[Hightown hope]

Well the excitement is mounting in the HH household. 48 hrs time I’ll just about be landing in Kiev. Longshot, but has anyone on here been to Kiev and can offer any tips, advice etc?

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[Hightown hope]

When was the first, Blaze?

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[Hightown hope]

Wahey it’s worked!! Picturesque, isn’t it? Just need to locate the libraries and museums now!!

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[Hightown hope]

I’m going to try and upload my apartment I’m staying in Kiev but it may not work…my apologies if it doesn’t. Proper technophobe here!

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[Hightown hope]

Bricklayers – your question about Phil Jones is a good one, but as Ed says, it’s more about the lack of options than how good Jones is. I think Smalling is a better player than Jones personally, but Southgate obviously does not fancy him. And then after Smalling you’re looking at the likes of Keane at Everton, Chambers at Arsenal, Gomez at my club (I know he’s injured) and maybe even Gibson at Middlesbrough. So on that basis I think Jones pretty much has to go to Russia, but I’d be worried if he is any where near the starting line-up.

I’d start Maguire, Cahill and Stones with Walker at wing back, and not sure on the left. I’m loth to say Young, but I have to admit he’s been pretty good this season from what I’ve seen.

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[Hightown hope]

Exactly!

Here’s something to make you laugh…the Super Cup in August is being played…guess where? Tallinn, Estonia, in a stadium that holds 10000 people. You really couldn’t make it up.

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[Hightown hope]

Thanks, 9, the sad thing is that there will be many fans with valid tickets who won’t be able to get there. I guess the tickets will get used as people will sell them to people who have travelled without tickets, but the whole thing is very wrong!

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[Hightown hope]

Nil – there were other options, but they involved 10 hour stopovers in Barcelona, in Rome, even in Istanbul, ironically. And at seriously huge expense. As it is my flights have done me a grand, the accommodation is £200 and the match ticket is £140. We better perform next Saturday night!

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[Hightown hope]

…(contd)…
So I get up Thursday morning, and find that another travel company has managed to steal an extra plane from somewhere, but it flies from Liverpool Friday morning and doesn’t come back till late Sunday afternoon, so we have to find 2 night’s accommodation. So do we book the flight, which we know will sell out in the next hour or so, and risk not finding accommodation, or at least not at a relatively acceptable cost? We decide we have to book the flight, so we do, and then find some Airbnb in Kiev, which for the 2 nights is going to cost £1200, between 6 of us. So we book it…£200 each, extortionate, but we really have little choice. If I knew how to upload a photo on to this site, I would send you a picture of this apartment block. It looks quite the grimmest place I have ever seen in my life. Typical Soviet style high rise blocks, and Christ only knows what sort of area it is in. But it fairly near the city centre etc so I’m keeping my fingers crossed we’ll be ok. But there is just so much that can go wrong yet!

It’s actually quite funny when you look at the stress we’ve been through this week, but on a serious note, I really don’t believe that anyone in authority gives a stuff what fans have to go through to follow their teams. Their 5 star, hospitality filled junkets will all be paid for and available wherever the final is held.

So I am now sorted for next week, but I do have a certain amount of trepidation about the whole trip to say the least. But on the bright side it has stopped me worrying about Ronaldo!

Anyway, sorry for the length of these 2 posts. If there is anyone still reading, then thank you, but I thought you may be interested to hear what I have gone through this week!

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[Hightown hope]

Been off here for a couple of days getting my tickets and travel sorted for next week, but just want to tell you guys what a farce it has been. As you know, I was successful in the ballot last Friday, and so bought our match tickets on Monday without too much of a problem.

Because of where the final is and the expense, we decided an in and out on the day was the best and safest option, and Thomas Cook, as Liverpool FC’s ‘partner’ were advertising flights. Could you get on their website? and when you did it either advertised as ‘coming soon’ or sold out. It got to Wednesday and I decided I had to ring Thomas Cook to find out if any more flights were due for sale, and the guy told me that there was one more plane that would probably be available later that afternoon. When I asked him how many planes they were sending to Kiev, I was astounded when he told me that this potential one would be the fourth. And they weren’t even big planes. They totalled 600 seats, and this is out of 16600 fans going out there. We couldn’t get on that one extra flight so we were f*****. Thomas Cook’s excuses were ‘It’s a Bank Holiday weekend’, ‘It’s the start of the summer season’, ‘It’s the Monaco Grand Prix (I kid you not!)’, ‘Because it’s in Kiev, not Western Europe, no other airlines will lend us their planes’, and best of all ‘Because Madrid qualified the day before Liverpool, the Spanish nicked all the spare planes and slots’.

So Liverpool’s historic travel partner are managing to transport a mere 3.5% of the fans with tickets. A disgraceful joke. So we began exploring other options, and while my knowledge of airline routes in Europe is now quite extensive, there was nothing available without it being prohibitive either in terms of cost or time. We looked at bus routes, train journeys etc, but there was nothing. I went to bed on Wednesday night, having resigned myself to not being able to get there, and knowing that there are 100’s and probably thousands of people like us, who had valid match tickets, but no way of getting there. And boy, was I pissed off, with Uefa, Thomas Cook and Liverpool FC getting the brunt of my fury. Surely the club have some kind of responsibility to provide sensible means for their fans to travel. Surely Thomas Cook can’t have suddenly realised what was being asked of them, and surely Uefa should schedule major finals in accessible countries….(to be contd)

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[Hightown hope]

Reminds me of the old joke…

3 conspiracy theorists walk in to a bar.

You can’t tell me that was just coincidence.

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[Hightown hope]

I have a winners speech…if you want to hear it!

I wish i did so well with my predictions at the bookies!

Thanks, Ed, for running that game this season…it must have taken a fair bit of your time…but it was appreciated! A World Cup one?

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[Hightown hope]

Thanks fellas! Well excited!

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[Hightown hope]

Chucky – won’t be able to afford the beers, pal! I’m just dreading spending a 4 figure sum and it being a night I want to forget!!

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[Hightown hope]

Yesss! Got one!! 2 out of the 6 of my matchgoing mates have qualified, including me!

And tonights lottery numbers are…!

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[Hightown hope]

Thanks, Nil, I appreciate the sentiment but actually being a Liverpool fan means that it isn’t a once in a lifetime opportunity! I’ve done Champions League and Euro finals before, but that’s not really the point. I’ve been to all 6 home Champions League matches this season, 7 if you include the qualifier against Hoffenheim in August, I’m a season ticket holder coughing up £850 a season for more years than I care to think, and yet there’s a good chance I won’t get a ticket for the final, and if I do, I will be royally stiffed for my hard-earned.

I know it’s a well worn whinge, and I guess I’m lucky to have the option of seeing my team in a European final, but it still is daylight robbery.

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[Hightown hope]

Still heard nothing! All I have heard is that Real Madrid are subsidising their fans to get to Kiev with flights costing a mere £299. Thomas Cook, Liverpool’s official partner (in crime!) have today changed their advertised day trip to Kiev from £749 to £899, the day of the ballot. And that is a flight on the morning of the game from Liverpool and returning straight after the game. And the match ticket, if I’m lucky enough to get one will be around £150. And the sad thing is, I and thousands more will still pay it, but it is just bloody robbery. UEFA, Liverpool FC, Thomas Cook – the modern day highwaymen

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[Hightown hope]

Thanks for the good wishes, lads. Not heard anything yet but the general concensus on line is that the results will be out around 3pm. I’ll let you know!

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[Hightown hope]

Cheers, Mav, though I could still have a disaster this weekend!

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[Hightown hope]

I’m planning my open top bus parade already!

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