My husband and I decided to go through to Manchester for the UEFA Cup Final on 14th May 2008 for the Rangers v Zenit St Petersburg game. We did not have tickets, but it was hailed as a huge party with a carnival atmosphere so we decided to join in the fun. We had heard that there would be dedicated Fan Zone areas with big screens. We drove to Manchester and parked at the NCP Spinningfields Car Park as it was on the way into the city centre without driving through the centre and was close to the motorway.
Spinningfields Car Park has 17 floors and is handy for shopping, theatres and City Centre and is ideal if you don't wish to drive into the heart of the city. It was a beautiful sunny day and lovely and warm when we got there about 2.00pm. There were Rangers fans everywhere, all the pubs and streets were full and everybody seemed to enjoy themselves and be in the party mood. There were loads of fans sat in a square by the Great Northern Complex. There were police there but the atmosphere was great and fans were having photos taken with the police with flags draped round them.
There was a Sainsburys Local and Tesco Metro nearby and people were buying up to 8 trays of beer at a time and pushing them round in shopping trolleys, and then sitting in the sunshine drinking them. We went into Brannigans for a couple of drinks, and although it was busy it was not too packed that you couldn't move and people were singing and it was a great atmosphere. We then decided to take a walk and have a look at the Fan Zone Areas. We went to Albert Square first and it was heaving, there were loads of people soaking up the sun and just generally having a good time. We walked through the square and made our way to Piccadilly Gardens where it was even busier!!!!. We did not even attempt to go into the Fan Zone area here as you could not move and we decided if we went in, we would not be able to get out again!!
The roads around the area were closed off except to Buses and there were people on statues dancing and singing, and in the street. There were loads of people selling Union Flags, European Cup Balloons and other things like wigs and hooters. Again there was a police presence but they seemed to be enjoying watching all the drunks making a fool of themselves and having pictures taken with fans, and it was all very good humoured.
We were only drinking water, as it was so warm and busy that we wanted to be alert. At around 6ish we decided we were going to watch the match at Albert Square and stay there as it was still getting even busier as time went on. We got to the square and found our spot. We knew we would not get anywhere near the screens so decided to stay at the back near a side road so that we had a quick getaway when the match finished.
It was really funny as people were gathered on statues, traffic lights and even on top of road signs and once they got their spot, they were not moving for anybody!!!!!. Guys were even climbing up trees and finding a branch to perch on. The big screens I don't think were high enough for people to see, so people at the back including myself could only really see the top of the screen and had to keep asking my hubby what was happening!!!!
At one point because the area was so busy, we were contemplating going to Brannigans or one of the other pubs to watch the game instead of on the big screens, but as we headed to the gates we were told that if we went out we would not get back in again as they were closing the area off. We then decided we did not want to take the risk of all the pubs being full and then not being able to watch the match anywhere, so we stayed in the square. When the game kicked off at 7.45pm the party really started!!!. Everybody was cheering and shouting the team on, you would have thought that we were actually at the game!!!!
In fact there was a lot more people watching the game in pubs and Fan Zones that at the City of Manchester Stadium where we were allocated a measly 13,000 tickets each. There were shuttle buses from the city centre to the Football Ground for ticket holders only which was a good idea. We saw the funniest sight near to where we were standing, there was a guy in a red and white tartan suit who had obviously had a few too many cheeky vimtos!!!! He climbed up a tree and was trying to jump from the tree onto a round booth which held posters for forthcoming events. I could see the branch bending and getting ready to snap and by this time people were filming him as we thought any minute now he is going to fall and break his legs and my hubby wanted to claim the £250 from You've Been Framed when he did!!!!!
At half time the area was buzzing, we could still be UEFA Cup Winners and Rangers were 45 minutes away from being Champions!!!!!. The second half as they say is history!!!! It was still a great atmosphere until the Russians scored 20 minutes from the end. After the first goal went in, the mood seemed to change and was very tense, but at least there was still hope!!!!. The fans were shouting the team on even more, but after the second goal went in and the realisation was that the UEFA cup had slipped through their fingers, we sensed that things were starting to get ugly and a bit nasty!!!!. Mr Tartan man from before stood on his booth wondering how he was going to get down now that he had weakened the branches that he had used before!!! Again my hubby was ready with the camera to film this poor drunk lying on the ground injured!!!!. He did manage to find a branch nearly strong enough to hold him, but as soon as he got both feet on the branch snapped. As people were watching him he was very lucky that 2 guys decided to take pity on him and catch him so he didn't break his legs!!! Oh well it entertained me anyway!!!!!
As I said above the atmosphere had started to get a bit nasty and people were starting to argue and fight among themselves - it was just down to drink some of them had been at it since 6am! So we decided to make a quick exit and head off back to the car park. As we were heading down the road back to the car park, we could hear glass bottles being thrown and that is the only point that we got a bit worried!!!!. We did manage to get back to the car park safely and never saw any trouble apart from that.
The first we heard about any trouble with police and fans rioting was when we put the radio on in the car, so I can't comment on it, but I do know most of the day there was not trouble, and we had a great day out apart from the last half hour and the score obviously!!!!!. I do think the media have blown it out of proportion as there were over 100,000 fans in Manchester and only 42 arrests. I am just disappointed that the fans and the Club's reputation is being tarnished because a small minority that can't handle their drink and decided to spoil it for all the other fans who just wanted a good day out.
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