Category Archives: Gary James

With Manchester City and Inter Milan meeting this week it’s a great excuse to do a flashback to a memorable night in June 2023. That’s when City beat Inter to lift the Champions League trophy for the first time. So, settle down and enjoy this reminder of that special night (I wrote this in the days that followed)…

On Saturday June 10 2023 I attended the Champions League final in Istanbul. It was a wonderful experience and I’m absolutely delighted with City’s success. People will talk about this team and these players for ever.

It’s brilliant being at these history making moments and I cannot stress how much ‘us’ fans have enjoyed this journey (the wider journey, not the travel on the night – more of that later!).

I’ve decided to post here my story of the weekend and I hope you don’t mind this indulgence. I know every one of us who attended had a different experience but I hope this gives those who were unfortunately not able to be there a taste of what the trip was like.  I know many Blues who would have loved to have been there but simply could not afford it, or take the time off work or were physically unable.

If you did attend and would like to talk about your experiences then please post them as comments to this piece. I’m contemplating doing a special history session on the journey and maybe would involve fan stories in that. Not certain yet but if I do I’ll mention it here soon.

Istanbul 2023 was always anticipated to be a historic moment in the history of Manchester City and, unlike, Porto two years earlier it felt the time was right. I shouldn’t care too much about opposition clubs but in truth playing Chelsea in 2021 did not have the glamour of Inter in 2023. Also, it always seemed to feel that when we played an English club in past seasons – LFC, Spurs and Chelsea – there was always going to be something fairly mundane and typically PL about it all. I always felt that when the day came for City to win another major European honour that they had to face a Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona or one of the Milan clubs to achieve it. This season City not only faced three of these giant clubs but, especially against Bayern and Real, they proved they were more than ready to be European champions.

When we qualified for the final I, like all fans, worried about cost, flights, hotels and, most significantly, match tickets. I didn’t know if I’d be able to buy tickets and held off for a while booking anything but then I decided to take the plunge and book flights etc. To keep costs down I booked flights from Heathrow airport for the Friday morning, with return flight on Sunday about 1pm. I managed to get a cheap Travelodge near Heathrow and I then searched for hotels in Istanbul.

Initially, I found hotels via Booking.com but after being let down once before when we arrived at a UK hotel to find the owner had ‘double booked’ us (this was just after things started opening up post Covid and we got it cheap, by the time we went there several weeks later he could command a higher price and I think some profiteering went on), I decided to book direct with the hotel we’d seen. It actually turned out cheaper to go direct.

In recent weeks I’ve heard lots of tales from Blues of Istanbul hotels being cancelled at the last minute by owners saying there were issues with bank cards etc.

Eventually I managed to buy tickets and was fortunate to buy the cheapest unobscured view. I was in block 327 (row 12) with a 70 Euros ticket. I just had to be there.

Somehow it seemed appropriate that this journey to the Champions League final was to take place in Istanbul – the city of City’s first away European Cup tie in 1968 when I was a few months old.

The journey down to Heathrow was disrupted with lots of traffic issues (the weekend had many more of those!) but after a decent sleep I was able to drop off my car at Heathrow and wait for the flight.

At the airport everything went smoothly and several other City fans were waiting for this flight too. As was the commentator Alastair Mann who I’ve known for many years and it was nice to have a few words with him.

The flight was fine and once we landed we made use of the free City fan bus to Taksim Square. We were actually staying near the Grand Bazaar across the river but we wanted to see the other side and felt this would be a good way to do it. So, we walked through Taksim and down the side streets with our cases. The number of City themed bars for the day was great and the mood was extremely positive. Every one was having a great time and each shop, restaurant or bar seemed to have some staff member wearing a City shirt, obviously trying to get our business but it was nice to experience.

We had something to eat and then we walked towards the river and on beyond the back streets to our hotel. It was great to see so many City fans in and around Istanbul, not just in one or two areas but everywhere. Inevitably there would have been as many Milan fans at the stadium but the day before the game it felt as if there was only one team in town.

We spent the night enjoying the city and taking in the sights.

On Saturday I couldn’t wait for the game and we wandered the bazaar, enjoying the banter with locals and rival fans. We went to the blue mosque area and other sites too. Everything was positive, good natured and wonderful.

After lunch we went down to Yenikapı to see the Champions League festival stuff, but mostly to get our bus to the stadium. We boarded it about 14.45 and then the fun started! Lots of travel and UEFA chaos – I’ll post a separate piece on that. I don’t want to distract us from what an incredible night this was.

At the stadium we were sat on row 12 behind the goal and got in as early as we could after the earlier UEFA issues. I saw quite a few Blues I know of course, including Simon Clegg from the West Yorkshire supporters club and Will McTaggart from the North West Film Archive. A couple of rows in front was ‘Badger’ – a 70+ year old Blue many will know who used to wear a scarf with lots of badges (not Pete the Badge). Sadly, he told me one of his usual travel companions to City games had died and another had medical issues, and so he was travelling on his own. He’d had all sorts of issues with logistics and so it was great to see that he had made it. It was nice to see several regular away Blues go and say ‘hi’ to him and to check in with him.

The prematch entertainment was, as always, not really for the fans in the stadium. I don’t think the sound system was set up for us to hear it and while I personally wasn’t that bothered – and most people wanted to chant our own City/Inter songs anyway – there will have been some in the stadium who did want to listen. It seems to be all geared around the global audience not the ones who have paid to be there.

UEFA fooled us by getting a pianist to play the Champions League anthem – I think we all expected the usual fanfare recording and those who wanted to show their displeasure at UEFA didn’t get their usual chance.

The match itself was quite tense. I don’t need to go into it all but I did feel much more nervous than I was pre-match. Kevin De Bruyne going off injured felt like a deja vu moment. Fortunately it wasn’t but things didn’t seem to click. Maybe the significance of the occasion affected the players and us fans? Whatever it was, it was one of those tense days where we just needed to see a goal to lift things. When it came it was delirium in 327 and all other City blocks around me.

The bloke who stood next to me was on his own and we hugged and celebrated as if we’d known each other for decades. It’s really odd but, for those of us who go to games regularly, there are often those people you stand or sit next to who become your best buddy for a couple of hours and then you don’t see them again. That’s how it was – sorry I didn’t get your name but you were sat in 327 row 12 seat 241, though you mostly stood at seat 242. Thanks for sharing this experience.

Things were tense even after the Rodri goal. Ederson’s knee and the bar kept us safe at times! At 85 minutes the bloke next to me said ‘ten minutes to go’. I said ‘5!” He said ‘and 5 minutes of added time. Keep with the script!’ Sure enough he was right.

When the whistle went it was another marvellous celebration. The lads behind had been muttering about getting on the pitch for a celebratory pitch invasion but there was no way that was possible with the set up. In the end the players climbed over the adverts and photo positions to get as close to us as possible. That was certainly appreciated and it was wonderful to see them all get so giddy with the success.

Winning the Champions League is a major landmark. I remember a decade or so ago people were saying: ‘you may have won the League but you’ll only be considered a great team when you retain it.’ City retained it. Then it became: ‘you’ll only be considered a great team when you win three in a row.’ City managed that. Then it became: ‘you’ll only be considered a great team when you win the Champions League and the treble’. Well, this means that Manchester City are a truly great team then!

It finally happened!

The celebrations were superb and everyone left the stadium buzzing. What a night! Then it was chaos again (as I said earlier, more on that another day).

After the bus journey we arrived back at Yenikapi about 4am (we were out of the stadium about 12.35am). Walking back to our hotel I saw Noel Bayley, who I’ve known since the 80s when he first created the fanzine Blue Print. It seemed fitting in some way that I’d bump into someone who was there with us in the 80s demanding Swales Out on a night when we’d achieved our biggest success.

Hardly any sleep followed as we had to be on our way to the airport at 9.30. Our taxi was late – no surprise the way transport had been this weekend – and as we waited two lads who had clearly been out all night staggered into the hotel. Two match programmes were in one lad’s back pockets but they seemed somewhat lost. They weren’t. They were in the right hotel but they’d lost the key to their room and had no identification either for some reason, so we tried to help and they got a duplicate key. They’d certainly had a good night in Istanbul!

We shared our taxi with another fan who had heard there were problems with his flight, so. he was heading to the airport early.

At the airport everything seemed to go well. Both Shaun Wright-Phillips and Peter Crouch were on our flight, and by coincidence I was sat next to a City fan I know via twitter: https://twitter.com/BertiefulSouth

Getting home from Heathrow yesterday brought its own traffic issues but the knowledge that City had won the Champions League and the treble kept us positive throughout.

So City have won the trophy after 15 years of planning, building and development. This is a major achievement and lifts things considerably – and it stops Villa singing that song to us!

City’s first major European trophy came in 1970 before Liverpool, Juventus and Chelsea for example. Now, 53 years later they have added the Champions League to their impressive trophy haul. Only Liverpool have a longer span of success from their first major trophy to their most recent, proving that City have. a rich footballing history.

Finally, I know this has been a lengthy piece but I just wanted to throw a few thoughts, memories and comments down. If you’re one of the people who managed to get to Istanbul I hope you managed to stay safe and enjoy it. It was difficult for many to be there and so I am so grateful that I managed to get the chance to buy tickets and afford travel to attend this landmark moment in football history.

Thanks to all those involved in the journey over the years. This has been special and I’m glad I saw so many Blues from various phases of my life out there and I feel for those who couldn’t make it this time.

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