All English Finals

[CaaC (John)+]

I was not sure where to post this thread so the Admin/Mods can move it to who knows where if they must but I was just wondering if this happens has it happened before anywhere in Europe? one country having all the four teams in the final, after all, we now have Liverpool v Spurs in the UEFA Champions League Cup Final and now we could have a good old London Derby in Chelsea v Arsenal, the mind boggles.   

[Dr. Gonzo]

[Bluewolf]

1 hour ago, CaaC - John said:

and now we could have a good old London Derby in Chelsea v Arsenal,

[Stan]

As much as an all-English Europa League final would be great for English football I think Valencia vs Frankfurt would produce the better game...

[Bluewolf]

1 hour ago, Stan said:

As much as an all-English Europa League final would be great for English football I think Valencia vs Frankfurt would produce the better game...

Stan and his anti English agenda... every time we have a game on you are rooting for the opposition... 

[Stan]

6 minutes ago, Bluewolf said:

Stan and his anti English agenda... every time we have a game on you are rooting for the opposition... 

I'm fucked for the CL final then...

[Spike]

Liverpool and Chelsea holding hands as Euro champs <3

[Spike]

Unless they fucking lose of course. Then Eintracht Frankfurt and Liverpool <3

[Stan]

First time ever both European finals will involve 4 clubs from same nation.

[Dr. Gonzo]

Just now, shut up said:

english clubs don't do well in europe because of the (lack of) winter break.

Maybe not the best time to talk about our clubs in Europe not doing well 

I actually think with how top heavy in talent the premier league has become, it'll probably be very good for English clubs in football. The top 6 on their day are all pretty tough to play against, and they all play each other twice. Pretty decent practice for playing against quality players from other teams and playing in high stakes. And since we've got 6 clubs that are competing for 4 CL spots and all of them are pretty good and some of them just need a little bit of a push to take them the next level & others need a bigger push... but it's not beyond the realm of possibility... that means our clubs in the Europa League should probably do quite well in the tournament if they take it seriously.

[Tommy]

All English finals with 5-6 English players involved? 

[Stan]

3 minutes ago, Tommy said:

All English finals with 5-6 English players involved? 

Barkley, Loftus-Cheek, Henderson, Alexander-Arnold, Alli, Kane, Trippier, Maitland-Niles, Rose, Dier, Milner, Gomez, Sturridge.

[Stan]

5 minutes ago, shut up said:

Might as well include Iwobi, and also Winks.

Iwobi is Nigerian so nope. 

Winks is injured so probably won't play. 

[True Blue]

10 hours ago, Tommy said:

All English finals with 5-6 English players involved? 

Jelly much? 

[Tommy]

Just now, True Blue said:

Jelly much? 

Not really. 

[The Artful Dodger]

Who's arsed, it's the same people who bleated on about 'it's coming home' who give a shit about 'England doing well', support your club only.

[Bluewolf]

Given how both sides have been well off the pace in the League it has to be a bonus for both to have reached the Final.. 

[Cicero]

This is the weakest Chelsea and Arsenal side in recent memory. Spurs are riding some fortune, and only Liverpool can really be labled as one of the best on the planet. 

Shows how weak other countries are atm. 

[Stan]

I think Spurs are doing more than just riding fortune but I agree with the rest of the comments. This Liverpool side is seriously good. 

[Mel81x+]

So I dont know if theres some confusion about this but if Arsenal win the Europa League and the table ends as so

City
Liverpool
Chelsea
Spurs
Arsenal
United
Wolves

Then as a result of them moving into the CL by way of winning the Europa do Wolves get into the Europa League?

[Stan]

22 minutes ago, Mel81x said:

So I dont know if theres some confusion about this but if Arsenal win the Europa League and the table ends as so

City
Liverpool
Chelsea
Spurs
Arsenal
United
Wolves

Then as a result of them moving into the CL by way of winning the Europa do Wolves get into the Europa League?

Only if Man City win the FA Cup.

If Watford win the FA Cup, they'll go in to the Europa League and Wolves miss out. 

[CaaC (John)+]

Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal fans criticise Uefa for European final ticket numbers

Supporter groups have called for "a fundamental overhaul" of Uefa's "disgraceful" treatment of fans after being allocated only a third of tickets for showpiece European finals.

Fans accused Uefa of "cashing in" and want "transparency" over Champions League and Europa League final tickets.

Some tickets are already available on third-party websites for £5,500.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp also called for more "sensible and reasonable" decisions on where finals are staged.

Klopp said he had sympathy for supporters facing elevated prices for hotel rooms and flights and with the challenge facing fans travelling to the Europa League final between Arsenal and Chelsea in Azerbaijan on 29 May.

Supporters will need a visa to enter Azerbaijan and London-based fans face a journey of more than 2,468 miles to Baku Olympic Stadium, which won out over bids from Seville and Istanbul.

Klopp said: "How can you have finals in Kiev [where Liverpool played last year's Champions League final] and Baku? I don't know what these travel guys have for breakfast."

Fans team up to criticise Uefa

Liverpool and Tottenham fans will share 33,226 tickets for the Champions League final in Madrid on 1 June, which takes place in a stadium with 68,000 seats.

Europa League finalists Arsenal and Chelsea share 12,000 of 68,700 seats.

Liverpool supporters' union Spirit of Shankly and the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters' Trust issued a joint statement, complaining of a "measly allocation from Uefa" for the final at Wanda Metropolitano stadium, the home of Atletico Madrid.

The two fan groups called for a cap on ticket pricing, transparency over allocation and protection for fans to stop hotel and flight prices being "forced up".

"There needs to be transparency from Uefa and both clubs in how tickets are priced and allocated," the joint statement read.

"It is time to stop cashing in on fan loyalty. For many, the final is not a one-off event. It is the culmination of a season-long journey for fans, who have spent thousands of pounds already travelling to support their team, bringing the spectacle and atmosphere that is a key part of the game so prized by television."

         Champions League final seats have been listed on Ticketgum.com for as much as £5,500

Arsenal called their ticket allocation "disappointing" and said it presented the club with "extreme difficulties" for their Europa League final.

Arsenal Supporters' Trust endorsed the statement made by Tottenham and Liverpool fans, adding: "AST backs every word. We are working with them and all supporters groups to fight the disgraceful way that Uefa treats supporters. Not just at finals but at every stage.

"Uefa's treatment and attitude toward fans needs a fundamental overhaul."

Uefa's official regulations for both the Europa and Champions League state that the body "owns all rights relating to tickets and decides on the number of tickets to be allocated to the finalists".

The rules say ticket allocations "do not have to be equal" and add that Uefa determines prices along with the association of the country hosting the final.

Tickets not allocated to clubs will be split between the public, Uefa, national associations, commercial partners and broadcasters.

Face value seats for the Europa League final are priced between £26 and £121, while the Champions League showpiece comes in at between £60 and £513.

Liverpool and Tottenham supporters said face-value tickets at more than £500 were "exorbitant", and some tickets for their final have already appeared for resale on ticketgum.com priced at £5,500 each.

BBC Sport has contacted Uefa for a response and is also waiting to hear from Chelsea Supporters' Trust.

Rising flight prices have also attracted scrutiny, while fans are complaining of rooms being priced at more than £1,000 a night for the Madrid final.

Liverpool Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram tweeted Easyjet, calling the situation "entirely shameful".

He said: "Hiking up prices by 683% for return flights to Madrid is quite simply profiteering from the passion of football fans."

Easyjet said high prices were "led by a strong demand".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48224809

[CaaC (John)+]

[Stan]

It is pretty shambolic all-round really. The location, the allocations, the prices of tickets, the prices of hotels and flights, the ticket resales etc. 

Would say that for any club that had to go through it as well. Totally unfair on the fans that have lived through every moment of the campaign yet only a select few that can afford it get the chance to make the (long) journeys. 

I wonder how much the clubs can actually do though - subsidise ticket prices? I doubt there's much they can do about the flights aside from sorting out away travel packages with an official partner (Liverpool use Thomas Cook I think?). 

Or UEFA could just not be cunts, increase allocations for fans over corporate lot, and be a bit more sensitive that not everyone is absolutely minted to arrange stuff like this at short notice.  

[CaaC (John)+]

Anybody going to the Europa games in here, phew, what a journey you will have.

 

 

Europa League final: Arsenal & Chelsea fans face difficult trip to Baku

Their stadiums may only be separated by an eight-mile hop across London, but Chelsea and Arsenal fans now face a long journey to the eastern edge of Europe for the Europa League final.

Success for both sides on Thursday ensured the Londoners will meet in an all-English final in Baku, Azerbaijan on Wednesday, 29 May.

That means supporters will have to travel 2,467 miles to watch the game in a city further east than Riyadh in Saudi Arabia or Baghdad in Iraq, and closer to Mumbai in India than it is to the English capital.

You might think modern transport would mean journeys would be straightforward.

You would be wrong.

There are currently no direct scheduled flights between London and Baku in the week of the final.

If you want to fly to the game on the day then a lengthy wait in somewhere like Istanbul or Kiev would be needed.

The quickest journey by air on the day of the final takes six hours 55 minutes, with the majority lasting more than 10 hours.

The only way to fly direct to Baku for the game would be to leave London on the Saturday beforehand and return a week later, three days after the trophy has been lifted.

That's an eight-day trip for 90 minutes of football - and for a game which kicks off at 11 pm local time (20:00 BST), so will not finish until about 1 am!

So what about the train?

It takes more than four days to travel from London to Baku on public transport, passing through seven countries. Anyone who watched BBC Two's Race Across the World will know it might also involve some less-than-first-class rail conditions.

The whole journey would likely include 11 changes and a two-day train journey from Kharkiv in Ukraine to Baku.

Of course, you could drive, but you would be looking at around 59 hours behind the wheel. It is made longer than it might otherwise have been because of the need to avoid a closed border crossing and an area of eastern Ukraine in which Russian-backed rebels are confronting Ukrainian troops along a mainly static frontline. Making the actual journey safely, therefore, involves an alternative route, with going via Istanbul one option.

When you take in the time needed to eat and sleep, it would probably be best to set off on the Saturday to make the Wednesday night kick-off.

For the victors, another game thousands of miles away against English opponents will only be a matter of months away - the Champions League winners will face the Europa League winners (either Arsenal or Chelsea) in the Uefa Super Cup in Istanbul, Turkey on Wednesday, 14 August.

But if you think those trips are remarkable for two teams from the same city, they are nothing compared to the 2018 Copa Libertadores final.

In December, the second leg of South America's showpiece event - originally due to be staged in Buenos Aires in Argentina - was moved more than 6,000 miles to Madrid after the Boca bus was attacked on its way to the stadium.

Analysis: The environmental impact

To help the discussion of why two London clubs need to go almost 2,500 miles to Azerbaijan to play against each other when they are both less than 15km from Wembley, the Reality Check team has been looking into the carbon footprint of those journeys.

Assuming 12,000 fans use economy class return flights, we've tried one carbon calculator that says it's 5,595 tonnes of CO2, one that says it's 8,280 tonnes and one that says it's 13,094 tonnes - 15,600 if you include radiative forcing, which is the extra emissions from flying at high altitude.

If you look at the highest estimate (because you know some people will travel without tickets to the game, not everyone will fly economy class, and you also have to transport the teams and club staff), according to the US Environmental Protection Agency that's the amount of emissions you'd get from the energy needs of an average home for 1,868 years or running 3,300 cars for a year. To save that amount you'd have to switch 600,000 incandescent light bulbs to LEDs.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48220247