Manchester United and Tottenham fans have started a series of epic journeys to get to Bilbao for the Europa League final on Wednesday night.
The prohibitive flight and hotel prices mean supporters have taken travel arrangements into their own hands, with boats and campervans being dusted off for the adventure.
Around 47,000 fans are expected to make the journey, with each club being allocated 15,000 tickets for the night at San Mames. The spare 17,000 – 15,000 of which are Spurs fans – will be going along ticketless.
Exteberria Park, around 45 minutes on foot from the ground, is being converted into a gigantic Manchester United fan zone with 56,000 pints of lager being imported, according to local outlet El Correo.
And fans have been sharing their odysseys – across road, sea, and sky – in what has become a thriving niche online community.
One seafaring chap posted a picture of a boat in a canal on Sunday morning, writing: ‘En-Route to Bilbao. Over bay of Biscay, should arrive Tuesday night.’
Manchester United and Tottenham fans have been finding creative ways of getting to Bilbao
Supporters have been dusting off the boats and campervans to make their way to Spain
A three-day journey, then. On Monday morning, the supporter gave an update with a video from the Bay of Biscay, claiming there was ‘better phone signal on the moon’.
‘One hundred per cent you’re sinking in that,’ warned one follower on X.
‘Daft lad,’ Josh hit back. ‘We’ve had this boat in the Med for the last 10+ years, this boat has seen it all.’
Another United fan kitted out his Ford campervan with club memorabilia just to get on the nerves of a Tottenham fan he was picking up.
‘There will probably be some fights along the way on this trip, but we’ll see how we get on,’ he joked.
It hasn’t all been fall-outs, though – in one clip, the pair clinked a couple of bottles of Corona and looked out over a beach vista as they prepared sandwiches.
Elsewhere, fans explained the circuitous routes they would be taking by plane to get to northern Spain.
One would be flying to Rome, then Santander, before a coach journey traversing the top of Spain. The way back will involve a flight out of the continent to Marrakesh in Morocco.
Fans are taking circuitous plane routes to get themselves to northern Spain for Wednesday
‘They’ll kill me one day, up the Spurs,’ came their can-do attitude.
Others will take in journeys via Venice, Amsterdam, and Milan.
One fan joked they might take a llama across the Pyrenees.
Manchester United and Tottenham will meet in the Europa League final on Wednesday night.
Despite their woeful domestic form, they find themselves in the position to win a golden ticket to the Champions League.
With the clubs sat 16th and 17th in the Premier League, this will be the worst final in terms of table position in the competitions history.
