Villarreal last time 2006

Hired a car and stayed in Salou.
Was in the home end with some friendly locals.
Lovenkrands goal.
Boyd's miss
Kyrgiakos miss
Leaving the ground thinking we had blown a great chance to make the last 8 of the CL.
 
Driving into Villarreal via the buses put on by Bluebells Bar form Benidorm and recall how small it was. Streets were so narrow and there wasn’t one long street where the buses parked, the amount of coaches there was unreal.

Walked down to the stadium only to miss the team bus by minutes, we heard the roar though. Didn’t have a ticket so ended up watching the game in a small cafe right behind the stadium. I remember loads of fakes going about and apparently the police were checking whether tickets were fake by holding a lighter underneath and fakes were burning a different colour!? Loads of mates sneaked in and climbed the fence to gain entry into the bears end, one getting a massive cut down his forearm.

Afterwards when leaving in the buses there was a wee old woman outside sweeping her steps and remember her look of disbelief at the number of coaches leaving, it was an invasion.

Some videos that I uploaded ages ago on YouTube:

 
Worst trip ever, don’t recall the name of the company we used, it wasn’t Sport Options but was something similar.
Flight was delayed at Glasgow for 3 hours, eventually took off and told we were not now flying into Valencia but going to Alicante!!!!
Nightmare journey, eventually got to the stadium 45 minutes before kick off.
Getting into the stadium was scary.
We were right behind the goal that Boyd missed his sitter.
Missed opportunity that night, should have beaten them
 
Landed in Benidorm on the Sunday ended up in hospital Sunday night and was let out Tuesday afternoon.:eek:

Watched the game on tv then flew home Wednesday :D
 
Great trip. Stayed in Valencia and was on @steincolin busses from there to Villarreal.

Was in our end and it was rammed. When Lovenkrands scored it was quite bad, people falling like a domino effect. One old boy took an awful herder, blood everywhere. Always hoped he was ok.
 
for me it was special as it was my first euro trip and in home end opposite the Rangers section

any memories ?
I was in the same end, with a broken ankle, incurred the night before while out on the lash in Castellon. Safe to say I was designated driver of the hire car to get to the stadium!
 
We stayed in Valencia and went through early to see scores of bears had beat us there. Went in the submarine club under the stand to frosty reception but after my uncle and his mate performed a magic show and we sung happy birthday in Spanish to the waitress a wee old man asked us to stay he would not be long.

Half an hour later he came in with a big bag of tangerines with stocks leaves all still in it. He owned half the land round there and had handpicked us his produce .

In the game wrong end as per usual but no problems until we scored and “lost” my uncle ,I checked under the seat and row in front but he jumped up and flipped head of heels and landed two rows down on two young girls (steap stands in Spain)
 
Finally getting into the ground and ordering 8 beers, only to discover they were alcohol free.
folk do it all the time.

The word sin on the can means without ie without alcohol.

Bears done it at barca too and didn't believe me when i said it was 0 percent ha ha
 
I went to Benidorm for a week! Flew Glasgow Alicante via Birmingham I’m sure and met a couple of good bears at the airport, the castle street loyal I think they belonged too.

The Boyd miss,the Spanish cops, fans getting ripped off for tickets,fake euros come to mind,,but the national express back from Birmingham to catch the game at the weekend is what sticks out most,,Someone’s screamer spewed half hour into the journey and the smell along with my week long hangover was almost unbearable.
Never again
 
i defended boyd that night for his miss but i cant remember why, seems foolish now
 
I was our travel organiser so when the draw was made it left to me to deal with things

Barcelona v Chelsea was the same week and in fact when the dates were confirmed the same night However because I knew the dates of the 2nd leg either the Tuesday or Wednesday I looked at London to Barcelona flights

As soon as the dates were confirmed straight on and secure that flight on the Monday afternoon for £75 return a few later it wasn't that price!! . Glasgow to London was the same price Monday out back Wednesday, train down to Castellon de la Plana where we based ourselves only 10 mins on the train to Villarreal

Went to Villarreal around midday on the Tuesday and had a look around the stadium etc actually I spoke someone that been there when Celtic played them in 2004 and said it a problem getting in so made the decision to be in early and the right one missed most of the trouble and could the issues happening from inside

Just to be there watching us in the Champions League last 16 but it wasn't to be
 
Got the Kinning Park loyal bus there. Overnighter in Barcelona. Scumbag police in a tiny street outside the ground. Bears holding the shutters up to let others in. Not my favourite trip ever but will still be in attendance this time. Doing the much more civilised flying thing this time right enough :D
 
I remember the criticism of Boyd being a bit over the top.

Unless I’m losing my shit, it was a harder chance than many thought.
100%. It is one of thise things that have got worse with time. It certainly wasn't a sitter.

The trip itself was one of my favourite. We flew to Glasgow before doing the sport options trip. Smashing memories.
 
I remember the the crush to get in, by the time we got to the gate the turnstiles were flattened and there were police standing with batons drawn and we had to walk by them to get in. I was supposed to be in that persplex area but ended up in line with the 18 yard line. At least half that stand was bears.
 
Spent three nights in Benidorm, got the bus from the Golden Last bar. The two nights before the game were great fun until the police decided to wade in with batons outside Cafe Benidorm.

Once we arrived in Villarreal I seem to recall there were very few bars, so we ended up just drinking in the square. We then headed to the stadium really early and we’re inside the ground when the players came out before their warmup. Even by that stage you could see Rangers fans all round the stadium. Lovenkrands goal sparked absolute mayhem, the celebrations were incredible.

After the game a Bear behind the goal tried to climb a flagpole and a Spanish copper battered him with his baton, which resulted in some bears having a go back at them.
 
We stayed in Valencia and went through early to see scores of bears had beat us there. Went in the submarine club under the stand to frosty reception but after my uncle and his mate performed a magic show and we sung happy birthday in Spanish to the waitress a wee old man asked us to stay he would not be long.

Half an hour later he came in with a big bag of tangerines with stocks leaves all still in it. He owned half the land round there and had handpicked us his produce .

In the game wrong end as per usual but no problems until we scored and “lost” my uncle ,I checked under the seat and row in front but he jumped up and flipped head of heels and landed two rows down on two young girls (steap stands in Spain)

Great story, great memory for you from that day. Hope your auntie didn’t mind you losing your uncle tho
 
Memories... drank a bottle of vodka on the flight over.... memory was a bit sketchy after that. Do remember kicking a ball about the square at one point.

Not my finest moment :D
 
I remember the criticism of Boyd being a bit over the top.

Unless I’m losing my shit, it was a harder chance than many thought.

You are spot on. Had this argument countless times on here. Too many fans have never played to any level and don’t understand what is an easy chance etc.

The ball was at an awkward height. He was beyond the near post and had to get enough on it but not too much. And if he did hit the target there was every chance the goal keeper blocks it.
 
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