What Is the Score of the Game? The Challenges of Keeping Up While Traveling
It’s Saturday. It’s 5 o’clock. And I’m somewhere completely foreign, far from home comforts and any easy way of knowing what is the score of the game. Not exactly stranded, but certainly disconnected from the familiar hum of BBC Sports Report or Sky Sports updates.
For those of us who have been football fans for decades, this scenario is all too familiar. Before the age of smartphones, mobile internet, and instant notifications, keeping track of match results while abroad was a true adventure. If you weren’t willing to splash out on a long-distance call—often at ridiculous rates—your best bet was waiting for the Sunday newspapers. And depending on where you were, that could mean a two-day delay at best, or at worst, several days if you were in a remote part of the world. Even then, finding a copy of an English newspaper was a task on its own—one that often involved dodging irritated shop owners who weren’t thrilled about tourists rifling through their inventory without making a purchase.
Finding Scores in the Pre-Internet Era
In some places, English football was regularly featured in local newspapers, which made life a little easier. Certain parts of Africa and South America were great for this, as they carried updates even for smaller teams. But if your club wasn’t in the elite, you had to get creative.
As a devoted Nottingham Forest fan who loves to travel, my parents got used to my frantic Saturday calls. These weren’t your typical “Hello, how’s everything?” calls. No, they were more like “Hi, I’m fine, no time to chat, what is the score of the Forest game?” One particularly painful experience cost me $18 in a dusty old shack in rural Malawi—all for the joy of hearing that my beloved team had lost 3-1.
Occasionally, I ran into fellow travelers who were just as desperate for updates. I once met a Sheffield Wednesday fan who carried a shortwave radio everywhere, and we spent a long morning on a Mongolian train, sipping local brew while tuning in to the BBC World Service for the classified results. Those were the golden moments—simple pleasures for a football fan on the road.
Technology Changed Everything
Today, life is dramatically different. With internet cafes, mobile data, and live sports streaming apps, keeping track of scores is no longer an elaborate scavenger hunt. No more long-distance calls, no more pleading with newspaper vendors—now, a quick Google search or app notification provides everything I need in seconds.
One particularly surreal moment happened in the backseat of a car in India. My driver, a die-hard Manchester United fan, was just as eager for updates as I was. I found myself glued to my phone, refreshing the scores, and delivering a live play-by-play to someone half a world away from Old Trafford. Football, it seems, truly unites people in unexpected ways.
The Hardest Places to Watch a Match
Despite technological advancements, some places are still tricky when it comes to catching live games. During the 2002 World Cup, I was in Philadelphia for a conference. Finding a bar showing the England vs. Sweden game at 5 a.m. felt like an undercover operation. It was as if we’d traveled back to Prohibition, sneaking into a backroom just to watch a match. When the U.S. team made the quarter-finals, their historic achievement barely made the evening news—behind endless college basketball updates. Priorities, right?
Is It Better Now?
On one hand, there’s no denying that technology has made things easier. No more expensive phone calls or suspenseful waiting for the next day’s newspapers. But, somehow, I miss the old way of doing things. There was something thrilling about the challenge—whether it was negotiating for a discarded paper, finding a bar broadcasting the match in a country that barely acknowledged football, or listening to a crackling shortwave radio in the middle of nowhere.
Now, the mystery is gone. I can find out what is the score of the game instantly, anytime, anywhere. But as much as I appreciate the convenience, there’s a part of me that will always cherish those crazy, desperate hunts for football scores on a Saturday night, wherever in the world I might be.
FAQ
1. How did people check football scores before the internet?
Before mobile data and Wi-Fi, fans relied on newspaper results, shortwave radio, and expensive long-distance calls to find out what is the score of the game.
2. What’s the best way to check match results while traveling?
Nowadays, sports apps, social media, and streaming services make it easy to check what is the score of the game from anywhere in the world.
3. Are there places where it’s still hard to find football scores?
Yes! Some remote areas and sports-unfriendly nations still make it difficult. Finding out what is the score of the game can sometimes feel like a treasure hunt.
4. What’s the weirdest way fans used to find match results?
Carrying shortwave radios, bribing shop owners for newspapers, or calling home from payphones just to ask what is the score of the game!
5. Do football fans still struggle to watch matches while traveling?
Sometimes! Time zones, lack of streaming access, and local restrictions mean even in 2024, some fans still hunt to find what is the score of the match.
