A Captain's Tale: Champions League Final Opening Ceremony (Part III)

This follows: 
http://stephendcook.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/a-captains-tale-champions-league-final_2.html


The excitement hit me as soon as I awoke. Today was the day I would perform in front of a packed house at Wembley. My memory returned briefly to the magical summer of 2012 and the days of the opening ceremony and closing ceremony. 

A quick look out of the window made me smile too. It was sunny, far removed from just a few hours earlier when we had a rainy final dress rehearsal. With a call time of 4pm I left the house at 2pm and when in London found myself chatting to a few Bayern fans while showing them some of my photos of rehearsals and what they had to look forward to. If my mum had been with me I'm sure she would have told me to "stop showing off". By the time I arrived at Wembley it was still four hours before kick off but it was busy. 

There was a incredibly positive vibe in 'Joysleep' and everyone seemed up for it. Then word hit me that there was face paint available and as I'd never done it before I thought I'd indulge myself. I was quite happy with my effective yet subtle attempt.
Some of my buddies really went for it and their looks ranged between Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Mime Artists with a smattering of black and white mistrels thrown in for good measure. In any case everyone was busy taking photos of this momentous day.

I met Charlotte way back in Olympic auditions 2011

Mixing with the enemy (although we are all SPURS)

Just before our final instructions meeting and forming our lines in the car park, I looked over to the creatives table and standing there was ex Scotland manager Craig Brown. Never one to be shy, I wondered over, had a chat and asked him for a photo. What a lovely guy. It turned out one of our cast, Louise is friends with him. By all accounts he loved coming over to 'Joysleep' and meeting us and was impressed with what we did on the pitch.

Once the final messages had been delivered, we went through some final movement practice in the car park. Then a few of us splintered off to practice the battle scene. It was worth doing. Before we knew it we were marching off to the stadium. 

The reaction from some of the crowd that were still outside the stadium was interesting. Some got into the spirit and took photos and videos while a few pointed at us and pissed themselves. I hadn't expected that. We had quite a bit of time in the tunnel so everyone took a view of the full stadium. Heart rates increased as the atmosphere intensified. 

When Bayern 'legend' Paul Breitner arrived in his starting position I bided my time and leapt into action asking for a photo. I really am shameless. With minutes to go I went up my line thanking people, and giving some words of encouragement as well as reminding them to concentrate. And then it was showtime.

How can you explain what it is like to enter a stadium with 80,000 people screaming? It's difficult. I was 100% focused and full of excitement and adrenaline. The first section went like a dream and evidently looked brilliant from the crowd.

   
Concerns I had revolved around the split and joining back in lines. There was no need to worry. Lines were straight and looked great. 

The split part 1

The split part 2 

On the movement forward I felt lines were a little untidy but loads better than previous rehearsals. The biggest stumbling block though was the charge which had not gone well on Friday. This time it was great and more importantly the battle movements that some of us had practiced a hour before went like a dream.   

Lines!!!

I made it onto telly! (In Europe)

The final act of our ceremony was to pull the enormous banners across the pitch. In order to prevent the previous night's disaster of the upside down banner, blue tags had been attached to the the front of the banner. It worked! 

While I was standing there I watched as the teams entered. I realised I was approximately 15 metres from Arjen Robben. It was surreal. Thankfully Sky picked up on this momentous occasion for me.

And then it was time to roll back the banner and leave the field. This was one of my favourite moments and we 'played' to the crowd. Wow. What an amazing experience. 

The promise at 'Joysleep' was beer and a live feed of the football. We also received a very nice adidas Champions League tee-shirt. I was too hyper to watch the footy. Instead I decided to grab some of my favourite people for more photos.

Unfortunately I didn't get a photo with Neil Goulder and I wish I had. Thank you Neil for all your hard work which gave me this opportunity. I'm sure I am not alone in my gratitude. 

I did get one with Mike Dolbear though. Great to work with you again Mike. Until next time...