Premier League game

A few of us at work in Cork are considering going over to see a premier league game. We are considering going to a match involving either Man City, Sunderland, or Reading (supporting the Irish Lads), or a combination of the above.

Any suggestions on a travel agent who will sort out flights + accomodation + match tickets.

We would book it ourselves, but are aware of possible changes in match dates effecting flights and accomodation. I assume that the travel agent would be able to adjust all of the above if the match day changes.

Any help would be appreciated.

if you go to say, reading or man city you will get tickets easily if they are not playing local rivals or the top four. we went to goodison last year on the way in from liverpool airport, we only decided to go cos the game was about to kick off on the radio.

sunderland could be a little bit more difficult as people have jumped on the keane bandwagon. last season they were in the prem you would have got in to any game without a doubt.

to sum up:

choose your destination, match, go to ryanair.com and book it. get a hotel. compare the prices against what a travel agent has and i wouldnt be surprised if there was a big difference

Lots of "Irish lads" in the Eircom League, a lot closer and cheaper!

Or why not go and see a top european game in, say, Frankfurt or Munich? Great atmosphere and cheaper overall than a Sky League game.

should have no trouble getting tickets for man city and flights are cheap into Manchester the weekends they play at home if you book early enough

I would try their website for tickets and book flights & accom separately as agents will just rip you off

Much as I despise the whole Sund-Ireland concept and the idea that people go to England simply to watch any team that has any sort of Irish connection, you did ask for advice so:

Don't go anywhere near a travel agent, if you can't manage to organise a dirt cheap travel/ticket combo on you own for any of those teams you mentioned I'd be very surprised. Sunderland had 4,000 empty seats on Sunday I heard, so ticket still are not a problem. You won't get tickets for matches against the "big 4" for any of those clubs or a Sund-Newcastle derby, but other than that you should have no problems. Man City would be the ones most likely to sell out if they go on a run, but that remains to be seen.

Bear in mind the atmosphere at most matches in the Premiership is brutal compared to Cork City and if it's top-class football and a good atmosphere you're after head to the Bundesliga. Unbeliveable atmosphere and you can gargle in the stands/on the terraces.

Rovers, I'm glad you agree on the Bundesliga, I used to work with clubs in Germany and was amazed at how they think of fans to the nth degree, from keeping terraces, to drinking in the stands (and in over 100 games I attended I never saw any trouble in the ground and only 2 incidents in railway stations where fans staged sit-ins on trains).

When I get back to Ireland I'll always try to take in an EL game, far better than the Sky League for atmosphere and effort, not to mention massively better value for money.

Have only been to a handful of Bundesliga games, the first about 10 years ago and am always singing its praises. Went to Leverkusen v 1 FCN in April while on a stag do and all 10 lads who were at the game were blown away by the whole atmosphere and set up.....and the sheer drunkeness of nearly every single FCN fan we came across.

Their policing of the matches is top class as well (as is the English), a pleasant change from the frequently bizarre handling of domestic matches by the Gardaí.

Anyway, if you're going abroad for a macth and the choice is between the English Premiership and the Bundesliga, get a cheap flight to Germany. The beer's better too.

The reasoning behind our decision on going to a premier league game is that one of the lads trains the Cobh Ramblers youths, and as such is a Stephen Ireland fan, and more of us are Roy Keane supporters.

Secondly, the reason I was looking at travel agents is, what happens if we book flights and hotels now, and come match time the game is moved back a day. If ot comes to it we will just book the week before.

Go early Saturday and come back late Sunday.
The chances of one of the matches you will be able to get a ticket for being switched outside of those days (say from a Saturday 3pm to a wednesday 7.45pm KO) is pretty low. Has never happened to me and I've gone to quite a few games in both England and Scotland.

Up to you whether you want to "risk" it. In my opinion the risk can be minimised by examining the fixture list and the savings can be enormous compared to a agent.

Hi

If you check on the Man City website, they do combined match ticket and hotel breaks. You will get tickets for any match as far as I can see (except Man U). Normally Man U are away when city are at home (I think) so flights should be ok depending on where you are flying from. We checked out doing the Liverpool match over Christmas but the dates didn't suit. I think the one night's accomodation plus match ticket plus a few extra bits like programme, tickets to museum etc was costing around 110 sterling. This is a very worthwhile option if you want to go to see one of the top teams. Actually, Man U do similar type breaks.
I would fully endorse comments re doing your own thing - we go over a few times a year to different games and never got caught with a fixture change. Do your homework - check on both clubs websites re kick off time and date, check Sky fixtures etc. We always try to take in 2 matchs over a weekend even though we normally only stay one night. There are losts of football times around Manchester. Or you could try rugby - league or union - Sale Sharks are based in Stockport just outside Manchester and are one of the top club sides. they often have matches on a Friday night - we went to one and it was excellent.
There are plenty of travel agents doing trips over, do an irish google.
But typically we do day trips for 150 euro and overnight trips for around 250 euro. You will pay double this or more with a travel agent but if you want peace of mind you gotta pay !!

'Premier League Game' on every other week at Turners Cross, be easier to support City (and their Irish lads) wouldn't it?
From a Dublin EL supporter (team witheld!!!)

there isnt any local soccer where i am, so i will be supporting english teams, better facilities for fans anyway

Fair enough.

Just a quick question though, how do go about "supporting english teams" - plural-?

A season ticket for the entire football league must cost a fortune.

But I'm impressed with your knowledge of fan facilities at every football league ground in England. Good man.

Where are you Olly? And have you been to any EL games lately (re facilities).

Olly64 said:

there isnt any local soccer where i am, so i will be supporting english teams, better facilities for fans anyway

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Folks-if someone wants to go and watch a game in England and you've got some advice for them, let's hear it.

Otherwise, start a thread in Letting Off Steam on Eircom League etc.

Hear Hear CCovich - I agree - help out with the query or change the record !!

Man City cant sell out their stadium 99% of the time and therefore tickets for that will be easier than travelling to sunderland...