Fan memories of Barcelona in 1972

Never forget it.
Seven of us left milngavie,( all still mates to this day), & we paid £36 full board for flights & accommodation flying out from Luton for a week .!!!
We stayed in Callela & the first couple of days there was loads of English families there gradually more & more Rangers fans turned up including another crowd of our mates, the families then demanded they be moved to another hotel & at the end up we more or less had the hotel to ourselves.
It was a great time we were only nineteen & have loads of memories plus two of the original seven came back home with stitches after clashing with the police one of them had serious injuries to his leg & was off work ( the navy ) for almost a year.
We could have written a book about the collective stories we had & in 2022 we are all going to return to Callela for a reunion & celebrate the 50th anniversary of our victory
 
mulguy1953 said:
Never forget it.
Seven of us left milngavie,( all still mates to this day), & we paid £36 full board for flights & accommodation flying out from Luton for a week .!!!
We stayed in Callela & the first couple of days there was loads of English families there gradually more & more Rangers fans turned up including another crowd of our mates, the families then demanded they be moved to another hotel & at the end up we more or less had the hotel to ourselves.
It was a great time we were only nineteen & have loads of memories plus two of the original seven came back home with stitches after clashing with the police one of them had serious injuries to his leg & was off work ( the navy ) for almost a year.
We could have written a book about the collective stories we had & in 2022 we are all going to return to Callela for a reunion & celebrate the 50th anniversary of our victory
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Reunion idea sounds great. Maybe Rangers could set up a legends game against Moscow Dynamo at the Nou Camp. An under 80's game sounds fun.
 
I was 14 and lucky enough to take someone’s place as part of a group of 32 who booked a week in Lloret de Mar. Cost me(parents) £50 which included spending money and strict instructions to bring back booze and cigs. First time out of the country and on a plane and thought I was in dreamland. Been back to Nou Camp on numerous occasions since but nothing will ever come close to that night. Was introduced to very cheap alcohol and had to tell parents that cigs and booze got took off me at airport. They never ever let me forget that one. Out of the 32 only 9 of us left and we too are trying to organise a 50th reunion.
 
Like bean57 I was 14 as well.
Great memories that I will have forever.
I’m sure the front page of the Record had pictures of our guys on the runway at the airport before we took off with the sombreros and stuff on and John Greig with the trophy. We must have been some of the first ones to see it before we got back to Ibrox.
 
We weren’t long married and were just buying our house and couldn’t afford to go to Barcelona, so I finished work nine o’clock and got the train from Shettleston to Airdrie. The Tv was a delayed broadcast, so trusted Tranny in hand listening to it. The train was dead, apart from chap along with myself, he heard the Tranny, and nearly went mental, he was trying to avoid all contact to watch the delayed broadcast. He ran away to the furthest away part of the carriage, next stop was Garrowhill, you’ve never seen anyone move jump out, to go to the next carriage, needless to say I had a lovely trip although anxious towards the end.
 
mulguy1953 said:
Never forget it.
Seven of us left milngavie,( all still mates to this day), & we paid £36 full board for flights & accommodation flying out from Luton for a week .!!!
We stayed in Callela & the first couple of days there was loads of English families there gradually more & more Rangers fans turned up including another crowd of our mates, the families then demanded they be moved to another hotel & at the end up we more or less had the hotel to ourselves.
It was a great time we were only nineteen & have loads of memories plus two of the original seven came back home with stitches after clashing with the police one of them had serious injuries to his leg & was off work ( the navy ) for almost a year.
We could have written a book about the collective stories we had & in 2022 we are all going to return to Callela for a reunion & celebrate the 50th anniversary of our victory
Click to expand...
Great story

I love reading about the old trips - a 50th reunion sounds like a great idea.
 
I remember being 9 yrs sold and being allowed to stay up late. My parents had a party, lots of relatives round, sing songs, sneaky sips of whisky, blue lagoons etc :cool: . Even the next door neighbour, who was a tim, came round and joined in with the celebrations. Happy, happy days.
 
bean57 said:
I was 14 and lucky enough to take someone’s place as part of a group of 32 who booked a week in Lloret de Mar. Cost me(parents) £50 which included spending money and strict instructions to bring back booze and cigs. First time out of the country and on a plane and thought I was in dreamland. Been back to Nou Camp on numerous occasions since but nothing will ever come close to that night. Was introduced to very cheap alcohol and had to tell parents that cigs and booze got took off me at airport. They never ever let me forget that one. Out of the 32 only 9 of us left and we too are trying to organise a 50th reunion.
Click to expand...
That's a pity only 9 of you guys left
 
Wee Jimmy B who sadly passed away last week, of Petershill and Caley fame put the hat round for the driver on their chartered flight to Barcelona :D
Alas characters like him now thin on the ground.
 
It was and is the memory of a lifetime, forever grateful to my parents for borrowing the £26 for the trip and £10 spending money, I was earning £6.36p a week.
I think it took to about 1981 to pay the Provident back lol
 
I went to the game with my uncle, we stayed in Callela on a two night stay and as a 17 year old it was an experience that will live with me all my days. Franco's police though were thugs of the highest order but the Catalan people were brilliant with Rangers fans. They looked after a few lads that were injured from the police, really took us to their hearts. 1972 Final was particulary memorable for my uncle as this was the third ECWC Final of the club he was at, glad to say that he witnessed the club having it's finest triumph that night
 
mulguy1953 said:
That's a pity only 9 of you guys left
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Yeah I was youngest on the trip by about 6/7 years and what an experience. A lot of the men on the trip were in their late 30s and 40s and out of the 9 of us left we have two who are 92 and were still going to games before Covid and are definitely up for the reunion. Old Codgers Loyal.
 
bean57 said:
Yeah I was youngest on the trip by about 6/7 years and what an experience. A lot of the men on the trip were in their late 30s and 40s and out of the 9 of us left we have two who are 92 and were still going to games before Covid and are definitely up for the reunion. Old Codgers Loyal.
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Brilliant, hope the old boys make it
 
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