Slovakia (A) - general

[Closed Account 2]

Ah crap, well if anyone else is getting the flight from Luton that gets into Bratislava at 16:50 wants to share a taxi or airport transfer to Zilina let me know (it's 134miles from the Airport to Zilina and takes about 2hr 10m according to the via michelen website)....

http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/web/Iti...routeConso=5.6

[ParkLife]

What day is that???
Hope not the evening of the game!!

[Closed Account 2]

Yeah, annoyingly it is... the game should kick off at 19:45 our time, which is 20:45 their time.

The flight gets in at 16:50, get out of the airport at 17:15, pick up car / transfer at 17:30, arrive at Zilina at 19:30, 1 hr 15m before kick off...

[mypost]

20.30 ko local time.

[finbarrk]

Whats Zilina like after dark I wonder?

[mypost]

What's Sligo like after dark? There's your answer.

[ParkLife]

Yeah, annoyingly it is... the game should kick off at 19:45 our time, which is 20:45 their time.

The flight gets in at 16:50, get out of the airport at 17:15, pick up car / transfer at 17:30, arrive at Zilina at 19:30, 1 hr 15m before kick off...

I think your being optimistic if think you'll make it with that much time to spare. Realistically I think your looking at leaving the airport after 6. By the time your get through security and go through the details of picking up a car. Bus transfer might be a better option. At least there'll be no hold up and the guy will know exactly where he's going.
Unless he takes a detour...have you seen Hostel :-))

[finbarrk]

What's Sligo like after dark? There's your answer.

Don't know then. I was never in Sligo after dark!

[rfkimble]

6 of us need to be back in krakow at bout 7am on the wed morn, any ideas, taxi maybe?

[Stuttgart88]

FAI arrange free train service from Bratislava to Zilina. Fair play.

http://foot.ie/content/1367-RTE-FAI-...rt-in-Slovakia

[mypost]

Does it apply to game ticket holders only, or what?

[brendy_éire]

Does it apply to game ticket holders only, or what?

Email the FAI with your name or check on the YBIG forum.

[mrtndvn]

Lads,
Whats the update on tickets for this game?
Assuming the ticket thread won't bare fruit, and the FAI arent getting any more, has anyone got any ideas on how to get one for the game?

Cheers

[mypost]

While the booze cruise was en route from Bratislava to Zilina, VIP game tickets were raffled by Delaney in the team's hotel.

The reaction on YBIG was quite positive regarding the trip, but I can't agree with them. I thought the Slovaks gave us the runaround from the very start, with the venue change, the ticketing arrangements, and the decision to fence our fans, (the only fans in the stadium who had to watch the game from behind a fence). I felt Zilina was hosting the national auditions for Army Idol on the night, such was the hostility of the police, who were looking for any excuse to lash out, and looked disappointed they couldn't. And of course, the level of English in the city was negligible, if at all.

All in all, the land of Nyet, and not a place you'd want to go back to in a hurry.

[pineapple stu]

I felt Zilina was hosting the national auditions for Army Idol on the night, such was the hostility of the police, who were looking for any excuse to lash out, and looked disappointed they couldn't.

So they were looking so hard for an excuse to lash out that they couldn't find one? Not a single drunken Irish person behaving a bit badly?

And of course, the level of English in the city was negligible, if at all.

That's bordering on racist, you know that?

[gspain]

While the booze cruise was en route from Bratislava to Zilina, VIP game tickets were raffled by Delaney in the team's hotel.

The reaction on YBIG was quite positive regarding the trip, but I can't agree with them. I thought the Slovaks gave us the runaround from the very start, with the venue change, the ticketing arrangements, and the decision to fence our fans, (the only fans in the stadium who had to watch the game from behind a fence). I felt Zilina was hosting the national auditions for Army Idol on the night, such was the hostility of the police, who were looking for any excuse to lash out, and looked disappointed they couldn't. And of course, the level of English in the city was negligible, if at all.

All in all, the land of Nyet, and not a place you'd want to go back to in a hurry.

Venue change was a pain. Ticketing is their choice and we got twice the minimum allocation. They did sellout the game and there were very few touts (I didn't see any) so we
can't complain. If we drew England and gave them twice the away allocation we had to there would be lots of complaints on here.

I found the locals in Zilina to be very welcoming and friendly. Thewir English was a hell of a lot better than my Slovakian.

The away end in many continental stadiums is like that. Some grounds France and Germany spring to mind. It wasn't done for us.

Delaney went and got a number of home end tickets from MSK Zilina and sold and raffled them to Irish fans. I imagine the fans who got to see the game because of this were very grateful and thankful. I thought it was a risky thing to do personally as certain members of the media could have twisted it and his father got into a lot of hot water when he did
the same in Italia 90 & USA 94.

[mypost]

Ticketing is their choice and we got twice the minimum allocation.

I found the locals in Zilina to be very welcoming and friendly. Thewir English was a hell of a lot better than my Slovakian.

The away end in many continental stadiums is like that. Some grounds France and Germany spring to mind. It wasn't done for us.

Delaney went and got a number of home end tickets from MSK Zilina and sold and raffled them to Irish fans. I imagine the fans who got to see the game because of this were very grateful and thankful.

We got the 10% we were entitled to, no more no less (barring Delaney's tickets). Regarding the fencing, we know it wasn't done for us, but in Bratislava, there's no fences obstructing the action. As I said before, next year we should play them in Thomond Park and see how they like it. Instead they'll be in the best stadium available with good views of the game.

I didn't find them friendly. Whether it was the rail staff, the police, or even the bar staff at the hotel, I found them to be not welcoming. On arrival at the station, the fans were treated to a display of the armoury available in Slovakia, and they followed the fans everywhere from the station to the square, to the ground, and the station again looking hostile and ready for combat at a moment's notice.

For the midnight express back, there were announcements in the station about it, unfortunately they were all in a language that nobody travelling on it spoke, so was kind of useless. The seats that were there in 2007 were removed, so anyone waiting for a train in the main hall had to either stand or sit in dirty corners of the station. Obviously their English, for those who did speak it, was better than our attempts at speaking their language, but that's a given on every trip. Even asking Hovorite anglicky? didn't work with them.

That's how I found them. Others had a different experience, and the FAI treated the fans very well, considering all the obstacles put in their path, but I was happy to be out of there with a point.

[bennocelt]

What were the hostels like?

[gspain]

Min away allocation for euros is 5% - they gave us 10%.

The stadium in Bratislava we played in last time is closed. We would have been in a more rundown stadium. This is by far the best stadium in the country.

I appreciate different people get different views of a place but I liked it and thought the people were fine.

[pineapple stu]

I didn't find them friendly. Whether it was the rail staff, the police, or even the bar staff at the hotel, I found them to be not welcoming.

If someone went up to me and automatically and ignorantly expected me to speak their language, I mightn't be best fond of them either.