Manchester City fans have been singing about going to Istanbul all season. Getting there for tonight's eagerly-anticipated Champions League final, however, has been far easier said than done.
Around 40 direct flights have left Manchester Airport this week for the Turkish city, flying thousands of City fans to one of the biggest games in their history. With such demand brings a premium price, though, with many fans feeling priced out of direct flights.
City's own travel packages started at £995 for a day-trip on Saturday, excluding accommodation and a match ticket. With accommodation, it would cost fans £1499, and match tickets for the Champions League final at the Ataturn Stadium were as much as £599 on top. Add food and drink spends, and fans would be looking at spending thousands on getting to Istanbul and watching the final.
So naturally, fans have looked for more inventive ways of getting to Turkey this week, with plenty taking days to zig-zag across Europe to ensure they reached Istanbul in time for Saturday night, or even interrupting family holidays. They really have committed to following the team everywhere.
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Take Adam Brooks, for example, who was facing the prospect of spending £600 on return flights from Manchester to Istanbul. Instead, along with two friends, he decided to drive his trusty 12-year-old Hyundai i20 across Europe to Turkey on the ultimate road-trip.
Setting off on Wednesday, Adam has travelled through Munich, Serbia, Bulgaria and then onto Istanbul to arrive on Friday afternoon. With 35 hours driving, Adam calculates that his party of three will spend £500 between them on travel rather than the £1800 they were facing with flights.
"Since prices of flights were too high it was been cheaper to drive there," he said. "I also thought that because of the beauty I will see on the drive too it would make it a once-in-a-lifetime experience because not every day do you have the opportunity to go to Turkey to see your team play.
"I’ve seen many other fans also camping along the way on their drive and I thought it would have been nice to follow."
While not every fan has driven the whole 2,000 miles from Manchester to the Ataturk Stadium, other fans have opted to fly to nearby countries or cities and drive from there. Plenty of Blues reported to MEN Sport that they were flying from other British and Irish airports other than Manchester, and often with layovers across the continent.
Flights from Dublin, Cardiff, Birmingham, Gatwick, Stanstead and Luton will all have City fans on board this week, as thousands look for the most cost-effective route to the final.
Orran Robinson took a more inventive route of those on offer setting off from Manchester on Tuesday evening, flying to Oslo and then enduring a 12-hour layover while the airport shut for the night.
From there, he flew to Bucharest on Wednesday, and spent Thursday night on a sleeper bus across Romania and Bulgaria to arrive in Istanbul early on Friday.
"I'm in the last few weeks of a sabbatical from work after travelling around Asia so I’ve got the time to make the trip," he said. "I was looking at £700 minimum to go direct when I booked. This way, I've spent £170 return in transport. I'm flying back via Bulgaria and into Birmingham, hopefully in time for the victory parade.
"I met another City fan doing the same as me on the 13-hour bus to Istanbul. It's all worth it just to see my team in a European final."
With direct flights so expensive, some fans have even made a break of their stopovers, with City fans displaying their flags in Prague, Amsterdam and Copenhagen after staying a night or two en route to Istanbul.
Others have gone even further down the holiday route, with Stephen Tomkinson saying: "I know five City fans who booked a five-day all-inclusive holiday in Turkey for £450, bargain!" City fans with pre-booked family holidays in Turkey or nearby are also taking advantage of cheap internal flights to make it to Istanbul on Saturday.
Tyler Tedds said: "I was on holiday in Egypt but it's all changed for the final. I flew from Hurghada at 2am on Saturday to arrive in Istanbul at 5.30am, and I fly back through Dalaman."
Flights into alternative destnations within Turkey are likely to be full of City fans this weekend, as that option proved cheaper than flying direct, with thousands set to descend on Istanbul on Saturday. Videos on social media have shown those already arrived in the city have made themselves heard with good-natured chanting on Thursday and Friday night.
After Covid restricted the ticketing allocation for the 2021 final and the travel restrictions meant that not every City fan could get to Porto two years ago, it seems that as many Blues as possible are making their way to Istanbul this time around.
City fans really do follow the team everywhere.
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