the long day began at 5.00am with the sound of my alasm. now usually i would grumble with the thought of being awaken at such an early time, however this was not a normal day. this was the day when my beloved team would play in a european final for the first time in my life. Ticketless and homeless the only thing i cared about was just getting to Manchester and party. I got ready and dressed my self with a rangers flag draped around me with a crown on top of my head. This was in tribute to our great defender King Carlos.

Central station was absolutley mobbed at around the back of 6. Our train was for 6.40 and we successfully managed to get on with the comfort of a seat. The atmosphere on the train to York was calm and enjoyable. From York to Manchester though it was a bit crazy with two wee drunken neds constantly squaring up to each other. it was not even mid day and they were completely trashed. Piccadilly was out of this world and you were lucky if you saw a Zenit fan or a local. The city centre ws a wonderful sight with red, white and blue all around. There were many drunk people, which did give me an inclination that there would bound to be trouble later. It was a mass invasion and i dont believe Manchester has ever seen anything like this before. The 100,000 estimate appeared to naive

Found a chippy in the city centre just off piccadilly. This was the worst pizza i have ever had and it now rivals the morrissons in Aberdeen in being the most disgusting place to eat. Should have taken Jack's advice and go to the posh place. Ah well the next mission was to be soe booze. I say mission because I have never had to walk so far to get a carry out. Everwhere was sold out. Tesco, Sainsburys, Spar and all the off licences. had to walk to Salford and was lucky enough to finally get some booze. There were so many idiots walking with a crate each. Did they seriously think hey wold be able to drink 24 cans of beer when already half way there.

We headed to the nearest fan zone, which happened to be Albert Square and not piccadilly thankfully. Place was jammed and with no organisation what so ever. People were bringing in bottles with them depite warnings over that. The atmosphere was realxed enough, however it seemed that every banned was getting belted out. Its as if the last two years of tis restriction had built up frustration. It doesnt help when the band on the stage started to play the billy boys and King Billys on the wall. There were some good highlights on the big screens of the story so far of teh UEFA Cup. Finding somewhere to go to the toilet was proving problematic. The area was too small and there was definately overcrowing. You could harldy move and the only spaces on the ground were occupied by glass bottles and empty cans. There were attention seeking pissed up boys climbing statues and lampposts. The screen went off before the game which brought about some apprehension.

During the first half, which was not the best, the sound went off and as news filtered through that the screens in piccadilly were on the blink there was a real nervousness that the same was about to happen here. The sound finally came back on depite the commentary being about 5 seconds ahead of the game. This was fixed for the second half though.

I thought we played better after the break and created some chances but we were to be undone by a good side. The second goal was a real heartbreaker. Never felt so crushed. People started throwing bottles and and full beer cans at teh big screens. All they achieved however was hitting Rangers fans at the front.

We then headed out of the area to find somewhere to get a beer only to be told everywhere was shut and Manchester was closed for the night. The atmosphere had suddenly changed and there were riot police all over the place. with the streets a complete mess and stories off stabings we decided teh safest place would be the train station. As we walked towards it i coldnt believe the mess