UEFA cup final 2008

BRaven

Well-Known Member

Every time the song above is on it brings it back. Convoys through the night, arriving on the sunny streets of Manchester. Unreal atmosphere all day.

I’ve never watched the game back since being in Manchester.

Anyone wise to where I can view it?
 
Feel the same about the song. Always reminds me of what was a great few weeks, right up until the game itself. I had a fantastic day in Manchester (other than the obvious). My avatar is my own photo, not one lifted from a website.

Haven’t watched the game back, or even the highlights. And I doubt I ever will. Still hurts.
 
It hurts. But I was so proud of us that night. The chance Novo had. OMG. If the league gave us slack. We may have won. Added to that the Russian doping scandles, ie the Olympics etc ! Need I say more.
 
Feel the same about the song. Always reminds me of what was a great few weeks, right up until the game itself. I had a fantastic day in Manchester (other than the obvious). My avatar is my own photo, not one lifted from a website.

Haven’t watched the game back, or even the highlights. And I doubt I ever will. Still hurts.

Same here - had a great time bar the result, was given a dvd of the game by a friend but I’ve never watched it.
 
An unbelievable run in to the final,I took in everything that day in Manchester, i stayed pretty sober during the day in the searing heat as i wanted to remember every little moment that day.

I have the DVD of the final still in its original wrapper, I was so proud of our lads to achieve what they did in the whole campaign, some results were just not believable imo.

Great memories,unfortunate final result, will I ever take the wrapper of the DVD and watch it? I just don't know.
 
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Every time the song above is on it brings it back. Convoys through the night, arriving on the sunny streets of Manchester. Unreal atmosphere all day.

I’ve never watched the game back since being in Manchester.

Anyone wise to where I can view it?

Youtube I would guess.
 

Every time the song above is on it brings it back. Convoys through the night, arriving on the sunny streets of Manchester. Unreal atmosphere all day.

I’ve never watched the game back since being in Manchester.

Anyone wise to where I can view it?
I've not even seen the goals. Was at Piccadilly and missed the game due to being lifted for no reason (no charges and i was allowed to leave the police van, pretty much sober and just in wrong place at wrong time, to get train back to Blackpool, police just being c unts)

Why any Rangers supporter would want to watch that game is beyond me...:confused:
 
Escaped from picadilly, ran round the perimeter of Manchester with my mate trying to get to another fan zone

Missed first half only

Never watched it back since, never will.
 
Watched the first half in Albert Square with my lad and his Mrs. Things started to get dodgy with severe crushing so we moved out and ended up watching the game through a pub window as they were restricting entry. Never watched the game and like others never will. FF sash bash in a club before the game was epic though as was the journey down and the atmosphere before the game.
 
Watched the first half in Albert Square with my lad and his Mrs. Things started to get dodgy with severe crushing so we moved out and ended up watching the game through a pub window as they were restricting entry. Never watched the game and like others never will. FF sash bash in a club before the game was epic though as was the journey down and the atmosphere before the game.
Yeah the cub was great
 
Never been able to face watching the game and didn’t have the greatest of seats in the Stadium maybe one of theses days when the hurt finally goes away.
 
Yeah the cub was great
The bash in the ritz will stay with me till the day I die especially when some of our lads walked into the middle of the dance floor with the behind enemy lines banner and the place went nuts.mind you in saying all that you did need a map and compas to get to the toilets and get back to where you came from.
 
my only regret (if that's the correct word) is that I was under 18 and with my parents. Dashed out of a GCSE exam at 2pm and leapt on the train. It was the last train that would have got us there on time so if I was even 5 minutes late out the exam, I would have missed the entire day. Dad, brother, uncle & 2 cousins left at 8am and drove down. We were smuggled into a nightclub with a huge screen on the dance floor because the doormen felt sorry for my younger cousins who couldn't see from the window!

spent the night in the train station with thousands of others. We were advised to jump on a bus to Doncaster at 6am to avoid the mayhem when the first train arrived. It wasn't until we got to Doncaster to catch a connecting train, we seen and heard of the mayhem that we had left behind on the front of the day's papers.

Never rewatched the game. Never will.
 
A incredible day, one i will never forget. I stayed the night before the game, in the Big Blue Hotel in Blackpool. l Checked out of hotel at 07.00 am and drove to Manchester. Rangers fans everywhere, over 200,000 easy, fun in the sun. The rest of the day pre-match, had it all, Rangers fans in ecstasy but also seen the nasty hooligan element of the Russian Zenit fans. Fast forward to the kick-off, i have my Gers strip on and i turn up at the turnstile with a ticket for the Zenit fans section, purchased from the internet for £2000 (unknown to me it was a Zenit brief) The steward turned me away but my story didn't end there.
 
Dont wanna say too much.
Great day, great seats, 5th row, centre line in with the team. have photos of me with Shagger and Damarcus Beasley and a few others. 3 guys squeezed past, Frank Lampard, old Frankie boy and a gofor. Lampard is a REAL feckin Bear.
 
A incredible day, one i will never forget. I stayed the night before the game, in the Big Blue Hotel in Blackpool. l Checked out of hotel at 07.00 am and drove to Manchester. Rangers fans everywhere, over 200,000 easy, fun in the sun. The rest of the day pre-match, had it all, Rangers fans in ecstasy but also seen the nasty hooligan element of the Russian Zenit fans. Fast forward to the kick-off, i have my Gers strip on and i turn up at the turnstile with a ticket for the Zenit fans section, purchased from the internet for £2000 (unknown to me it was a Zenit brief) The steward turned me away but my story didn't end there.

I also had tickets for Zenit end. We had jackets and me and my mate went in just as the started to turn bears away. Jackets zipped up to the top.
 
Except for the result this was the best day I've had as a bear.
Every time you turned a corner in Manchester it was a sea of blue.
The drive on the way down was just a convoy of bears (the motorway bridges with all the flags)
I was lucky enough to have a ticket and missed the most of the riots.
Only time I've sat in my seat after the game thinking 'what if'. I still think we might have won that if Daniel Cousin had been able to play. He always turned up for a big game that season
 
Not watched the full game but seen the goals, Zenit did carve us open in the end.
Decent day up until the carry on with the screens at Piccadilly Gardens then the riot ensued, my only regret is going without a ticket, they didn't want us there in the first place.
 
Never watched the game back, not even the goals and I hate that Foo Fighters song as it was played when Zenit lifted the trophy.

Me and my old man were in the stadium about an hour and a half before kick off (stupidly thought we'd be able to get a pint in there). Can honestly say I've never been prouder as a Rangers fan as when the players ran out that night.
 
Never watched the game back, not even the goals and I hate that Foo Fighters song as it was played when Zenit lifted the trophy.

Me and my old man were in the stadium about an hour and a half before kick off (stupidly thought we'd be able to get a pint in there). Can honestly say I've never been prouder as a Rangers fan as when the players ran out that night.

Foo Fighters was played as the teams came out mate, that’s why it sticks in my memory. I have absolutely no recollection of what was played at the trophy presentation, though I was still in the stadium at that point. In fact, by then I’d had a bit of a barney because I was shouting at fans who were leaving that they should stay and show appreciation to our team for their efforts. Sadly, an argument I wasn’t going to win. Probably lucky to escape a ‘doing’.
 
A incredible day, one i will never forget. I stayed the night before the game, in the Big Blue Hotel in Blackpool. l Checked out of hotel at 07.00 am and drove to Manchester. Rangers fans everywhere, over 200,000 easy, fun in the sun. The rest of the day pre-match, had it all, Rangers fans in ecstasy but also seen the nasty hooligan element of the Russian Zenit fans. Fast forward to the kick-off, i have my Gers strip on and i turn up at the turnstile with a ticket for the Zenit fans section, purchased from the internet for £2000 (unknown to me it was a Zenit brief) The steward turned me away but my story didn't end there.


Christ, are you me? Had exactly the same experience, except it was two tickets for £1600. Ended up in the velodrome after some heated discussions. Cops were sympathetic and were prepared to bunch the Russians up and segregate the area. However it was the UEFA match official who had the final say and wouldn't let us in.

The only "consolation" was that we lost. I'd never have got over having legit tickets and not being allowed in to watch us lift a european trophy.

Shit end to an absolutely wonderful day.
 
Never seen the goals,since that night.
The atmosphere in the stadium was incredible,the whole 3 days sensational.
Apart from the result.The whole season was brilliant from Lyon to Barca to Bremen,Lisbon and finally Florence.Never been as proud to be a bear.
 
Can’t listen to that foo fighters song and can’t and won’t ever watch the game back. Have my programme and ticket to get framed one day for the blue room...... one day
 
I'm the same as many other Bears in that I've got the DVD in a wrapper at home and haven't seen the full 90 minutes again since being at the match. .

I think I might have looked the highlights up once on Youtube in the years since then.

Maybe I'll watch it on the 10th anniversary in May?

From what I've heard from others, we weren't quite as bad as has been made out through the midst of time.

It was an amazing couple of days. I didn't see a single ounce of trouble in all the time I was there. Walked back to the hotel after the game speaking to my Dad on the phone who was back home and we'd both made comment that it was good everything had been positive away from the actual result.

Puts to bed the myth that "there were running battles all day" as there was nothing on the news until after dark. They'd have reported anything the instant it happened given the chance.

Shame the trouble spoils the memory of it all a bit in the public perception.

However, the people of Manchester were great with us and I'll never forget walking past the row of houses on the way up to the stadium and folk standing outside clapping us along the way.
 
Foo Fighters was played as the teams came out mate, that’s why it sticks in my memory. I have absolutely no recollection of what was played at the trophy presentation, though I was still in the stadium at that point. In fact, by then I’d had a bit of a barney because I was shouting at fans who were leaving that they should stay and show appreciation to our team for their efforts. Sadly, an argument I wasn’t going to win. Probably lucky to escape a ‘doing’.

It kicked in as soon as they lifted the trophy mate can remember it vividly. Hated that song ever since.
 
Funny thing about that whole day is I scarcely remember the game (I was sober!) but things like the drive down and seeing the bears when we got in to Manchester about 11am will live with me forever
 
Looking back now I'd have done things so differently.

I was teaching classes and working towards my black belt on Thursday nights as well as working night shift so I never watched any of the run in live, just highlights. Even the semi-final, I took the night off to watch it recorded. lol.

I'd have gone to Manchester too.

To think I witnessed Rangers play in a European final and didn't appreciate it as much as I should have.
 
Left at 0300 driving down was a great experience all the road bridges covered in red white and blue, in the stadium was amazing pre match, never watched it back never will
 
Always remember this when "The Impossible Dream" comes on. Was at the FF function and walked to the stadium in the big march. Everything leading up to the game itself was wonderful but I have never watched it back either. Walking back from the stadium for 4 hours to find the bus and running after it as it was leaving at 2am is my last memory. The game itself was over in a flash.
 
My 54th birthday thought the gods were on my side,Really enjoyed my day but I'll never look at the gods in the same way again.
 
One of the best days of my life bar the result. just the whole build up that couple of weeks before it.

We were going for the quadruple that season with the League cup already in the bag. We then lost the league (thanks to the SFA). I still remember that Scottish cup final after it all against Queen of the South. We won but it was the most sombre cup final win I have experienced. I remember just staying to watch the cup being lifted and then just walked back to my bus glad that the season was finally over.
 
It was the earliest I have ever been inside a stadium through choice and I was amazed how early the Rangers end was full.i just think everyone knew that this was in all likely a once in a lifetime event and wanted to take in every second.
On the morning of the final I was meeting one of our lads coming off the train in Manchester to take him to the apartments we were staying in and every train that came in had bears on it and not ones or twos but just wave after wave.standing next to two coppers and they were astonished at the amount of bears and one actually said to me “we didn’t expect this many and thought the numbers in the press were over stated” I said to them “you ain’t seen nothing yet the glasgow train is due in half n hour”
 
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Left Glasgow at 6.00am or the likes to get down and check into our hotel in Preston. I wish I hadn't started drinking so early.

Checked in, train through to Manchester and it was a glorious day, amazing atmosphere. A few pubs, bought carry out, got separated from my mates during the Picadilly mayhem, got reunited and then watched the game in a pub, atmosphere went from amazing to tension after the final whistle, decided to get the hell out of dodge. Ended up in the train station and a crowd basically lifted the shutters up to get onto a train that we weren't allowed to, train back to Preston was full but eerily quiet as everyone was gutted. Got to Preston and only learned of what ensued in Manchester as the Police asked us if we were ok and then told us what had happened. Got food and went back to the hotel.
 
once in a lifetime event and wanted to take in every second.

Sad but true. To think had Darcheville scored a tap in V Lyon we may have played in the last 16 of the Champions league and just have been happy to be there instead of genuinely believing we'd be lifting the UEFA cup.
 
When Denisov scored i can honestly say it felt like i had been physically kicked in the gut - Been on the receiving end of last minute winners and a few pastings from them through the years but the way i felt when that went in i can't fully explain. The highs and lows of that day i don't think i'll ever experience similar again in my life. I was 100% convinced we were going to do it in Manchester - There was not a single doubt in my mind.
 
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