The Bangor Northern Ireland Supporters Club held its inaugural meeting as recently as February 2004 and has now grown into one of the largest Clubs in the province, with over 100 members. As Lawrie Sanchez’s team have been dramatically moving up the world rankings, the number of members from the Bangor club travelling to away matches has been increasing in equally impressive numbers.

Travelling abroad has been made easier by the increasing number of budget airlines now on the scene and the internet has also made it simpler to book accommodation abroad. However, for most supporters clubs, travelling to away matches usually meant several small groups of fans making their own travel arrangements and then meeting up with their fellow members in the destination city.

For the 2008 European Football Championship campaign, the Bangor NISC decided that they would try to organise a Club trip where as many members as possible could travel together and stay in the same hotel. Their problem was that it was difficult to select which away match should be focus of the Club Trip. One of the committee members noticed that one of the away venues, Liechtenstein, was actually quite close to Bregenz in Austria.

As every Bangorian should know, a twinning charter was signed between Bangor and Bregenz in 1987 and since then many youth, school and adult exchange visits have taken place between the two towns since that time. It was decided that the Bangor NISC should approach North Down Council with a view to establishing contacts for accommodation and transport in the Austrian town. Thus Bregenz would become the base for an official Club Trip to the Liechtenstein match on 24 March 2007.

Planning for the trip started over a year ago. As the trip was being self-financed, members had to start saving and book their flights early to get the best prices. A problem was encountered at this early stage when it became clear that the weekend of the match coincided with the changeover from the winter to the summer schedules of various airlines and as a result only the outward flights were bookable as the return schedules were not available. This resulted in strange patterns of return journeys, which not surprisingly turned out to be much more expensive than the outward leg in many cases.

SETTING OFF

After many months of planning, the tour party ended up being 94 strong, including 4 junior members, with several methods of transport being chosen to get the members and guests onto the continent. An advance party flew to Paris on the Wednesday before the match, where they hired a fleet of cars to drive through France and Switzerland to Austria. The main group of 76 set off from the Club’s base in Pickie Bowling Club on the morning of Friday 23 March on a double-decker coach to drive to Dublin for a midday flight to Zurich, in Switzerland. Smaller groups based on the mainland, due to work or education reasons, also flew in to Zurich or Friedrichshafen in Germany.

Coming from a part of the world that rarely sees any snow, you can imagine the surprise of the main party arriving in Zurich during a snowstorm. The drive on the motorway across Switzerland in a winter wonderland was not expected, but certainly made it a picturesque journey.

The Hotel Messmer in the centre of Bregenz was selected as the base camp for the two night stay of the Bangor battalion of the “Green and White Army” on tour. After booking in and meeting up with the stragglers, the fans gave a rendition of a few Northern Ireland songs to the residents, which included a party of American tourists who joined in the fun and had a great time. A Club Dinner then followed, with all the members of the group sitting down to a fine Austrian meal, served with extra portions of chips for those with less adventurous palates. After the meal was over, the party split up into small groups to visit the local hostelries and contribute to the local economy.

SATURDAY MORNING SUPPORTERS MATCH

The club had polo shirts specially made for the trip and these were adorned with a badge containing symbols of Northern Ireland, Austria and Liechtenstein as well as a crest commemorating the partnership between Bregenz and Bangor on the sleeve. These shirts were worn by all the members for a supporters match and lunch reception organised with a local Bregenz team.

Playing in a Northern Ireland kit kindly loaned to them by the Irish Football Association, the Bangor boys put up a good show in the first half of a sporting game, which ended scoreless. However jet-lag, and possible dehydration, got the better of the players and they ending up losing 6 – 0. They had a chance to get on the scoresheet when they were awarded a late penalty, but it was missed. In football parlance, the shot was “skied over” the cross bar and the ball was last seen somewhere up an Alp where it probably caused an avalanche!

Surprise spectators at this match were representatives of the British Embassy in Vienna, who turned up to watch part of this match after reading about it on the Bangor NISC website. After the game, pennants were exchanged before the party set of to a local sports club. At this venue, a tasty beef goulash and dumplings lunch, with liquid refreshments, were provided by the Bregenz hosts

Prior to heading back to the hotel to get ready for the big match, presentations were made by both the Bangor and Bregenz representatives. Special gifts were presented to the four junior members in the party. The Bangor boys also had a quick collection and presented €250 to their host, Frau Monika Rojer to pass on to a charity of her choice

ONWARDS TO VADUZ

After changing in the Hotel two coaches collected the members for the short journey on another motorway through Switzerland, before crossing the Rhine to enter Liechtenstein. The coaches parked up outside the stadium and everyone made their way up a country lane to the main square in Vaduz. At most away trips, the Green and White Army usually meet up in a city square, but Vaduz is barely a village, let alone a city.

In the main square, the Club Chairman presented pennants to representatives of the British Embassies in both Switzerland and Austria who were on hand to make sure everything went smoothly for the visiting fans. As usual, there was no sign of trouble as the travelling Green and White Army further enhanced their reputation of being well behaved awhile at the same time having a whale of a time.

The square was a mass of colour with the Northern Irish fans meeting up with old acquaintances and getting refreshments before the big match. As darkness fell, it was time to leave the built up area and head back down the country lane to the Rheinpark stadium, on the banks of the Upper Rhein.

THE BIG MATCH

Rheinpark must be the only ground in the world where a misplaced clearance could result in the ball ending up in another country. It is also a well planned compact stadium, with a good view of the pitch from all the stands, although the stand behind the goal at the far end of the ground was not being used.

One side and one end of the ground were completely taken over by Northern Ireland fans who must have had hundreds of flags on display. After a tense, goalless first half, Northern Ireland got into their stride in the second period, romping home by four goals to one. Anyone watching on television could not have failed to be impressed by the atmosphere at the match, but actually being in the ground was something else – I’m sure the junior members in the Bangor party will long remember the experience.

After the match, it was straight back on to the buses for the return trip to Bregenz, where the rest of the evening was spent celebrating in true Northern Irish style, with high spirits and not a hint of trouble.

BACK HOME

After a less than full night’s sleep for the majority of the troops, the Bangor boys made the return journey home by a variety of methods, some setting off as early as 7:30. The bulk of the travellers returned on flights from Zurich to George Best Belfast via London Heathrow, whilst a smaller group returned via Berlin and London Stansted. There was even a couple of late bookers who travelled back to Belfast via Palma, Majorca ! All arrived safely and were able to continue the Norn Iron experience the following Wednesday at Windsor Park, where the mighty Sweden were put to the Healy sword.

REFLECTIONS ON THE TRIP

It’s fair to say that everyone had a really good time on the trip, despite a few minor hiccups such as the Hotel being overbooked and rooming arrangements having to be changed. Due to many of the fans work commitments, the trip had to be a whirlwind visit to Bregenz, which was a pity. You could not fail to be impressed by the beauty of the environs of Lake Constance and the Alps.

The people of Bregenz were marvellous and friendly, always willing to come over and have a chat. Surprisingly, form the authors own experience, many were not aware of the twinning arrangement with Bangor. Also, they were more laid back than your stereotypical German speaker, but then again they were Austrian!

The Club would like to go on record and thank James Kilpatrick from North Down Council and his Bregenz counterpart Monika Rojer for all the assistance in helping make this trip such a success. Also to the various North Down Councillors who took an interest in the trip and provided good advice.