Just back from Ataturk....

ianomccabe

I know people will probably slate me for puttin up another liverpool thread but i thought i'd give an insight as im just after arrivin home after being in the Ataturk stadium last night for which could be described as the greatest final ever seen.

Arrived in Turkey yesterday mornin and went straight to Taksim square which was the liverpool base and the place was jumpin. It was a sea of red and fans had taken over rooftops of the buildings and hung their flags and baners off the top which just added to the whole atmosphere. By now everyone was havin a few drinks and givin out their possible predictions with 1-0 and 0-0 goin to penalties being the most common. Nobody could have forecast what would happen that evening.

Then i jumped on one of the UEFA buses goin to the stadium and the bus literally bounced from town out to the stadium which was about a one and a half hour journey. Reds supporters sung their hearts out on the bus and got a great reception from locals as we passed through the small villages on the way to the stadium. The ataturk stadium was in the middle of nowhere with one road in and one road out so when we eventually arrived we had to jump off the bus about a mile away and all walk through fields to get to it. It was like a biblical passage with us all walking towards a shining beacon. When we did get there which was early about 7 local time the "fan festival" which had been promised was pretty pathetic. They had a band on with very little facilities for food and drink which led to turkish locals selling the equivelant of warm dutch gold for 2 pounds a pop.

Then we went to buy a programme, which proved to be another example of how poor the event was organised. Two huts were in the ground selling programmes. One at the liverpool end and one at the milan end, they sold out sometime during the day and replacements were never brought. Anyway got into the stadium at about half 8 local time and started to soak it up. Milan fans were in and organised very early with liverpool supporters seemingly tryin to get that last pint in and get in just before kick off which is exactly what happened. at about 21.15 local time the place was packed. and with Milan having one fifth maybe even one sixth of the ground they were greatly outnumbered by their Red counterparts. Game started and went one nil down, in shock couldnt believe it. two nil down, three nil down. The place was dead and for the first time you could hear the few milan fans celebrating they thought they had it in the bag. As did we to be honest. A round of you'll never walk alone at halftime roused spirits somewhat but nothing could brace us for what was about to happen. I wont describe it as everybody already knows but all i can say is that it is times like that when football raises above being a game and becomes something more special. People say that Liverpool have a twelfth man in their fans and the noise and atmosphere that was created inside the ataturk last night confirms that. It was absolutely magic.

Then came penalties, for the most part everyone around me was in tears from peno number one and when shevchenko missed the place erupted. Stevey ran down to the block i was in to celebrate with his family and friends and the whole block ran down towards the pitch just to get that little bit closer to man himself. What followed i will never be able to describe. Seeing Liverpool parade the european cup around the stadium to the fans was something which i cant put into words. Unreal.

Overall the best experience of my life and one which i doubt will be topped. The organisation in Turkey was laughable with some of the flights being delayed up to 8 hours. I was lucky to get back when i did and catched my conection to Dublin. I felt about ten foot tall walking through Manchester airport decked out in all my gear and got messages of congrats and well done from absolutely everyone. What makes it better was that before there was the usual...... the lucks gotta run out sometime.......Milan are different class....bla bla bla well the luck didnt run out and the only thing class last night was Liverpool Football Club. YNWA

I have pictures which i will put up later on when i get a bit of sleep!

Dcully

Excellent stuff man,who can blame you for starting another thread tbh cept maybe them Man U fans maybe

Makaveli

Lucky bastard.

ianomccabe

Here's some pics

ianomccabe

and a couple more

_blank_

Great pics man.

Great experience you had, well described.

Sounds fooking top notch.

ManYoo fan btw, DCully

super_furry

Looks like you were a fair distance from the pitch. I hate grounds with running tracks. Can't tell you how jealous I am of you having been there. Last night was simply perfect.

Roddy23

Fairplay. Quality post.

Board@Work

Class

You lucky b@stard.. Wish i could have been there

ianomccabe

We were in the east lower and 20 rows up. i think the lower section has about 50 rows in it. so relative to most we were at the front!
Camera quality ain't great as its just off my phone but it gives a good idea of the night

Dingatron

Nice one. Great to see the photo's.

DoctorEdgeWild

Great description mate - sounds like you had the time of your life - Man U fan here and I was watching it in a Liverpool house - Best Champions League match I have ever seen.

ianomccabe

it still hasnt sunk in to be honest.
I'm half expectin to wake up and be on a flight to turkey to watch the game! It just all seems too good to be true

somano

I especially loved the photo in the field, it looks comical.

Very good quality for a picture phone. By the sounds of it, the airport was a nightmare with some people delayed 26 hours.

ianomccabe

yeah the turks just locked the airport at one stage and wouldnt let anyone in. they couldnt deal with the crowds at all. it was like we were unexpected when we arrived!
thank god we won and we all put up with the sh1te that was thrown at us!

The Muppet

Dcully wrote:

Excellent stuff man,who can blame you for starting another thread tbh cept maybe them Man U fans maybe

Give it up FFS.

Nice discription iano, I can well imagine the variety of emotions pool supporteres would have experienced wednesday night. To be in the Stadium and witness the atmosphere when they staged their second half comeback must have been something very special, a once in a lifetime experience. Watching it on TV reminded me of the excitment of Ireland V Romania in Italia 90 and I'm not even a pool fan, I would imagine that the celebrations in the stadium and in Liverpool after the game were akin to Ireland in 1990. Nice post.

@ Dcully
Another bitter Man U Fan :rolleyes:

Shred

Fantactic post and great pictures Iano, you lucky git

whiskeyman

I had to say, like many other here... great post!!
Always great to here from someone that was there - and we're all jealous!!
Fantastic night.. I hope you treasure it for years and years.

ianomccabe

cheers lads, glad i was able to give some insight into the greatest moment of my life!

Kimbot

Man I would say that was one hell of an atmosphere. Glad u had a good time!!

andyman

Thanks for the pics. Makes us think we were there.

ianomccabe

@ jonny24ie my mails i send keep getting sent back jonny. I've got the first lot of liverpool gear this week and will be getting some more in the next few days. get in touch if u can