7 Jun, 2019 @ 14:48
1 min read

OPINION: Amid Champions League final ecstasy and agony, Brit fans in Madrid did us proud

TEAM MATES: Rival fans enjoy Madrid

IT was with some apprehension that I headed up by train to Madrid on Friday afternoon.

I didn’t know what to expect in the capital for the Champions League final.

I just knew tens of thousands of English fans were set to descend for the biggest game of the year, watched globally by an estimated 400 million viewers.

A Spurs fan since the age of six I had never been more excited, although I knew that getting a ticket was going to be extremely unlikely.

My contacts in Fleet Street and the establishment, including consul Charmaine Arbouin, came to nothing and with prices soaring up to €9,000 and reports of fakes, I decided to save my shekels, to coin a north London phrase.

What I hadn’t expected to find was so many fans, with an estimated 100,000 in Madrid, at least 10,000 of those expatriates, I would wager.

What was clear was how much fun and revelry was part of the deal.

I met Spurs fans from as far away as Australia and Mexico, as well as German and Norwegian fans, who arrived from Oslo and Frankfurt.

And, best of all, there was almost zero trouble.

OFF THE BALL: There was a great spirit between supporters

Late on both Friday and Saturday night, thousands of rival fans full of booze showed that English hooliganism is hopefully a thing of the past.

Sure, the result wasn’t ideal, nor the suspect penalty at the start.

But just being part of this great stream of humanity will be something I’ll never forget.

Maybe I am, after all, just like them.

Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)

Jon Clarke is a Londoner who worked at the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday as an investigative journalist before moving to Spain in 2003 where he helped set up the Olive Press.

After studying Geography at Manchester University he fell in love with Spain during a two-year stint teaching English in Madrid.

On returning to London, he studied journalism and landed his first job at the weekly Informer newspaper in Teddington, covering hundreds of stories in areas including Hounslow, Richmond and Harrow.

This led on to work at the Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Mirror, Standard and even the Sun, before he landed his first full time job at the Daily Mail.

After a year on the Newsdesk he worked as a Showbiz correspondent covering mostly music, including the rise of the Spice Girls, the rivalry between Oasis and Blur and interviewed many famous musicians such as Joe Strummer and Ray Manzarak, as well as Peter Gabriel and Bjorn from Abba on his own private island.

After a year as the News Editor at the UK’s largest-selling magazine Now, he returned to work as an investigative journalist in Features at the Mail on Sunday.

As well as tracking down Jimi Hendrix’ sole living heir in Sweden, while there he also helped lead the initial investigation into Prince Andrew’s seedy links to Jeffrey Epstein during three trips to America.

He had dozens of exclusive stories, while his travel writing took him to Jamaica, Brazil and Belarus.

He is the author of three books; Costa Killer, Dining Secrets of Andalucia and My Search for Madeleine.

Contact jon@theolivepress.es

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