in the atmospheric Cavern Club, where Beatles covers are constantly being played on the same stage where the band made their live debut.

England is famous for its football chants, the choral renditions that accompany every game. They started at Anfield, where the crowd would sing Beatles songs and hits from other rock and roll bands. The stadium remains incredibly resonant and evocative, especially when 42,000 fans launch into the club's famous anthem. Flags wave as You'll Never Walk Alone greets the teams, the rendition continuing long past the referee blowing the first whistle. You've got tickets on the world-renowned Kop, football's most famous stand and an integral piece of the sport's history. Regardless of what happens on the pitch, the Kop sings all game, virtually sucking the ball into the goal as Liverpool attack towards them. Expect goosebumps throughout. You'll be transferred to the ground and picked up after the game. Like in Manchester and London, accommodation is in a central five-star hotel.

With football chants still fresh in the memory, you leave England, remembering the intensity and intimacy of four live matches. You'll be transferred to Manchester Airport for your return international flight.