Pounds £317-16
Train (Manchester-Airport) £9-90
Hostel in Geneva £26-46
Provisions in Geneva £8-09
Transaction fee £5
Train (Marseille-Septemes) £5-97
Train (Marseille-Septemes) £2-99
Plane (Manchester-Geneva) £97-98
Train (Geneva-Marseille) £76-25
Provisions at Manchester Picc. £2-85
Match ticket £81-67 (E105)
Euros 122-30 (£96-04)
Hotel F1 E63
Toothbrush E4-90
Pizza E13
Programme E10
Beer E6-50
Water E1
Provisions at Marseille station E9
Provisions at Geneva Airport E14-90
Total £413-20
He had a shifty look about him, a glint in his eyes. Without hesitation or pause for thought, he smiled and said 'Thirty euros'. It was 2004, and I was outside the Stade de Velodrome in Marseille, seeking out a decent photo and he had cheekily approached me offering to take my picture with the ground. I declined the offer firmly and went on my way.
Fast forward 12 years and I was back in Marseille for England's Euro 2016 opener vs Russia. It's been a long and winding road to the Euros for me and England, starting in a pit of despair after Brazil 2014, and now riding a wave of hope and optimism into the tournament.
On Friday night I flew out to Geneva, before setting off early on Saturday morning to Lyon. From there I caught the TGV down to Marseille, arriving just after midday. The station was palatial, buzzing with excitement and different national colours. Before catching a train out to my hotel on the outskirts, I surveyed the scene outside the station. The station is elevated above the city, almost a viewing platform - to my left I could see straight down a long boulevard, while in the distance you could see the castle, and the glistening Mediterranean Sea. After locating the hotel (11 miles away!) and coming back in I headed to the ground. Given the reports of trouble in the centre I completely avoided Vieux Port, walking in the opposite direction as 7-8 police vans which went flying past. Dinner consisted of a magnificent cheese pizza from a roadside stall, where my French was just sufficient to order what I wanted.
As I got closer to the ground the crowds began to gather. On both sides of the dual carriage way near the ground, England fans were gathered outside bars. Flags of all manner of clubs were on show and chants rang around the streets.
I reached the entrance to the stadium across the back of a car park, practically circumnavigating the ground completely. As I expected security was tight - I had to go through 2 lines of security before the turnstile and had to surrender my bag at a portakabin. I ended up carrying my wallet, phone and ticket by hand as my shorts had no pockets!
I was nice and early and had a few photos of the ground, before watching the last few minutes of Wales-Slovakia on the big screen. As the ground began to fill the atmosphere rose. This was going to be special - not only was this the opening game of our tournament, but this recalled our game in 1998 against Tunisia, when Scholes had scored the winner in the same ground.
The match had been described as a 'powder keg' tie and that felt about right as the songs streamed across the ground. Three Lions and God Save The Queen were belted out, while the Russian team announcement was drowned out by the vociferous English support.
The game began well for England and the first half saw us building some great attacking moves and grab hold of the game. Rooney in particular was excellent in the middle of the park, orchestrating many moves, though none quite resulted in a clear-cut chance. So to half-time, and the sky was now dark. I stayed pitch side but regretted it later on when I became incredibly thirsty in what was still a pretty hot climate.
The second half kicked off and I believed that if we continued in the same vein, we would have a first opening match victory in the Euros. But the lack of goals was clearly getting to the players, and gradually passes started falling astray and our focus started wavering. Then – at our end of the ground – we won a free kick some distance out. Eric Dier stepped up and drove it into the top corner to take the lead on the 73rd minute – we had looked a bit ropey for the period up to then but overall we were well worth the lead. Surely we would take the win now?
It was certainly too good to be true. After taking the lead, Rooney was replaced with Jack Wilshere, whose selection in the squad was mystifying to say the least. The substitution took away England’s momentum, and we began to coast rather than seek out the killer second. 90 minutes approached and the thought crossed my mind that a win here would put us on a good path to the semi-finals (in fact avoiding another trip here). But this is England and with 2 minutes of injury time played, Berezutski planted a header past Hart, who had barely had a save to make all game. The reaction in our end wasn’t quite despondent, as a draw was still a half-decent result, but there was a certain disappointment that we hadn’t quite hung on.
As we applauded the players off for a decent performance, drama ensued at the other end of the ground. Hordes of Russian fans were storming into the England section, and many England fans were climbing out of one stand and into the other. A disapproving boo rang out in our end of the ground. It had been something of a bitter-sweet start to the tournament. The tense and sometimes violent atmosphere and the result meant this wasn’t the outcome we wanted. Outside the ground afterwards, chaos ensued at the baggage portakabins, where no-one had a clue how to retrieve bags for the fans. After about half an hour waiting I headed off into the centre and back to the hotel via a 12-mile walk. I was not taking the risk of sticking around in the centre to see what else might unfold in the maelstrom of Marseille.
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