Originally the police were wanting to keep us out of town and escort us from/to a motorway service station.
Then the good bar owners of Lokeren calculated how much City fans would spend in the town and that idea went out of the window.
Big stink about this one... In which Bernard Halford came out with no credit.....
At first the club announced unless you booked with the official travel partner - Thomas Cook (who just happened to be the clubs official shirt sponsor) you couldnt get a ticket. Flights were something lii.ke £145 day return and the club said it was competitive.
I was secretary of the Centenary Supporters Association and spoke with the club and said this was a cartel and was a restriction against fair trade.
I had booked flights for £11 plus £4 tax each way from Stansted to Charleoi and €11 each way Charleoi to Antwerp on the train. Staying over night.
I threatened to produce a banner at a home game saying "Thomas Cook, we dont give a f**k" behind the south stand goal..... And the club told me i was being extreme.....
The rules were then changed with City stating you could make your own way to Lokeren but any English fans going to the game had to be bussed in from a nearby motorway service station and into the stadium. Any English fans in Lokeren during the day would face arrest.
I was asked to go on BBC GMR and stated as a European citizen that I had the right to be in Lokeren at any time of the day and go about my legal business.
The evening before the game, I received a phone call from a producer at GMR saying they had spoken with the Lokeren police and they had no issue with City fans being in Lokeren as long as they behave themselves.
They had also spoken with Bernard Halford who insisted the club was being led by gthe Lokeren police....
GMR wanted me to speak live in the morning, then Halford and then the Lokeren police (unbeknown to Halford).
So off i go first saying as a european citizen i can go anywhere i want legally.
Followed by Halford saying he is only going off on what
