The Large One
Who's Next?
Just go back from Portugal, where I had a fantastic time, thanks for asking.
My one gripe from my 12 days away was in Guimaraes when Italy beat Bulgaria (but still went out - ha,ha).
I had no problems getting the MARVELLOUS SCENES banner into the Porto grounds, the Braga ground and the Alveiro ground (although arriving a mere 45 minutes before kick-off guaranteed that I was too late to put the banner anywhere noticeable). But getting it into Guimaraes was a pain in the arse.
For a start, ITALIAN police on the gate asked me to unfurl it, so that they could read it. I didn't help matters by immediately replying 'under whose authority?' then the Portuguese plod turned up and I unfurled it, only for them to take away the string ties that went with it. It was in case I tried to strangle anyone with it. Their words not mine.
When I finally go it in the ground, again I was too late for it to go anywhere noticable, so I put it on the bannisters alongside the stairs by one the flights of stairs. The stewards said this was fine, but I ended up using my shoelaces to tie it up.
Five minutes after I finished putting the banner up, some jumped up twat of a steward asked me to take it down. The reason? The banner looked like it was an advertisement, because there was a website address on it, and UEFA had not sanctioned it.
I slowly and carefully explained that it was an in-joke / in-house phrase from a group of 300 or so English football fans, all supporting a team called Brighton & Hove Albion - blah, blah, blah. I pointed to the club badge at either end of the banner. They wouldn't budge. I also pointed out that the website was a messageboard for fans of the club, and that it wasn't a commercial site. Unbudged. I then pointed out that there were dozens of other flags in the ground. Still budgeless.
But get this. If there had been an England flag on it (or any country's flag), they would have allowed it to stay put.
So it's official, the MARVELLOUS SCENES banner is NOT sanctioned by UEFA - in fact, they strongly disapprove.
Marvellous scenes.
My one gripe from my 12 days away was in Guimaraes when Italy beat Bulgaria (but still went out - ha,ha).
I had no problems getting the MARVELLOUS SCENES banner into the Porto grounds, the Braga ground and the Alveiro ground (although arriving a mere 45 minutes before kick-off guaranteed that I was too late to put the banner anywhere noticeable). But getting it into Guimaraes was a pain in the arse.
For a start, ITALIAN police on the gate asked me to unfurl it, so that they could read it. I didn't help matters by immediately replying 'under whose authority?' then the Portuguese plod turned up and I unfurled it, only for them to take away the string ties that went with it. It was in case I tried to strangle anyone with it. Their words not mine.
When I finally go it in the ground, again I was too late for it to go anywhere noticable, so I put it on the bannisters alongside the stairs by one the flights of stairs. The stewards said this was fine, but I ended up using my shoelaces to tie it up.
Five minutes after I finished putting the banner up, some jumped up twat of a steward asked me to take it down. The reason? The banner looked like it was an advertisement, because there was a website address on it, and UEFA had not sanctioned it.
I slowly and carefully explained that it was an in-joke / in-house phrase from a group of 300 or so English football fans, all supporting a team called Brighton & Hove Albion - blah, blah, blah. I pointed to the club badge at either end of the banner. They wouldn't budge. I also pointed out that the website was a messageboard for fans of the club, and that it wasn't a commercial site. Unbudged. I then pointed out that there were dozens of other flags in the ground. Still budgeless.
But get this. If there had been an England flag on it (or any country's flag), they would have allowed it to stay put.
So it's official, the MARVELLOUS SCENES banner is NOT sanctioned by UEFA - in fact, they strongly disapprove.
Marvellous scenes.
Last edited:
