27 09 2006 Levski Sofia 1 Chelsea 3
I was really looking forward to this trip. Being of Eastern European origin myself I love trips out there, and look far more
forward to going to Sofia than Barcelona.
Like a few others I organised an overnight trip - this meant landing in Sofia with Bulgaria Air 5 hours before kick off. You
can imagine I felt a bit wary about using this airline but in fact it was one of the best airlines I had used in recent years.
Thanks to terrorists I had to wait to collect my hand luggage as it contained toothpaste and some hair wax.
The outskirts of Sofia are very grey indeed - like most Eastern European cities. My hotel was situated about 2 miles form
the ground... my fault completely. The weather was grey and drizzly.
Having unpacked in the hotel (which was kind enough to offer a free courtesy condom in the bathroom condiments
basket) I went to meet up with some guys who had been over for a couple of days already. We met in "Bar Soho". Two
drinks later and the eight of us were surrounded by no less than 10 police officers.
We were told in no uncertain terms that we had to leave to go to the stadium within five minutes or else be arrested.
How, or why they thought we were hooligans I do not know. All we had was friendly chat with locals and despite us all
wearing our colours we had received no abuse whatsoever (not that I am fluent in Bulgarian). Not only that, but the
majority of the group were of an "older persuasion" shall we say.
So with over two hours to go til kick off we were walked to the stadium. In front of us a police car cleared the path and
behind us were four motorbikes. We were flanked by two other police officers as well. you had to laugh, as at one stage
they had to stop traffic on a main road to let the 8 of us cross - thus blocking an ambulance that was trying to get
through with its blue lights blazing!
We were absolutely disgusted at the way we were treated. We were not even singing any songs or provoking the locals!
So I had been in Sofia for barely two hours, I'd had two bottles of beer, and my view for the next 5 hours would be the
roofless national stadium.
The home fans were a noisy bunch. I was very impressed with how they searched every Chelsea fan from head to foot
and yet the home fans had managed to release 20 fireworks and proceeded to set the off throughout the game!
As usual, we had the majority of police in our end, and none in theirs. The sooner they learn that you need stewards to
be in amongst the fans the better. They were fairly abusive towards Chelsea fans throughout the match - Chelsea fans
responded by waving Bulgarian Lev banknotes in the air.
Chelsea looked pretty classy throughout the game. Levski certainly looked skilful but flattered to deceive. Their team
lacked solidity and looked naive up front. By the time the excellent Drogba had scored his first goal we had already hit
the bar and the post in two separate moves. I was very impressed with Obe Wan Mikel and Bridge proved that he is a
good enough left back for us. In the second half Chelsea killed the game off with another two goals (which I doubt will
make the goal of the season compilation) before going to sleep. I was quite glad Levski scored in the end. Many of their
fans had already been in the ground two hours before kick off and they deserved a goal for their support. In fact, even
when 3-0 down very few of their fans left to go home. It was about a quarter of the Chelsea end that had left early
instead!
The problem with following Chelsea abroad is that you do get some of the dregs of our support turning up. 90% are
there to have a good time and cheer the team on. Then you get the minority of numbsculls singing their "Spurs are on
their way to Auschwitz" songs. Most of these tossers are the ones who left the game 30 minutes early. I often get
embarrassed by the behaviour of some of these fans, but who knows, maybe I have done something similar in the past
and will probably do something similar in the future!
As we were locked in 30 minutes after the game we had a great chorus of "Chelsea Allouette".
Then it took me nearly an hour to get back to the hotel as I could not find a cab for love nor money.
It was funny to see the sick faces of Chelsea fans, and one in particular who kept repeating "I think I'm gonna puke" at
regular intervals in the check-in queue the following morning for our lovely 7.45am flight!
So all in all a disappointing trip for me apart from the Chelsea performance... next time I will try to span it out for longer.
forward to going to Sofia than Barcelona.
Like a few others I organised an overnight trip - this meant landing in Sofia with Bulgaria Air 5 hours before kick off. You
can imagine I felt a bit wary about using this airline but in fact it was one of the best airlines I had used in recent years.
Thanks to terrorists I had to wait to collect my hand luggage as it contained toothpaste and some hair wax.
The outskirts of Sofia are very grey indeed - like most Eastern European cities. My hotel was situated about 2 miles form
the ground... my fault completely. The weather was grey and drizzly.
Having unpacked in the hotel (which was kind enough to offer a free courtesy condom in the bathroom condiments
basket) I went to meet up with some guys who had been over for a couple of days already. We met in "Bar Soho". Two
drinks later and the eight of us were surrounded by no less than 10 police officers.
We were told in no uncertain terms that we had to leave to go to the stadium within five minutes or else be arrested.
How, or why they thought we were hooligans I do not know. All we had was friendly chat with locals and despite us all
wearing our colours we had received no abuse whatsoever (not that I am fluent in Bulgarian). Not only that, but the
majority of the group were of an "older persuasion" shall we say.
So with over two hours to go til kick off we were walked to the stadium. In front of us a police car cleared the path and
behind us were four motorbikes. We were flanked by two other police officers as well. you had to laugh, as at one stage
they had to stop traffic on a main road to let the 8 of us cross - thus blocking an ambulance that was trying to get
through with its blue lights blazing!
We were absolutely disgusted at the way we were treated. We were not even singing any songs or provoking the locals!
So I had been in Sofia for barely two hours, I'd had two bottles of beer, and my view for the next 5 hours would be the
roofless national stadium.
The home fans were a noisy bunch. I was very impressed with how they searched every Chelsea fan from head to foot
and yet the home fans had managed to release 20 fireworks and proceeded to set the off throughout the game!
As usual, we had the majority of police in our end, and none in theirs. The sooner they learn that you need stewards to
be in amongst the fans the better. They were fairly abusive towards Chelsea fans throughout the match - Chelsea fans
responded by waving Bulgarian Lev banknotes in the air.
Chelsea looked pretty classy throughout the game. Levski certainly looked skilful but flattered to deceive. Their team
lacked solidity and looked naive up front. By the time the excellent Drogba had scored his first goal we had already hit
the bar and the post in two separate moves. I was very impressed with Obe Wan Mikel and Bridge proved that he is a
good enough left back for us. In the second half Chelsea killed the game off with another two goals (which I doubt will
make the goal of the season compilation) before going to sleep. I was quite glad Levski scored in the end. Many of their
fans had already been in the ground two hours before kick off and they deserved a goal for their support. In fact, even
when 3-0 down very few of their fans left to go home. It was about a quarter of the Chelsea end that had left early
instead!
The problem with following Chelsea abroad is that you do get some of the dregs of our support turning up. 90% are
there to have a good time and cheer the team on. Then you get the minority of numbsculls singing their "Spurs are on
their way to Auschwitz" songs. Most of these tossers are the ones who left the game 30 minutes early. I often get
embarrassed by the behaviour of some of these fans, but who knows, maybe I have done something similar in the past
and will probably do something similar in the future!
As we were locked in 30 minutes after the game we had a great chorus of "Chelsea Allouette".
Then it took me nearly an hour to get back to the hotel as I could not find a cab for love nor money.
It was funny to see the sick faces of Chelsea fans, and one in particular who kept repeating "I think I'm gonna puke" at
regular intervals in the check-in queue the following morning for our lovely 7.45am flight!
So all in all a disappointing trip for me apart from the Chelsea performance... next time I will try to span it out for longer.
