Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)
By Jon Clarke in Bilbao
AT 5am on Thursday morning when the heavens opened at the taxi rank at Plaza Moyua in central Bilbao, I wasn’t the only fan cursing the city.
But while the rain was predictable – as well as a long wait for a taxi – what wasn’t was the result of the all-English Europa League final in the northern Spanish Basque city: a 1-0 win to Tottenham Hotspur.
Bringing them their first European trophy for 41 years and silverware for 17 years, it was total vindication for one of the most maligned managers in recent football history, and ecstasy for the 40,000 odd Spurs fans who had made the journey.
Holding out until the final whistle after a second half with just one shot and two breathtaking clearances off the line – one by Micky Van de Ven that beggared belief for its athleticism – brought the only joy the Lillywhites have had in a wretched domestic season.
And joy, oh what joy!
Being a Spurs fan for half a century, dragged into this magical world by my father (like almost all other football fans globally), I have not felt such ecstasy since the 1991 FA cup win against Nottingham Forest, when I was a student at Manchester University.
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Coming after Gazza had knocked Arsenal out of the cup with the best screaming free-kick Wembley had ever seen, the last thing I remembered was jumping up and down at a club in central Manchester at around 2.30am before blacking out.
This time wasn’t a million miles different. And to say we celebrated in style would be an understatement.
But so much of it was thanks to, firstly, the bars and clubs all staying open in Bilbao well into Thursday morning. Secondly, it was to the gracious Reds fans who shook our hands, drank with us and later, even, drowned their sorrows jumping up and down with us on a dancefloor singing, This Charming Man by The Smiths. Guys, I won’t forget you!
And finally, to the wonderful Basque people. The amazing friendship and humour they showed, from start to finish.
Mostly siding with Spurs, having been duffed up by the Reds 3-0 in a depressing, ‘unfair’ semi-final just three weeks ago, they mingled with the fans at both the fan zone and later in the streets after the game.
We found ourselves with Inigos, Ainhoas and Unais (classic Basque names) who took our hands and showed us around the coolest bars of the city through the night, until we found ourselves at the taxi rank in the centre of the city at 4am.
With the last bus to our village of Mungia (the only affordable hotel within an hour of Bilbao) going at 10pm and the first not until 07.00am, it was here we needed to go to get a cab.
With the queue 150 strong, we realised things were becoming a bit sticky.
It was then that we decided to try and get a taxi from one of the five-star hotels in the city.
But at the Hotel Radisson, not only was there not a sniff of any transport, but there were at least 200 fans lying down in the foyer in every available space.
“It looks like homelessness has gone up ten times in the city in just one night,” quipped my son.
But it wasn’t really funny, with many struggling to stay warm, and a few with short tempers, although most were resigned to their fate to wait for buses and trains to start running about 6.30 to 7am.
I decided to film the scene, with the manager then asking me to leave, and then threatening the police, who duly turned up about five minutes later.
But they were not looking to make arrests and they, like all the police we had spoken to over the two days, couldn’t have been more understanding.
“There has clearly been a big failure here and I don’t know why we aren’t running buses through the night,” an inspector told me. “You’d need to ask the town hall.”
Richie, McIntyre and Daniel Levy
We decided to try our luck at the Hotel Carlton, where lo and behold the entire Tottenham team and entourage were staying and celebrating the win.
There was no chance of getting in, despite a press pass, and just as we were about to walk back to the taxi rank around the corner, out popped Brazilian striker Richarlison.
READ MORE: WATCH: Thousands of English football fans live it up in Bilbao for the Europa League final
A firm fan favourite, he made an immediate bee-line out to a small group of fans to sign autographs and pose for selfies, including one with me.
I asked him a few nonsensical questions and got a couple of grunts. Don’t ask me what he said. No idea. I think (no, I hope) he was tipsy.
We spotted Michael McIntyre and his sons through the front door and, suddenly, out they walked with Daniel Levy, the hugely unpopular Tottenham owner, heading straight for a black limo.
While wearing the colours, he clearly wanted to slope away without anyone noticing, and didn’t look at the fans.
For once, I decided I didn’t want to confront him about his lack of investment in the club over the last two decades and why he wouldn’t sell up. He can have a week’s grace.
Basque boost
It has certainly been an incredible week for Bilbao and the surrounding Basque region.
Aside from the entire city being full, every town and village within an hour was recording record midweek occupancy rates for May.
In the seaside surfing villages of Bermeo and Mundaka, thousands of football fans ate, drank and sang into the night, delivering a nice financial injection to the local economy.
There were even 3,000 fans staying in the next region of Cantabria, according to the authorities in Santander, while at least the same number stayed in San Sebastian.
A total of 282 flights took off or landed at Bilbao airport in 24 hours and it was incalculable exactly how many fans were really there, with so many driving all the way from Calais, or arriving via airports in other parts of Spain, as well as Portugal and France.
As one fan, Nigel, a property developer, from Elstree in North London told me, he had flown with seven of his family to Madrid and hired a van.
“I’ve got my wife and three daughters, two of whom brought their boyfriends, so it’s been anything but cheap,” he explained.
“Some people go on exotic holidays to the Maldives, my family do trips like this.”
His journey was one of the smoother ones, thanks to his job, with two fans I met at my hotel having driven 18 hours ‘straight’ to arrive at 5am the day of the match.
There were also many Spurs fans I met, who had come up from around Spain, one, Trevor and his son Matt, coming from Menorca, while Paul came from Torrevieja, with his Ukrainian wife.
The BBC reported that one United fan had ‘taken a 2,500 mile journey via Dublin, Paris and Rome’, while one another cycled from Valencia, 100 kms per day.
The most nerve-wracking part was ensuring that my son, Alfie, could make the game, while still managing to sit a history A-level at midday on Wednesday in Marbella.
Having travelled around Europe with Spurs half a dozen times over the last few years – including a rain-soaked trip to Budapest and two ugly losses in Lisbon and the San Siro – I couldn’t leave him watching it in a pub.
Having to carefully bide my time with tickets, with prices fluctuating from €300 to €2000 depending on the day and website (I got very close to the lower end thankfully), I managed to get him a cheap direct flight last minute at 5pm from Malaga.
It meant he would arrive – if all went well and he didn’t forget his passport – just before 7pm at Bilbao airport and not only was it on time, but the two women next to him were Reds fans who offered him a lift in their taxi.
To say I was overjoyed to see him at 7.45pm just before kickoff was an understatement.
The rest of the day had been well organised and I headed to the fan zone, which was one of the largest I have ever witnessed, with an excellent range of food stalls, bars and, always important, plenty of loos.
Here, I somehow managed to meet up with a couple of pals (not easy trying to locate them amid a sea of, up to 50,000 fans), where we watched legends, including Ledley King, Ossie Ardiles and Graham Roberts take to the stage, as well as celebrity fans including funnyman McIntyre.
Many other famous faces made it to the game including huge Reds fan Rory McIlroy, Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes.
Vandelism
The mayor of the city, Juan Mari Aburto, made light of the fact that two traffic lights got broken in the ‘euphoria of celebration and alcohol’ when the impact to the economy was enormous.
I had been at the very street intersection in the Poza area on Tuesday night when the two lights in question had collapsed under the weight of fans who had clambered up.
There was no intentional damage and the three vans of riot police parked up nearby handled the situation brilliantly, by simply taking up a watching brief, mostly smiling.
“We are left with the joy of the fans, a true fiesta of football and a great atmosphere,” insisted mayor Aburto. “I also want to praise the excellent behaviour of our own locals, who have left a great image for Bilbao.”
His message was backed up by UEFA director, Martin Kallen, who praised the level of organisation, describing it as ‘top level’. “The security, cleaning and fan meeting points were the best I have seen,” he said.
He also praised mobility and airport transport, but clearly hadn’t been trying to get to a town or village outside the city at midnight.
We ended up finding ourselves queuing for 90 minutes in the pouring rain, taking it in turns to shelter nearby.
Thanks to some local knowledge, at least, I had insisted we both packed macs so unlike most of the fans, I really have not much to complain about.
Oh what a night, Tottenham winning on a Wednesday night, you’re staying in because your f****** shite.
Most football fans will know who that’s aimed at. And poor old Arteta is Basque and from up the road in San Sebastian.
