News / Boats, trains and planes – the Rangers fans heading from Shetland to Seville
One fan is lucky enough to have a gold-dust ticket for tonight’s Europa League final – but some islanders are travelling ticketless
FOR one Rangers fan from Shetland, it is a case of taking the boat, then a train, followed by a tram, a plane, another train – then a plane again – and finally a car to reach the Spanish city of Seville.
It will be well worth it for Peter Kerr, though, as he is in possession of a gold-dust match ticket to be in the stadium to watch his football team in the Europa League final tonight (Wednesday).
Figures being bandied about suggest around 100,000 Rangers fans could descend on Spanish city Seville for the final – despite reports suggesting there will only be around 20,000 in the stadium.
It is a huge night for the Glasgow club – they won their last European trophy 50 years ago – and if Rangers beat Eintracht Frankfurt the history books will be written all over again in what many will regard as a once in a lifetime victory.
Rangers have seen off the likes of football heavyweights Borussia Dortmund on their route to the final, while Frankfurt knocked out Barcelona.
A small number of fans from Shetland are travelling thousands of miles to Seville to get a taste of the atmosphere – with or without a ticket.
Meanwhile police in Shetland said they will undertake additional patrols as folk watch the game in pubs.
Kerr – who has been following his team for decades – is one of the lucky ones who, thanks to having a season ticket at Rangers’ Ibrox Stadium, has managed to land himself entry to the match.
With travel and accommodation being snapped up in quick fire fashion by Rangers fans – in some cases even before their place in the final was secured – some folk are having to travel to Sevilla in rather innovative ways.
Kerr left Shetland on the NorthLink boat on Monday night before catching a train to Edinburgh.
He flew to London City Airport, before heading to Heathrow – then flying to Madrid, where he stayed overnight.
Today’s travel involves driving a hired car to Sevilla, which could take around five hours.
Kerr has kept his season ticket even though he has lived in Shetland for the last 15 years, making him a prime contender for Europa League tickets.
He has history – he also had a ticket for when Rangers similarly upset the odds to reach the final of competition in 2008, which the team lost.
When asked what it would feel like if Rangers won this time around, he said: “It’s funny – I’m just pleased to be here. I never thought I would ever get to another European final, so the fact that we’re here, is amazing.
“Obviously you want to win it, but just to get here, and the occasion and all the rest of it, is fantastic.”
Not all are quite as lucky as Kerr when it comes to getting a ticket, though.
Darren Adamson, from Scalloway, arrived in the Spanish city on Tuesday without a ticket.
He is hoping he might, on the off-chance, pick up a ticket being sold on ahead of the game.
Failing that, come kick-off time he will attend another stadium in the city – with a capacity of around 60,000 – which is being opened up to host a live screening of the match purely for Rangers fans without tickets.
His journey involved flying to Aberdeen on Monday morning before catching a plane to Gatwick.
Adamson – whose dad is also going, but via a different route – then flew to Bilbao – before jumping on yet another plane to Seville.
“Watching the semi-final [on 5 May], I decided before half time if Rangers won I was going to Seville,” he said.
“I asked a few folk if they were up for it but there were no takers, so as soon as the final whistle went I started trying to book flights and accommodation but everything was disappearing and eventually almost two hours later I had booked flights.”
Adamson said that even without a match ticket it felt like an “opportunity I couldn’t miss” – because there is a real belief Rangers might get a historic result on Wednesday.
“To be part of the celebrations and say you were there would stay with you forever…if we won and I hadn’t been there I’d regret it forever.”
The plumber added that with the financial gulf between leagues in Europe, a Rangers victory would be the “biggest achievement in Scottish football”.
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