European Tour - highs, lows, memories...

[Guest David Oldfields Gate]

Hello.

I joined this here Foxes Talk just for this here European Tour and now it's over I shall probably resume my life in the dark shadows.

For fun, I thought a thread looking back on all the fun we had is in order, so I'll start with some "awards"....I'd love to hear everyone else's highs and lows and stories.

 

Best home "end": Legia 

Best home crowd in general: Rennes 

Hardest Police: Warsaw 

"Where the hell am I" moment: Walking to Randers stadium and it starts snowing after leaving a tropical zoo

Best night out: Rennes St Paddy Day 

Most helpful FT poster with travel info: Cardiff Fox 

Most Bizarre hold back / release arrangements: Warsaw 

Best away end: PSV 

Most drunk away end: Randers 

Most annoying fans around town to avoid: Legia 

Best visual experience: Roma 

Most tension: Rennes 

Best moment: Ricky P 

Best women under 30: Copenhagen 

Best women over 30: Rome 

Lifetime emotion award: WYS at PSV

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[09bballer]

Only did Rennes but loved every minute of the trip!

[Osavo]

Only did Randers and PSV but both were absolutely fantastic, followed by brilliant weekend city trips to Copenhagen and Amsterdam. Memories I will cherish forever.

 

Standing in that away end after PSV singing WYS was glorious. That was the best for me. 

 

Would also like to shout out the brilliant Danish/Dutch football fans I met along the way. All very friendly, up for a chat about the football and so welcoming. Understand those who went to some of the more intimating venues may feel differently . 

 

Hope we're back sooner rather than later.

[C.J]

Only did Rennes & PSV.

Watching the Rennes team bus arrive was mental if anyone saw it? French pattisaries as well 🤤.  Beautiful place.  Tension at the game wasn't great though!

Sitting in the market Square drinking 7-10%beers with PSV fans throughout the day in the sun. The match & atmosphere afterwards (apart from the trouble). 

Great memories.

[Atheonseye]

What an Idea for a thread.

 

Having been to Warsaw, Randers and Roma, I didn't quite get the euphoric results that those who went to Rennes and PSV got, but the whole experience was still fantastic. Some excellent memories too!

 

> First time ever solo travelling. Got a fast reality check by bringing EUROS to Poland, forgetting they used Zloty

> Me and @David Oldfields Gate were paid a loving visit by the Legia inspection team after the match in a Bar

> Turns out Randers has an excellent tropical wildlife centre as well as a friendly fanbase. Was asked for about ten pictures !

> Met many lovely Leicester fans on the way 

> A delay on my flight back from Rome at Budapest airport gave me some unplanned time at a Hungarian air museum. Some beautiful Soviet-era airliners there.

 

Shame that we didn't make Tirana, but It was great that we made it this far ! Worth every penny. 

 

Up the foxes!

[body102]

Did Napoli , that was an experience I won't be doing again , also did PSV , that was top notch , dutch fans were very friendly (maybe all the smoke , I chilled quite a bit after some green , the away end that night was quality and even being kept in after the game wasn't a chore (not like Napoli) 

[DerbyshireFox]

Eindhoven was a night I’ll never forget. First time traveling solo abroad, first time abroad since school days. An epic performance, highs and lows missing chances, actually scoring late to win a European quarter final at a team with PSV’s history in Europe. Best away end I’ve been in, if not the most dangerous with the layout 🤣.  Followed up with a few hours in Amsterdam the next day. A wonderful country to visit

Edited 8 May 2022 by DerbyshireFox

[worth_the_wait]

Fair play to everyone who went to the away matches.

 

I couldn't get to any, due to other commitments and also a condition that the non-flying Dutchman Dennis Bergkamp would fully understand ... but my respect goes out to everyone who made the effort, and supported our city.

[moore_94]

Went to Napoli, had wanted to go to their ground for a few years and glad we did it the way we did with staying in Rome and getting the bus down thanks to @SeanInRome

 

Got into Rome early on the Wednesday and got to go and have a look around at all the normal attractions, have a pizza, even got to see their "Christmas switch on", great walking through the streets of Rome with all the lights etc.

 

A shame that the attendance was so poor from Napoli and the whole mess with the buses to the ground, I do plan at some point going to watch them as a "Napoli fan"

 

Did Rennes with SportOps and was quite good in that we got to spend a lot of the day there, got to the Foxes pub just before 11am, very nice city, just from what I could tell not really a lot to do other than pubs (not a problem for most I imagine though )

 

Home atmosphere was great, and cannot remember the last time I was that stressed out watching the last 20 minutes or so of a match

Edited 8 May 2022 by moore_94

[Fox92]

I only got to Roma away but I was so pleased I got to see us play at Stadio Olympico. Such a great historic ground. Atmosphere was great, could not believe how loud their fans were, even half hour before kick off.I

 

Was my first visit to Rome and I managed to get to several attractions, Colloseum was as impressive as I imagined.

[SemperEadem]

Two of my pals did them all. Some going that.

[TC1884]

On 25/04/2022 at 18:51, SemperEadem said:

Laughing stock for who?

 

On 05/05/2022 at 12:40, SemperEadem said:

Can't find a direct from the UK to Bari

On 06/05/2022 at 18:34, David Oldfields Gate said:

Hello.

I joined this here Foxes Talk just for this here European Tour and now it's over I shall probably resume my life in the dark shadows.

For fun, I thought a thread looking back on all the fun we had is in order, so I'll start with some "awards"....I'd love to hear everyone else's highs and lows and stories.

 

Best home "end": Legia 

Best home crowd in general: Rennes 

Hardest Police: Warsaw 

"Where the hell am I" moment: Walking to Randers stadium and it starts snowing after leaving a tropical zoo

Best night out: Rennes St Paddy Day 

Most helpful FT poster with travel info: Cardiff Fox 

Most Bizarre hold back / release arrangements: Warsaw 

Best away end: PSV 

Most drunk away end: Randers 

Most annoying fans around town to avoid: Legia 

Best visual experience: Roma 

Most tension: Rennes 

Best moment: Ricky P 

Best women under 30: Copenhagen 

Best women over 30: Rome 

Lifetime emotion award: WYS at 

Went to all but Moscow. Been an amazing experience. Warsaw for the crowd and the biggest police operation ever seen.  Met a lad from my town and we ended up travelling to Rennes together,  the other lad he was drinking with travelled on his own to Napoli and PSV and spent the days with us, that's what it's all about. 

Napoli was shit as got in at half time. Nice day in Capri to follow though. 

Randers was epic and and the locals fantastic. Loved every minute.  

Rennes on Sportsoptions was very good and a great day, they had great support, as did we.

PSV was the best. Had everything a great European should have. Party atmosphere,  taking over the bars,  cool locals, best away support for years and a late winner.  

Rome was hell of an experience but still pissed off we blew it.

Got stories, memories,  new friends and a drained bank account that will stay with me forever. Tirana on my own next as it's booked and paid for so may as well.

[blurryface]

Did all of them but Moscow (and Wycombe!), regret not doing Moscow considering how the landscape of the planet has changed since then. 

 

I was really fed up at FT on Thursday and vs Everton on Sunday but when this season is over and I finally get a chance to go through all my photos I'm going to make a big album of all these memories that I can take to the grave with me.

 

Reading different peoples stories and it's slowly starting to sink in how incredible its been even if the season isn't ending how we'd hoped.

 

One of the best years of my life. Definitely made up for the missed European tour in lockdown.

 

I even got some conference league badges on my shirt on Sunday despite being out. Little memento to keep for life.

[grobyfox1990]

Good thread.
Best for me by far was Moscow, real trip into the unknown and given we won’t be able to travel to Russia for another generation, perfect timing.

Randers was decent beer and good to catch up with friends but ridiculously cold.

Incredible experience seeing Roma fans give it at a sold out stadio olimpico. Football bucket list.

Rennes was much of a muchness, enjoyed the company and the logistics of a day trip 

 

edit - as above will be at Tirana as well then the champions league final in Paris which may well top it all experience wise 

Edited 10 May 2022 by grobyfox1990

[SemperEadem]

Getting a knife pulled on us in Warsaw was a low point.

[Craig]

Did all but Moscow. 

 

Randers was hands down the best for the actual whole trip, but Eindhoven was a very close second. 

 

Naples was the absolute pits. Nothing good to say about it. 

 

[BroughtonFox]

Don’t think I’ll ever see a better home atmosphere than Warsaw ever again following Leicester in my lifetime again to be honest. 

[Craig]

1 minute ago, BroughtonFox said:

Don’t think I’ll ever see a better home atmosphere than Warsaw ever again following Leicester in my lifetime again to be honest. 

Honestly. So loud we weren't able to hear ourselves to get anything going. Unreal. 

[GlennyFox55]

31 minutes ago, Craig said:

Did all but Moscow. 

 

Randers was hands down the best for the actual whole trip, but Eindhoven was a very close second. 

 

Naples was the absolute pits. Nothing good to say about it. 

 

Same for me and agree, Randers/ Aarhus was the best overall trip but Eindhoven was the best away end/game for me. 

[philce]

2 hours ago, Craig said:

Honestly. So loud we weren't able to hear ourselves to get anything going. Unreal. 

Agree with that, they just didn't stop all game. Being 1-0 up obviously helped!

 

Roma was an experience itself tho. That stadium is massive, and for them to keep that level of noise consistently for 3 hours is impressive.

 

Not seen us win away in Europe yet in my lifetime... (Madrid, Vienna (red star), Copenhagen, Seville, Warsaw, Rome) hopefully we will be there again soon!

[FOXSE]

On 08/05/2022 at 22:16, SemperEadem said:

Two of my pals did them all. Some going that.

I was wondering if anyone managed that. Warsaw away and Moscow was very difficult to do, logistically!

[CosbehFox]

Warsaw wasn’t that bad. Just a couple of tests. 
 

On a personal level, it meant a lot to get out and about with my Dad and brother. We lost my mum four years ago in November and at the time we were looking good for Europe, going away from reality would have been the perfect tonic. Instead Covid hit and my dad really struggled being alone for a sustained period. So going away with him felt very special. 
 

I think one of the beauties of this seasons trips was you’d be lucky to find five pages on each destination in a Lonely Planet guide. We were also quite fortunate that in 2022, all four countries we visited changed their covid restrictions the week before! 
 

I missed the part of travel which saw us have a great night in Nantes when a local in a pub took a real liking to us and in Rome where we ended up in a lock-in. That’s humans being humans. 
 

I find it hard to call one the best. They all had their moments. Rome was a place I didn’t really like before I visited again. Rennes i have a lot of begrudging respect for the tension and intimidation. Randers/Aarhus was comedic - our day in Copenhagen was also completely off it’s head. Eindhoven I whisked through but was a trip which I felt the safest and most at ease. Warsaw I’ve described previously as a fever dream. Dodged bullet getting Covid before Napoli - I have always wanted to visit but seeing 8k rumble in that concrete wreck from half time probably isn’t the best way. 
 

It’s very addictive. It simply as to be aim for the club to get into Europe. Leicester City should relish and savour European competition in the same way Eintracht Frankfurt do. 

[Costock_Fox]

That small Irish bar on Wednesday in Randers was a highlight for sure.

[CosbehFox]

One plus to Brexit my passport now has stamps from all over the place

[coolcol]

18 hours ago, grobyfox1990 said:

Good thread.
Best for me by far was Moscow, real trip into the unknown and given we won’t be able to travel to Russia for another generation, perfect timing.

Randers was decent beer and good to catch up with friends but ridiculously cold.

Incredible experience seeing Roma fans give it at a sold out stadio olimpico. Football bucket list.

Rennes was much of a muchness, enjoyed the company and the logistics of a day trip 

 

edit - as above will be at Tirana as well then the champions league final in Paris which may well top it all experience wise 

 

Waow, you're actually one of the Moscow 25 !! You should do a post on that trip alone, especially meeting all of Daka's family/fans.