Roughly 300km was the ride in the green bus, that took us to the promised beer land. Weissbier, Brezn and Weisswurst was up for the next few days – and one hell of a party! Celtic was about to play their 3rd group stage match in Munich, which is a very short ride for us Fondue Fenians to see the mighty Hoops play. Obviously, a few of us got some days off at work and were up to enjoy one of the best away trips ever – at least for me, Stevie, it was a highly enjoyable one.
Arriving in Munich on Tuesday afternoon, it was all about getting started easily. And getting the tickets sorted. In the evening, we enjoyed the concerts of Glasnevin and Co at the “Backstage” München.
I didn’t count the amount of Weissbier we enjoyed throughout the trip, but I am sure all Celtic fans together drank more than most Oktoberfest visitors over several days. On match day, Marienplatz, the main square in Munich, was covered in in Green & White and bottles. – And flags.
Then, it was time to leave Marienplatz behind us and go to the stadium. The subway trains were crowded with a mix of both groups of fans and the Celtic fans were having a party (again!) in the U-Bahn – probably a bit too much, as the train couldn’t move for 20 minutes. But as friendly as we are, we shared beers with strangers, gave them our scarves and badges and won new friends, even an old Munich fan, who said he had never seen something like the Hoops fans before in his life. He left for the stadium with a bright smile and saying he will be a Celtic fan from this day on – mission accomplished. 🙂
The Allianz Arena is stunning! When you leave the subway you need to walk 1km+ and the red enlighted stadium gets closer and closer. The tension rises with every meter you get closer. Entering the stadium (built by Herzog & De Meuron, Swiss architects, btw.) you will be left stunned. It’s huge and well organized (yes, we are in Germany). Because of the problems in the subway we got there late, missed kick-off by some minutes, so the fans were already in full voice, so we joined in.
Celtic lost 0-3, which, in my eyes, wasn’t too bad and better than expected before the match. We should have scored though. But all in all it was a good performance, with some bad minutes in the first half and good ones in the second. The atmosphere in the away section was great. And with Celtic’s good second half performance it got even better. Dancing, singing – having a party in the Champions League!
After the match, we were allowed to leave the stadium immediately – which is unusual! Outside, the atmosphere was friendly and on the subway back into the city centre the party continued. Well, not only in the subway…
It was a wonderful trip to a beautiful city. We met many old friends, but many new ones as well. Thanks very much to all who made it a brilliant trip for the Fondue Fenians!! See yous on tour!
Hail, Hail!
BTW: The bus trip home was a very silent one.. 🙂
Some kind words The Celtic blog wrote about us and the Celticfans:
“Today I met some of the most amazing people ever, including the Bhoys of Switzerland.
I am going to tell you some stories about them, and their passion for our club, tomorrow or the day after.
They are inspirational.
All of these supporters are. The collection of tales about how fans got here and the lengths some of them went to – phenomenal.
And you know what? Whatever happens in the game, our club is world class because these guys are world class.
Never been so proud to be a Celtic fan, I mean it.
It’ll be time to go to the game shortly; the result is now the least important thing about the trip.
This is my first European away match.
It will not be my last.
In terms of feeding the soul, as it were, this trip has been off the scale.
What a club we are.”
James Forrest – author the Celtic blog
Read more: here