By Ed Leahy
Punk legend Joe Strummer would have been a very rich man by the end of 2012 thanks to this summer’s Olympics.
London Calling has become the unofficial theme tune of the upcoming Games and you can expect to hear it ad nauseum on every television promo and preview ahead of the Opening Ceremony on 27 July.
So sticking with The Clash theme, but looking a little closer to home on the calendar, Irish sports fans are facing a very serious dilemma regarding this summer’s holidays abroad.
Poznan and Gdansk: should I stay or should I go?
Thousands have already made that important call and are, I’d imagine, currently in a giddy state of euphoria planning out those two weeks in June when Ireland return to the top table of European football.
European Championship competitive encounters against current holders and reigning world champions Spain, and four-time World Cup-winners Italy, should have football fans chomping at the bit to get to Poland this summer.
However, expensive travel packages and perceived sparse ticket allocations appear to be putting many people off making what could be a trip of a lifetime.
The initial allocation offered to the FAI was a meagre 6,000 tickets per game for Ireland fans.
The FAI - to their credit - are in the process of securing another batch and have tried to look after supporters who travelled to the away games throughout the qualifying stages and those who have committed to recent home internationals.
In fact, you probably deserve an all-expenses paid trip if you can prove that you attended all the recent Carling Nations Cup games. Anyone? Anyone??
But having recently returned from a ‘fact-finding’ mission to both host cities, Poznan and Gdansk, and having wandered about the fantastic football stadiums that await the Republic's fans this summer, it is safe to say that the closest that the figure 6,000 will represent is, perhaps, the amount of non-Irish in the stadium.
The PGE Arena in Gdansk holds 43,615, while the City Stadium in Poznan has a match-day capacity of 43,269. Add to the equation the Italian fans, who are notorious for not turning up at the group stages, and the Spanish supporters, who probably think that they are guaranteed a quarter-final berth as group winners and are already planning their trip to Ukraine for the knock-out stages.
Bizarrely, the match that might prove most difficult to get tickets for could be the Croatia game as Slaven Bilić’s side will be well supported for the group stages.
However, the bonus for that fixture is that the locals won’t be busting a gut to see that particular ‘box-office blockbuster’ so many of the neutral tickets will become available for anyone knocking around Poznan in the days prior to the game.
Add to all this the Irish fans’ ingenuity for picking up tickets at the last minute, whether by donning a team tracksuit and trying to look official at the gates, or cajoling local policemen to hand over tickets confiscated from touts.
Many more travelling will be happy enough to watch the games and have the craic in the adjacent pubs or at the EURO 2012 Fan Zones that will be set up in every host city to allow supporters to watch the tournament.
However, financial pressures still remain as the major stumbling block for undecided Irish fans looking at ways to get to Poland this summer.
Flights to Poznan, Gdansk and nearby German cities are, as expected, at peak prices, while tour companies, official or otherwise, are offering all-inclusive package deals, which are out of many supporters’ budgets.
The major three, four and five-star hotels in the host cities have also bumped their prices, but there are alternatives.
Smaller hotels and hostels are still offering reasonable rates, while some camping options are also available, which will allow many people travelling to keep costs down.
And with the European train network being so efficient and relatively economical, there are many other ways of getting into Poland, without even mentioning the Joxer-style hiace vans and campervans that will be making a colourful convoy across continental Europe.
The one thing that has been guaranteed is that the price of eating and drinking in Poznan and Gdansk will remain largely unchanged for the duration of the tournament, so you can expect to live a lot cheaper at EURO 2012 than you would back home in Ireland.
Quick currency calculations put the price of a pint between €2-€2.50, Vodka bars charge €1 for a shot with food available for €2. Even the Big Mac meal is considerably cheaper in Poland, while a three-course dinner with drinks at any of the top-quality restaurants will charge less than €30 per person.
Poznan and Gdansk are both using the tournament to publicise their cities as future holiday destinations so it is in their interest to keep prices low throughout the competition.
It’s been ten years since Ireland played at the World Cup in Japan and Korea. USA 1994 was eighteen years ago, add four more since Italy 1990, while the Republic’s one and only trip to the Euros was back in 1988 in Germany.
But talk to anyone who ventured off to follow Jack or Mick’s Army and they will fondly recall memories and offer anecdotes that are unlikely to be surpassed for the rest of their sporting days.
That goal against England in Stuttgart, Whelan’s volley versus Russia, Sheedy again against the English, Quinn in the Dutch game, O’Leary’s penalty, Packie’s save, Houghton again, McGrath against the Italians…even Schillaci. You cannot put a price on what it feels like to witness these moments.
My first encounter at the World Cup was in Giants Stadium in 1994. Ok so not the Italy game but the Norwegian stalemate. The 90 minutes of the game haven’t left any abiding memories, apart from a John Sheridan lob that nestled on the roof of the net.
But arriving into New York to meet friends and family, the build-up, the singsong on the bus from Port Authority, qualifying for the knock-out stages, the photo with Steve Collins outside Eamonn Doran’s bar in Manhattan, and playing a radio request for the folks back home on whatever breakfast show was broadcasting from the back of the pub in the early hours.
And that, albeit brief, USA experience was enough to make me max the credit card for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and Korea.
While I’m still playing catch-up for the costs incurred tens years ago, the overall sporting experience will probably never be beaten when I think back to the memories of that summer sojourn and the people I made and shared them with.
Then came my own Stuttgart moment. Still believing as we watched on from behind the goal, with the clock ticking down at the Kashima Stadium in Ibaraki.
Quinn gets a flick, Robbie is first to react, Kahn is beaten and the Irish fans go wild, as the draw against Germany, and a life-long memory, is secured.
So if you’re still considering going out to Poland this summer, if only for one match, or a couple of days detour from your European vacation, as the Great Winged Goddess of Victory once wrote… Just Do It.
