Seeing football abroad

[ChrisJbarnes]

I'm going on holiday this summer to Lisbon and Istanbul. Was thinking I might see a foreign game in one or both of those places, as I've not had the experience. Can anyone shed any light on their experiences if they have done similar? I would love to go see Fenerbahce, but I have heard that they have a bit of a violent reputation, and this is what puts me off. Would I be better off with Benfica?

[Village Idiot]

I have never been to Turkey, but a Fenerbahce game looks something that has to be experienced and I myself would love to watch one. The atmosphere looks simply incredible. Surely it can't be a problem if you chose your seat away from the most troublesome firms/away fans?

[Disco]

I've had the pleasure of going to watch Bolivia, Godoy Cruz, Boca and River Plater as their respective stadiums and all were amazing. I couldn't recommend it highly enough. Just don't go in with the hardcore and you'll be fine.

 

You'll probably be able to buy your seats on the their sites I'd have thought for Benfica/Fener.

[ponsaelius]

Only ever been to see Mallorca Vs Real Madrid which seeing some of the 'Galacticos' on show was great, it wasn't exactly a massive footballing experience (15k attendance or so, mostly gloryhunting islanders in Real shirts).

 

Something I really want to do more aswell though, next place I visitI'm going to make sure I take in a game.

 

 

[Village Idiot]

Only ever been to see Mallorca Vs Real Madrid which seeing some of the 'Galacticos' on show was great, it wasn't exactly a massive footballing experience (15k attendance or so, mostly gloryhunting islanders in Real shirts).

 

Typical Mallorca

 

Went to see some NYRB games at the Giants stadium which was s****, other than that I watched Arsenal at Highbury with the Invincibles at the top of their pomp. Simply incredible footballing experience... I remember thinking how far we were from that at the time!

Caught some football in Berlin and Prague when I lived there too. Spartak's stadium was simply s**** but for some reason I loved it

[Mr. Snrub]

Only ever been to see Mallorca Vs Real Madrid which seeing some of the 'Galacticos' on show was great, it wasn't exactly a massive footballing experience (15k attendance or so, mostly gloryhunting islanders in Real shirts).

 

Something I really want to do more aswell though, next place I visitI'm going to make sure I take in a game.

 

 

 

Weird, what I've noticed about being in Mallorca is that there is a large Barcelona following from many of the locals.

 

Was there on one occasion when Barcelona won the league and there was lots of people celebrating on the streets, cars driving past beeping their horns etc.

[Village Idiot]

Only ever been to see Mallorca Vs Real Madrid which seeing some of the 'Galacticos' on show was great, it wasn't exactly a massive footballing experience (15k attendance or so, mostly gloryhunting islanders in Real shirts).

 

Something I really want to do more aswell though, next place I visitI'm going to make sure I take in a game.

 

 

 

Weird, what I've noticed about being in Mallorca is that there is a large Barcelona following from many of the locals.

 

Was there on one occasion when Barcelona won the league and there was lots of people celebrating on the streets, cars driving past beeping their horns etc.

 

Mallorca ST holders, however, have typically Real Madrid as their second team. Local Barça fans don't care much about Mallorca since they are 4 hours away of Camp Nou and boats are supercheap. For a similar reason there's a big contingent of Valencia fans there (a lot of people from Valencia work in Mallorca since they are very close by boat).

[ponsaelius]

Only ever been to see Mallorca Vs Real Madrid which seeing some of the 'Galacticos' on show was great, it wasn't exactly a massive footballing experience (15k attendance or so, mostly gloryhunting islanders in Real shirts).

 

Something I really want to do more aswell though, next place I visitI'm going to make sure I take in a game.

 

 

 

Weird, what I've noticed about being in Mallorca is that there is a large Barcelona following from many of the locals.

 

Was there on one occasion when Barcelona won the league and there was lots of people celebrating on the streets, cars driving past beeping their horns etc.

 

There's probably mindless glory hunting for both the big two, hence why the home attendances are so low.

 

Which is a shame because they're actually a decent club who always overachieve, you'd think a sense of isolation would create a local pride and they'd get behind what is a pretty good side.

[Village Idiot]

Aye, Mallorca is victim of Palma being a crassly gloryhunting town.

 

You have to take into account, though, that "locals" are scarce. Most people living in Palma come from other Spanish cities to work in the tourist/leisure sector which absolutely dominates Mallorca's economy.

[The Bonk]

Caught the Ajax - Feyenoord derby a few years ago in Amsterdam.  Was some of the most entertaining football I've seen and the atmosphere was incredible:

 

http://argville.com/images/funny-pictures/feyenoord.jpg

 

Ajax quickly became my second team. 

[Scoreboard82]

I think football abroad is generally much cheaper to watch. Apart from Toon euro games, i've only ever watched Malaga whilst on holiday. Really good value to watch. Although they seem to quadruple the admission price when Barcelona/Real Madrid visit. I was once in Mallorca when they were at home to Barcelona, so i went to the ground with the intention of seeing the game. When i arrived, they were asking 40 euros to get in, and this is going back years. I thought to myself that i would begrudge paying that to watch the Toon and scrapped the idea.

[Mistle17]

Living in Ireland I have a season ticket for Shamrock Rovers- €90, which I see as pretty good value tbh. Its decent enough football and your able to stand and sing no bother for the whole 90mins. Altogether its a pretty good experience and if anyone comes over to Dublin for a weekend or holiday I'd advise you to take in a game (go to the East Stand!  )....especially if its a European game or a league game against St.Pats or the big derby against Bohs. The atmosphere is generally quality at those games.

 

Otherwise, I've been to watch Barca Vs Real Vallidolid in the Nou Camp. It really was a terrific experience, tbh! Barca won 3 or 4-1 in the end; I remember Bojan and Zambrotta were very good whilst Iniesta and Henry were just a different class to anyone else on the pitch. It was terrific.

 

This summer I visited La Bombonera- stadium of Boca Juniors- this summer and found it to be a fascinating experience, I really loved it. Unfortuantely I didn't get to take in a game but I plan to re-visit one day and take in a match. Looks mad, like.

 

But I've never supplemented a game otherwise on the continent or anywhere else for that matter. If I were to go to Lisbon I'd like to see Sporting play over Benfica, but I'd say either would be great!

[Disco]

 

This summer I visited La Bombonera- stadium of Boca Juniors- this summer and found it to be a fascinating experience, I really loved it. Unfortuantely I didn't get to take in a game but I plan to re-visit one day and take in a match. Looks mad, like.

 

 

It's absolutely mental. Best atmosphere I have ever experienced. Way better than River was IMO.

 

Funiest thing of the games i went to was the Bolivia fans calling for the manager to be sacked when they were beating Brasil like.

[Mistle17]

 

This summer I visited La Bombonera- stadium of Boca Juniors- this summer and found it to be a fascinating experience, I really loved it. Unfortuantely I didn't get to take in a game but I plan to re-visit one day and take in a match. Looks mad, like.

 

 

It's absolutely mental. Best atmosphere I have ever experienced. Way better than River was IMO.

 

Funiest thing of the games i went to was the Bolivia fans calling for the manager to be sacked when they were beating Brasil like.

 

Sounds great, man! When did you go, like? Who were they playing actually? The tour guide was saying that everyone stands and really gets behind the team. Boca really did poor last season, though!

 

Isn't their Ultras group called La Boca 12?

[Disco]

 

This summer I visited La Bombonera- stadium of Boca Juniors- this summer and found it to be a fascinating experience, I really loved it. Unfortuantely I didn't get to take in a game but I plan to re-visit one day and take in a match. Looks mad, like.

 

 

It's absolutely mental. Best atmosphere I have ever experienced. Way better than River was IMO.

 

Funiest thing of the games i went to was the Bolivia fans calling for the manager to be sacked when they were beating Brasil like.

 

Sounds great, man! When did you go, like? Who were they playing actually? The tour guide was saying that everyone stands and really gets behind the team. Boca really did poor last season, though!

 

Isn't their Ultras group called La Boca 12?

 

Was there November, they beat Gimnasia La Plata 4-0, was a pretty good game. Was only 5 quid to stand behind the goal. Yeah the fans and especially La 12 are amazing. The number of songs they had was unreal and it was constant singing from about an hour before the game until it finished. The only bad thing about going to the River and Boca games was that you get kept behind until they've cleared the away fans from the stadium which is a bit of a ballache. Would love to go back to BA to see some of the other teams like San Lorenzo or Huracan or whoever and be able to go to the Superclasico sometime bet that would be amazing.

[Mistle17]

 

This summer I visited La Bombonera- stadium of Boca Juniors- this summer and found it to be a fascinating experience, I really loved it. Unfortuantely I didn't get to take in a game but I plan to re-visit one day and take in a match. Looks mad, like.

 

 

It's absolutely mental. Best atmosphere I have ever experienced. Way better than River was IMO.

 

Funiest thing of the games i went to was the Bolivia fans calling for the manager to be sacked when they were beating Brasil like.

 

Sounds great, man! When did you go, like? Who were they playing actually? The tour guide was saying that everyone stands and really gets behind the team. Boca really did poor last season, though!

 

Isn't their Ultras group called La Boca 12?

 

Was there November, they beat Gimnasia La Plata 4-0, was a pretty good game. Was only 5 quid to stand behind the goal. Yeah the fans and especially La 12 are amazing. The number of songs they had was unreal and it was constant singing from about an hour before the game until it finished. The only bad thing about going to the River and Boca games was that you get kept behind until they've cleared the away fans from the stadium which is a bit of a ballache. Would love to go back to BA to see some of the other teams like San Lorenzo or Huracan or whoever and be able to go to the Superclasico sometime bet that would be amazing.

 

Aye man, the passion that they have for football over there is just unbelievable. Its such a great experience, such a different game/culture towards it altogether in Argentina.

Ye it'd be good to supplement other clubs like Racing or Velez Sarsfield. Actually, Racing Vs Independiente would be pretty awesome; it looks bloody mad by the looks of it when Danny Dyer goes there on The Real Football Factories! 

 

I didn't get to see an actually game in BA but got to watch Argentinas game Vs Greece on a big screen in San Martin park. When they scored it was just mental, like. Everyone just went feckin bonkers....and they had already qualified from the group! Just so passionate.

 

Where you over there on your hols, Disco?

[Disco]

 

This summer I visited La Bombonera- stadium of Boca Juniors- this summer and found it to be a fascinating experience, I really loved it. Unfortuantely I didn't get to take in a game but I plan to re-visit one day and take in a match. Looks mad, like.

 

 

It's absolutely mental. Best atmosphere I have ever experienced. Way better than River was IMO.

 

Funiest thing of the games i went to was the Bolivia fans calling for the manager to be sacked when they were beating Brasil like.

 

Sounds great, man! When did you go, like? Who were they playing actually? The tour guide was saying that everyone stands and really gets behind the team. Boca really did poor last season, though!

 

Isn't their Ultras group called La Boca 12?

 

Was there November, they beat Gimnasia La Plata 4-0, was a pretty good game. Was only 5 quid to stand behind the goal. Yeah the fans and especially La 12 are amazing. The number of songs they had was unreal and it was constant singing from about an hour before the game until it finished. The only bad thing about going to the River and Boca games was that you get kept behind until they've cleared the away fans from the stadium which is a bit of a ballache. Would love to go back to BA to see some of the other teams like San Lorenzo or Huracan or whoever and be able to go to the Superclasico sometime bet that would be amazing.

 

Aye man, the passion that they have for football over there is just unbelievable. Its such a great experience, such a different game/culture towards it altogether in Argentina.

Ye it'd be good to supplement other clubs like Racing or Velez Sarsfield. Actually, Racing Vs Independiente would be pretty awesome; it looks bloody mad by the looks of it when Danny Dyer goes there on The Real Football Factories! 

 

I didn't get to see an actually game in BA but got to watch Argentinas game Vs Greece on a big screen in San Martin park. When they scored it was just mental, like. Everyone just went feckin bonkers....and they had already qualified from the group! Just so passionate.

 

Where you over there on your hols, Disco?

 

Aye was part of my travelling trip, think i was in Argentina for about 3-4 weeks all in all. Absolutely loved it. Brilliant place, couldn't recommend it highly enough. BA is a cracking city like.

[Village Idiot]

Always wanted to go and watch games in South America, but should actually go there to begin with. The fans seem such mentalists (in a good way) from watching them on the telly.

[OzzieMandias]

In Lisbon, apart from Sporting or Benfica (I always preferred Sporting) you can also go and see the city's third team, Belenenses. They have the most beautiful stadium I've ever seen, open on the side that faces the Tagus estuary so you can look out across the water at the place from which Vasco da Gama and Magellan once set sail into worlds as yet unknown.

[henke]

I've seen maybe twenty a-league games down under, and a few in the old nsl. They've spent quite a bit on the stadiums these last few years but newcastles energy australia stadium used to be my favourite, it was grass banks at each end and you just sat in the sunshine drinking beer. Totally different experience to anywhere else i've been.

 

Probably the best stadium though would be telstra dome in melbourne, it was absolutely huge and had the very strange experience of containing three sets of fans. You had the away fans at one end and two sets of melbourne victory fans, those of white / british origin and the rest. Known as wogs, they'd include mostly eastern europeans. So you had the home fans singing songs against each other and winding each other up which was a bit bizarre.

 

[Disco]

I've seen maybe twenty a-league games down under, and a few in the old nsl. They've spent quite a bit on the stadiums these last few years but newcastles energy australia stadium used to be my favourite, it was grass banks at each end and you just sat in the sunshine drinking beer. Totally different experience to anywhere else i've been.

 

Probably the best stadium though would be telstra dome in melbourne, it was absolutely huge and had the very strange experience of containing three sets of fans. You had the away fans at one end and two sets of melbourne victory fans, those of white / british origin and the rest. Known as wogs, they'd include mostly eastern europeans. So you had the home fans singing songs against each other and winding each other up which was a bit bizarre.

 

 

Went to the MCG to watch some Aussie Rules, unreal stadium - probably the best I've been too along with Millenium in Cardiff, however I imagine its appalling for watching football in though.

[henke]

Telstra dome (now etihad stadium) was the same, football is not meant to be played on an oval. We were behind the goal and about 60 yards from pitch, when the ball was up the far end you couldn't tell what was going on. The stadium was only 75% full but they had the roof closed which helped the noise levels a lot.

[Slim]

 

This summer I visited La Bombonera- stadium of Boca Juniors- this summer and found it to be a fascinating experience, I really loved it. Unfortuantely I didn't get to take in a game but I plan to re-visit one day and take in a match. Looks mad, like.

 

 

It's absolutely mental. Best atmosphere I have ever experienced. Way better than River was IMO.

 

Funiest thing of the games i went to was the Bolivia fans calling for the manager to be sacked when they were beating Brasil like.

 

Sounds great, man! When did you go, like? Who were they playing actually? The tour guide was saying that everyone stands and really gets behind the team. Boca really did poor last season, though!

 

Isn't their Ultras group called La Boca 12?

 

Was there November, they beat Gimnasia La Plata 4-0, was a pretty good game. Was only 5 quid to stand behind the goal. Yeah the fans and especially La 12 are amazing. The number of songs they had was unreal and it was constant singing from about an hour before the game until it finished. The only bad thing about going to the River and Boca games was that you get kept behind until they've cleared the away fans from the stadium which is a bit of a ballache. Would love to go back to BA to see some of the other teams like San Lorenzo or Huracan or whoever and be able to go to the Superclasico sometime bet that would be amazing.

 

 

Make sure you give me a shout i and will go

[ChrisJbarnes]

Sorry to resurrect this. I've checked the fixtures, and it appears that Fenerbahce are playing a derby against Besiktas on the day I arrive! Can anyone speak from experience to advise me whether or not I have a chance of getting tickets, and if so would it be safe to attend?

[Disco]

Sorry to resurrect this. I've checked the fixtures, and it appears that Fenerbahce are playing a derby against Besiktas on the day I arrive! Can anyone speak from experience to advise me whether or not I have a chance of getting tickets, and if so would it be safe to attend?

 

Safe, you'll be grand. Just wear yellow and blue although you should be supporting Besiktas as they play in black and white.

 

Tickets, a quick google has led me to www.biletix.com via the Fenerbahce website. It could be worth just ringing the club closer to the time n all (depending on when you're going).