A Sporting Experience To Remember

Written on Tuesday, January 29, 2019 by Emma Whiting Travel

Even if Soccer (European Football) is not your sport, if the opportunity arises to go to a game whilst travelling then take it! It doesn’t matter if it’s a local game or UEFA Europa League, the fans are so passionate and the atmosphere exhilarating.

Whilst in Athens we read that one of their home teams Olympiacos, were playing Burnley from the UK, at their home stadium in Piraeus. We tried to work out how to get tickets online, however this seemed a little tricky as you needed to be a member with a Greek address. The advice given was that it would be best to go to the stadium to get the tickets. Understanding the passion, the Greeks have for their football we thought it could sell out so decided to go during the day to the stadium and lucky we did. The process was relatively straight forward. We went to the club office and became members, for 10 euros it was a bargain, and then we went to the ticket counter where there was a range of tickets at various prices. Within an hour we had our tickets and headed back to Athens to enjoy our afternoon by the pool.

The train ride to the stadium was eventful with fans singing and cheering all the way. On arrival we were met by crowd controlling security forces, ensuring order for those entering the stadium. You hear stories all the time of the trouble in the crowd as overexcited fans clash. We felt very safe that there wouldn’t be trouble here. With a history of crowd problems, the stadium has not permitted alcohol to be served for over 26 years.

We had fantastic seats, I think they were the second cheapest around 35 euro. It doesn’t really matter where you sit as you are swept up by the energy in the crowd. The singing and cheering is incredible, such pride and enthusiasm. Even though I didn’t really understand a lot of the game, like AFL you certainly understand when decisions or play has taken place that the fans are not happy about!  The game was fantastic, yet watching the crowd was a lot more entertaining. For $80 (including a few soft drinks) it was an awesome, memorable travel experience, one that opened many conversations with other Greeks around the islands who were all working too hard to watch their home team beat Burnley 3 – 1. Emma Whiting Travel does have access to tickets for various sports, concerts and events so chat to your designer about what may be happening locally where you’re travelling too.

 

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