Game on

With the European football championships a distant memory and the Olympics over, Middle East sports fans can be forgiven for feeling a little blue. So why not pack a suitcase for London, one of the world’s premier live sports destinations?

It was fun while it lasted, wasn't it? Yet with the 2008 Olympics consigned to the video highlights reel of history, and this summer's European Football Championships but a distant memory, Gulf sports addicts could be excused for feeling a little deflated as September kicks in.

So what better way to embrace the new sporting season than by getting off the sofa and onto the terraces in one of the most sports-mad cities in the world - London?

While there'll never be enough hours in the day to take in all that English sport has to offer, a long weekend is all you'll need to get an authentic taste of the cream of the English sporting scene.

England is the home of football, and while there are various sports-associated hotels scattered throughout its capital, one of the most attractive has to be the Millenium Copthorne Hotel at Chelsea Football Club.

The newly refurbished hotel is situated just next to Chelsea's Stamford Bridge ground, nestled on a 12 acre site featuring two wings, the Millennium and the Copthorne.

You're practically staying in the stadium - the hotel backs onto the 131 year-old ground and on matchdays you can look out over a sea of 42,000 fans streaming into ‘The Bridge' in anticipation of a six-goal thriller.

Even when the terraces are quiet, the Millenium Copthorne's unique position means that you're well placed to take a tour of the stadium. It's a fascinating look behind the scenes at one of European football's biggest clubs, and the well-informed guides (Chelsea fans all their lives, naturally) will take you on a thorough tour of the rabbit warren that is Stamford Bridge.

You'll get access to all the places you've seen on TV - the pitch-side Chelsea bench; the press room where Jose Mourinho famously introduced himself as the ‘Special One' - and all the places they never let the cameras go.

Ever wondered who sits next to whom in the Chelsea dressing room? Or where the players' wives knock back champagne and canapés while their husbands are out on the pitch? It's all here.

If you're lucky you may even catch sight of ‘Chelsea' or ‘Blue', the two Harris Hawks employed by the club to clear pigeons from Stamford Bridge's loftier reaches, thus protecting the punters from a deluge of guano come match day.

For any true sports fan, the most striking moment will be when you step pitchside and take in the vast banks of empty seats.

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