Istanbul CL Final chaos | City Matters statement (p 133)

[levets]

We left Istanbul centre at 8pm, got the metro. No hassle, no queues, ten min walk to city end. After the game got metro back to Yenkapi; the tram flew back, direct, no stops in between, we were sat down settled at a great bar by 2am.
UEFA tried scaring everyone into getting there early, going to the fan parks, making sure City fans didn’t use Metro. Absolute bollocks. The metro was brilliant.

Great, but not an option for those in a wheelchair. No choice whatsoever

 

[johnnytapia]

Great, but not an option for those in a wheelchair. No choice whatsoever

Apologies for naivety, why couldn’t wheelchair users not get Metro?

 

[bobbyowenquiff]

We left Istanbul centre at 8pm, got the metro. No hassle, no queues, ten min walk to city end. After the game got metro back to Yenkapi; the tram flew back, direct, no stops in between, we were sat down settled at a great bar by 2am.
UEFA tried scaring everyone into getting there early, going to the fan parks, making sure City fans didn’t use Metro. Absolute bollocks. The metro was brilliant.

Well done. You obeyed the first rule of European away trips which is to ignore the official advice and totally avoid any fan zones which are usually the first place where the hassle and cattle-herding starts. This strategy has usually worked well for me over the years following City all over Europe.

 

[Vic]

Agree but don’t be under any illusions, the train fares and hotels in London next year will be financially eye watering.

The train fares will be the same as usual. They were in Istanbul.

 

[Eds]

I'm told they did a number of site visits and raised concerns with UEFA around various matters. But they said nothing to us, the fans who were going, and seemingly shrugged their shoulders and placed reliance on UEFA to get it right on the night. Which we know they didn't.

And over a week later, there's still been nothing official from the club about the issues we all faced, many of which they knew in advance we'd be facing. Rob Draper and others have done and said more than Soriano or Danny Wilson. It really, really annoys me and I wonder now why I wasted 4 years on City Matters continually banging my head against a fucking wall trying to represent my fellow season ticket holders.

I heard Danny Wilson give a radio interview in which he said apart from the odd hitch it was a fabulous few days. The silence from the club is deafening and speaks volumes about how they actually feel about us. Pretty sickening really given what we pretty much all went through and the associated costs. The no comment from UEFA about the scams / theft and the lack of care towards fans as fans is just as bad if not worse. If anyone in the events industry organised something so bad they wouldn’t be around for very long yet UEFA continue to fuck up every time but appear not to give a fuck. Not read anywhere about Inter fans having issues, wonder why it was just us ?

 

[johnnytapia]

Well done. You obeyed the first rule of European away trips which is to ignore the official advice and totally avoid any fan zones which are usually the first place where the hassle and cattle-herding starts. This strategy has usually worked well for me over the years following City all over Europe.

Exactly. Took (calculated) risk to leave it “late” and to take Metro, thinking most would follow the advice to get to all that fanzone bollocks , following the advice (pressure/ scaremongering) from UEFA. All that shite about 30 minute walk from metro to city end. Knew that had to be absolute bollocks. Knew the metro wouldn’t be inhibited by traffic and knew they’d let anyone use it, as we had that in writing on the updated travel app.

 

[MCFC Wirral]

Get a refundable hotel for London if you’re staying over. I got a good deal in Canning Town and just took the Jubilee line to Wembley.

 

[bobbyowenquiff]

Exactly. Took (calculated) risk to leave it “late” and to take Metro, thinking most would follow the advice to get to all that fanzone bollocks , following the advice (pressure/ scaremongering) from UEFA. All that shite about 30 minute walk from metro to city end. Knew that had to be absolute bollocks. Knew the metro wouldn’t be inhibited by traffic and knew they’d let anyone use it, as we had that in writing on the updated travel app.

Gut feeling and common sense is always the best way. My default position is not to trust what anyone in authority says because they are usually driven by self interest. In terms of crowd control I have seen some insane behavour from police and stewards over the years. I just don't trust them. Myself and pals always get there early and take our advice from the locals who always know what to do. Over the years I have avoided some tricky situations at European matches. I rarely wear colours at away matches for these reasons.

 

[Kippax Street 1880]

I'm told they did a number of site visits and raised concerns with UEFA around various matters. But they said nothing to us, the fans who were going, and seemingly shrugged their shoulders and placed reliance on UEFA to get it right on the night. Which we know they didn't.

And over a week later, there's still been nothing official from the club about the issues we all faced, many of which they knew in advance we'd be facing. Rob Draper and others have done and said more than Soriano or Danny Wilson. It really, really annoys me and I wonder now why I wasted 4 years on City Matters continually banging my head against a fucking wall trying to represent my fellow season ticket holders.

Don't let the success of our wonderful playing and coaching staff detract from some of the disdain our board hold regular fans in. I'll never forget that fucking Glazer letter they put on the website during the Super League saga and the whole 'Legacy Fan' debacle.

 

[johnnytapia]

Gut feeling and common sense is always the best way. My default position is not to trust what anyone in authority says because they are usually driven by self interest. In terms of crowd control I have seen some insane behavour from police and stewards over the years. I just don't trust them. Myself and pals always get there early and take our advice from the locals who always know what to do. Over the years I have avoided some tricky situations at European matches. I rarely wear colours at away matches for these reasons.

Same here. Do what the locals do, booze a bit off the beaten track, treat the locals with respect, don’t balloon, remember that they’re normally big cities and that every city has its shit bits, its Irish bars, its good bits. When in Rome...