Copenhagen - Denmark - 2006

The first away match of the European 2008 campaign was a wee visit to Copenhagen to play Denmark, a country famous for the little mermaid, Carlsberg and in football terms the brilliance of the two Laudrup brothers. The trip started as usual via Dublin (does Belfast’s two airports not fly direct anywhere?) with numbers of the Buckfast Loyal well down on previous trips.  The trip to Copenhagen went very smoothly and as we arrived at our 5star accommodation (Hostel) we were soon in the mood to get a bottle of B in us as fast as possible and hit some of Copenhagen’s watering holes. 

The city had GAWA soldiers walking about everywhere. Every corner we went round seemed to have someone wearing a Norn Iron shirt walking down the street.  The first bar we came across was the Absalon bar, which ended up being the main gathering point for a singsong each day.  Although at £5 a pint it soon had soldiers heading for the local shops to stock up on carry outs to drink in the streets instead.

Match day arrived with the troops congregating in a large square in the centre of the city. To our amazement what seemed to be a political rally was taking place in the square that day also.  To be honest the two events didn’t really mix well as we all know politics and football don’t go! (Maze anyone?)

After the political demonstration finished the GAWA got down to what we know best, singing drinking and kicking balls up in the air. As the clock ticked down and the match loomed it was time to fall in and march to the stadium. Unknown to us at the time this would be the longest march to a game that we had ever encountered but in all fairness was probably the best one yet as the city came to a stand still and the locals came out of their houses to wave and cheer at the passing parade.

As we all reached the ground in unison it became apparent that the stadium stewards were not prepared for the sudden influx of the GAWA, and to be honest it was a miracle that no one was injured as we were ushered like sheep on mart day through a long enclosed tunnel where our tickets where checked twice!!!

Yet again the boys did us proud again with another great performance (see match report below)

The trip home was probably the worst ever with a ridiculous early flight out of Copenhagen but a lesson was learnt regarding booking early flights home the day after a match!