From Dublin to Stuttgart, via Brussels. 

So there I was during Christmas week booking my Ryanair return flight to
Brussels for the Stuttgart game and getting on the phone to try and source a
ticket for the game. You're probably wondering why Brussels but thanks to
the Brussels
CSC we were to join their coach trip to Stuttgart (bar and toilet on board
!) - simple really. A mixed crew who were based in Central Europe, Scotland
& Ireland as well as some from AC Celtic (the Internet football team) were
to be on the trip. That was the perfect plan anyway. What could go wrong
...........I mean there I am - in December - booking for a game on the 27th
of February....that's good planning ahead !

Fast forward - early January...... School Meeting. Pre-Confirmation style
meeting for one of the kids....you might know the type. You go to the
meeting and they discuss your child's Confirmation. I'm sitting there,
dozing off, listening to the odd word. Next thing I feel an elbow in my
side.......... 'What's up?'............ I turn around and the missus is
staring at me - open eyed. All I hear is her muttering 'its the
27th'..........Means nothing......I go back to doze a little more.........
Elbow no. 2 in the side does
it - there must be a problem here..........next thing I hear the slightly
louder ' the Confirmation is on the 27th of February - Stuttgart away !'.
Aggggggghhhh! I think I'd compare this to when somebody wakes up to find
that the nightmare is actually reality. 'The 27th ' ? I apparently muttered.
All I heard afterwards is that there was total silence as the Padre wondered
why I was mumbling aloud. My wife kindly explained that I was a bit upset as
I had 'a business trip' planned for that day and that I was just in a state
of shock to find that it was to coincide with my daughter's Confirmation !

At this stage I had no alternative but to let it sit for a few days and give
it all a bit of thought before taking my daughter aside and attempting to
explain to her that unfortunately I already had a very important business
trip planned for the day of her Confirmation. It was a little frightening to
find her only reaction was to ask me 'why, are Celtic playing ?'. I
shrivelled back into my green and white hooped shell and stammered out a
brief  'well, yes, they are  - it's one of those important European games'.
I didn't know what to expect next but what I got was a very simple 'that's
o.k. I don't mind.' Have to say this reaction made going ahead with the trip
a lot easier!

Rewind a little here. Got onto that German ticket line - during Christmas
week if I remember correctly. I asked for somebody who could speak English -
no problem at all. I asked could I order tickets for the Celtic game. No
problem at all. I gave my details and did the deal. All a little surprising
I suppose. After a couple of weeks there was no sign of the tickets so I
rang back. 'Yes, sir, those tickets were indeed sent out but I'm afraid you
will have to send them back as soon as you receive them please. We should
not have sold those tickets outside of Germany so you must send them back or
the match will be called off sir.'  Of course I acknowledged his request and
promised my loyal obedience.....aye, right I did.

Wednesday 26th Feb.
5pm    Time to head for the airport. Said my Confirmation best wishes &
farewells with no little sense of guilt but some difficult decisions have to
be made for the sake of Celtic fc. Anyway we headed off for the airport and
arrived in Brussels about
10pm. Checked in to the hotel and straight to Sean O'Caseys - where the
Brussels CSC is based. Late night had by all. Worse still O'Caseys was to
open at 6am for Breakfasts before we headed off on the 7hr bus trip to
Stuttgart !

Thursday 27th Feb.
6.00am Many pale looking faces around. Folk appear, in body anyway, and eat,
drink and prepare for the day ahead. At about 7.30 am we load the bus and
head off. A bar is available on board, carry outs are carried on and a few
stops are planned on the way as well. Made my phone calls home and checked
out the other main happening of the day - the Confirmation. Everything
appears to have gone well. No comments about my trip from anybody at t he
event - so it looks
like I've been absolved. The journey itself is long enough but we get into
Brussels around mid-afternoon. The bus heads for the stadium and parks so
that we can locate it later. Groups split up and head towards the stadium
(some to source tickets) and some towards the main square in the town where
the word is that thousands of Celts have gathered. I head into town with one
group - taking the train - although it appears we nearly walked the whole
journey anyway as it only takes one stop. We eventually reach the Square and
what a sight to behold. It was a big square - covered with Tims from all
over. The large banners with the respective CSC names were draped off every
conceivable place. A fantastic sight, a lot of singing, good humour &
colour. This was the Celtic family on Tour ! A wonderful sight.
We met a few others we knew around the square as we strolled around. The
locals clearly didn't know what had hit them. I must say those same locals
were very friendly indeed, asking us where we were from and attempting to
understand as we tried to explain that some were from Scotland and some from
Ireland and some from Europe and some from........... ahhh well, we did our
best. The only thing about all of this is that we started to think we might
be wiser to head out towards the stadium, find a place for a bit of food and
drink and be within walking distance of main event of the evening. I myself
was thinking we might have delays because of the thousands without tickets,
so best play it safe. A few of us decided to grab taxis see what we could
find. Our taxi driver was very helpful and told us about the local
traditional festival which was taking place on that day. Apparently they
call it 'dirty Thursday' and  they all dress up, sing, dance, eat, drink and
have a good time - a sort pre-Lenten ritual that takes place annually on the
Thursday before Ash Wednesday. Unfortunately while he was telling us all of
this we lost the two other taxis following us ! Anyway, it hadn't escaped
our notice that the locals probably thought all Celtic fans also celebrate
their festival annually because of what was going on throughout their city.
The locals dress up with different costumes and masks - the Celtic fhans
also dress up with different costumes and masks! They play music and sing
and dance - the Celtic fans were filling the main square doing exactly the
same ! The only practise I couldn't relate to the Celtic fans was the women
cutting  men's ties in half - apparently part of the festival !

Anyway, thanks to the taxi driver, we found a great spot not too far from
the stadium. A little square with locals in all the funny costumes, masks
etc, stalls selling food and drink, a marching band and amplified music!
They were very friendly and chatted
away to us. They bought us drink and we gave them the Irish version of Euro
coins - a great new interest developing whenever you're in other 'Euro'
countries. They suggested we come back to the festival afterwards as the
place would be hopping but unfortunately we had to tell them that we were
heading back to Brussels directly after the game. After a bit more banter we
decided to make a move and head for the Stuttgart stadium. We said our
goodbyes and off we went.We hadn't a clue which side of the stadium we were
heading towards but it didn't really matter as there were hordes of friendly
Germans everywhere. For once we just went with the masses.Had a few more
chats on the way and swapped scarves with the Stuttgart fans. They were a
good bunch. No problems at all.

Got to the Stadium and attempted to work out where the coach was. Arrived at
the Celtic end and headed in. A great number were there already, about
30mins before kick off. I got a thorough search before I got in but later I
heard others weren't searched at all. Once inside there were some CP
stewards on duty - always a good idea in my opinion. Looked to me
like there could be as many as 10,000 Tims inside. I also heard that another
section had a large number of St. Pauli Celtic fans -  a familiar sight at
away matches now. There certainly is a great bond between both sets of fans.
I know that quite a number of the Celtic fhans were heading to a St. Pauli
match which was taking place on the day after our game. There was a great
welcome from the Stuttgart fans inside the stadium who welcomed all 'the
bhoys and ghirls', as their banner said. They were also thankful for the
hospitality they were shown in Glasgow. Super stuff and sends a shiver down
your spine when you witness the warmth between both sets of supporters.

The match kicked off and the many, many Tims were in great voice. It
reminded me of Ajax in the CL qualifier. Great noise, great support, great
atmosphere. You know that if you were down there on that pitch, with those
fhans up there in the stands, you'd play your heart out. No way would you
want to do anything else. When the goals went in it was sheer delirium.
Before the first goal I felt we were settling down a bit after a mixed
start. When it went in I went wild, ecstatic, mad, crazy - the usual jumping
up and down, dancing, hugging and kissing of strangers. Oh, I forgot to
mention that they were serving beer in the ground and unfortunately for me a
couple of lhads in front of me had just bought a new round when our first
goal went in. I can remember the ball coming across from Agathe and a body
diving down towards the ball, a sort of bulge could be seen in the net (it
was at the far end of the ground) and a large roar going up, coinciding with
it beginning to rain beer from all angles. Hugs, beer tasting, cheers, beer
tasting, dancing and beer tasting - all over the place. I was beginning to
wonder was throwing the beer up in the air part of the local festival.

So we all settled down, kept singing, and I started to dry myself - just a
little anyway. Next thing your man Agathe is at it again ! Gets ball,
flashes by defender, Sutton moving in - could see this one much better -
bang - in the net. Ahhhhh nooooo - I mean yeeeeesssssssss ! Up on the seats,
up on the barriers, jumping, dancing, sheer magical moments to be
remembered.  The only thing is the end of those cups of beer start arriving
through the air. In the face, on the head, all over. And did anybody moan ?
Not a hope. Never to be forgotten. Magic ! We sing our hearts out and the
game is still going well. I see Thompson sitting injured at the side of th
pitch....they attack...big gap in the box.....goal......they've pulled one
back but nothing too worrying in our display. We're still in control. Half
time arrives and we enjoy it. Things are looking good. We work out that we
really would have to collapse completely and concede a total of five goals
to go out - not a bad position to be in.
The lhads near me go downstairs for the break and arrive back with trays
full of beer. I'm beginning to wonder whether Celtic would mind hanging on
for a while before getting that third goal. I quickly realised that I was
being a bit selfish and banish such thoughts from my head !

Second half starts and for 15-20mins we are still looking good.
Understandably they're pushing forward but I'm hoping they might leave a gap
here or there as they get more and more anxious. Before I know where I am I
see the gaps start appearing at our end. We seem to be sitting back more and
more - always a sign that a goal could be conceded  -  and that's what
happened. 2-2. Its a little quieter down the Celtic end but only briefly. A
few more songs bellow out. A goalpost or bar is hit by Stuttgart. Nervy
stuff. We look a bit rugged, losing shape and sitting deeper and deeper. I
start thinking about the final whistle, maybe even hoping for it and then -
bang - 2-3 ! Hard to believe really but no panic at the Celtic end. The
whistle was coming. Next thing we see the players arms go up in the air.
It's all over. We've done it !! Hugs, dances, smiling time again. Let's have
our own festival ! I heard later that some people were disappointed in the
second half display. I certainly had no problem with the first 20 mins of
the second half but did think we sat too deep and appeared unnecessarily
anxious after that. Bottom line for me is - we'd done the job. Would people
have taken 2-3 before the game ? I would have. All that had happened was
that we scored two early goals and killed the game. You then have more time
to worry and be nervous - and I think that goes for the players as well. We
were through!

After a few last songs with the German fans I head away from the stadium and
try to find the coach. Had a bit of difficulty as there was no delegated
coach park - parking was along the side of the roads. Was beginning to panic
a little but after ringing one of the lhads and starting to backtrack I
found the thing. I had already walked by it earlier! Got onto the coach and
waited for it to fill. Everybody was in good form. A few people still
missing so a few calls are made (thank heavens for mobile phones - for all
the hassles they can cause, they are life savers much of the time). Looks
like we might have to head off without three Tims but a couple of last
minute calls and we find them at a petrol station nearby. All on board and
off we go, through the night, back to Brussels. We also find a Tim wandering
on his own - no bus and not really in a position to find it ! One of the
lhads takes him on board and we decide to take him to Brussels. He has
hardly any money and is from Belfast. We try to make a couple of calls for
him and we get onto his missus to try to get some contact numbers. We got a
little nervy when he started the conversation with - 'hello, can you hear
me, I've missed the bus again.....'  Rightly or wrongly we bring him with us
and intend trying to get him to sort himself out in Brussels.

After a few songs and drinks people start dozing off. You don't really get
much sleep in these situations but it had been a long day or so and it was
catching up on some of us. One of the classic moments for me happened during
the night. I'm sitting there half awake and I hear 'The Man from Belfast' mo
ve about a little (he was sitting in the seat behind me). Next thing I hear
a thick Belfast accent say  '.....where's this train going anyway ?'. I had
to hold back my laughs in case he was offended !!
The night trip on the bus goes surprisingly quickly and we arrive in
Brussels at about 6am. Some live in Brussels or Belgium or nearby countries,
some are staying for a few more days and some, like myself, are heading
straight back to the airport. We say our goodbyes and some of the lhads
kindly make sure 'The Man from Belfast' gets a hotel room for the night.
Hopefully he will be able to sort himself out later in the day. Have to say
fair play to them for organising this because there were a lot of tired
heads around at that stage of the morning.
About seven of us make for the airport, check-in, grab a bit of breakfast
and board the plane. We get a very windy flight back to Dublin (I hate that)
but arrive back safe and sound. More goodbyes and I head home. Get to the
house and the Confirmation girl opens the door. I'm home.

Now I wonder what family occasions have been organised for
March..............

Enda Fanning