Anyone in Italy, 1990?

Lapira Masterclass wrote: Just stumbled on this thread.  Here is my Italia 90 story. I was 18 and working as a road sweeper in London for the summer.  The day before the game against England I was sweeping near Bond Street and saw a flight advertised from Stanstead to Catania in Sicily in a travel agent for 90 Pounds return.  I decided there and then that this was my opportunity to possibly attend the big party in Italy.  I ran to a cash machine, took 100 pounds out and booked the only available flight which was leaving at 5.30am in 2 days time.  I told my employer my father had won tickets to the world cup and had invited me.  He allowed me take the 2 weeks off.  I was on my way.  I spent the next night in Stanstead airport as the flight was too early for me to get there at 5.30am the next morning.  I was already knackered even boarding the flight.  There was another direct flight going straight to Palermo at the same time and the Ryanair agent allowed me change the flight last minute for free.   Arriving in Palermo I followed everyone to the beautiful town of Cefalu.  There was a campsite near the beach, and that is where I would be stationed.  I also snagged tickets for the Egypt and Holland games at face value in the town square in Palermo.  I was getting so lucky with everything. Now I had to survive on a budget of 15 pounds a day for 2 weeks.  I even allowed an Aston Villa fan who was living in London at the time to share my tiny one man tent as long as he paid for half the campsite fee.  I was in heaven.  I would walk to the village every night to watch the games on the big screen.  The atmosphere has fantastic every night.  I found a cafe that served big plates of pasta for 5 pounds.  I would eat there every night and survive on fruit in the afternoons.  This even allowed me to buy a few cans of beer from the store so I was set.   I attended the Egypt game and partied hard in the campsite that night with a bunch of Dutch supporters who had taken me under their wing.   Next came the game against Holland.  This was now really exciting.  I left the campsite early as I was hearing of a possible rail strike.  Half way to Palermo the train was stopped.  Hundreds of Irish fans streamed out of the carriages in panic.  The train wasn't going anywhere.  I headed for the freeway.  I saw a group of Irish supporters chasing a car that had slowed.  I joined them and then found myself racing towards Palermo with 45 mins before kick-off.  I'm forever grateful to the young Sicilian who picked me up that afternoon.  My Italia 90 memories may have been so different if I had missed the Holland game.  I still reflect on the faces on many supporters who may have missed the game, stuck at the side of freeway 30 miles outside Palermo.  My luck was still with me. On arriving at the stadium I was blown away at the thousands of supporters outside the stadium without tickets.  When I got inside just after the anthems I realised I was sitting in the middle of a massive band of orange clad Dutch fans.  There I was with my Penny's Italia 90 shirt and shaky shamrock, but the Dutch were my friends and I knew all their songs.  Now I really felt I was at the world cup.  I was deflated after the Egypt game, and I imagined my friends back in Dublin and London laughing at me.  Now things were different.  Quinn had equalized.  The Dutch didn't seem to mind.  We were both going through to the next round.   I got back to the campsite exhausted but happy that night.  Waking up the next morning it dawned on me that I would be unable to attend the Romania game and was stuck in Cefalu for another week.  Everyone streamed out of the campsite the next morning.  The next 6 days my main worry was running out of money.  My budget was down to 10 pounds a day.  I also realised I hadn't paid the campsite fee.  All I could do now was eat fruit, swim and watch the games in the town each night.  I was ready to leave.  I watched the Romania game with two remaining Irishmen who were also left stranded in Cefalu.  The next morning I was headed back to Stanstead.  I came clean with the campsite and told them I had run out money.  I'm forever guilty about this as I promised to mail them money when i got back to London.  I never did.   My flight was at 6am the next day.  I would have to spend the night in the airport again as I couldn't get there that early.  I actually set my tent up behind a billboard in the Palermo airport car park and slept soundly that night.  I woke up starving.  I had completely run out of money, and was just eating bananas all week.  I couldn't wait to get on the plane as they served meals.  This I think is the only time in my life I experienced true hunger, but it was all worth it.  I had done Italia 90 on the cheap.  I returned to London malnourished and sunburnt.  The next day I was back sweeping Bond Street.   I haven't been to Italy since, but I'd love to revisit Cefalu.  If that campsite still exists I want to tell them my story, and maybe buy them a good wine.   I had gotten lucky on my adventure, the cheap last minute flight, tickets upon arrival in Palermo, the campsite being so forgiving, the street vendor selling cheap fruit, even the Ryanair official allowing me change flight for free last minute. Anyway, reading this blog is bringing back great memories from almost 30 years ago.  I still have the ticket stubs and a blurry collection of photos from my one disposable camera which I'll dig out and post shortly.   Now lets go and beat Denmark next week and maybe i'll find a last minute flight to Saint Petersburg and the adventure can continue.

schillaci wrote: Lapira Masterclass wrote: Just stumbled on this thread.  Here is my Italia 90 story. I was 18 and working as a road sweeper in London for the summer.  The day before the game against England I was sweeping near Bond Street and saw a flight advertised from Stanstead to Catania in Sicily in a travel agent for 90 Pounds return.  I decided there and then that this was my opportunity to possibly attend the big party in Italy.  I ran to a cash machine, took 100 pounds out and booked the only available flight which was leaving at 5.30am in 2 days time.  I told my employer my father had won tickets to the world cup and had invited me.  He allowed me take the 2 weeks off.  I was on my way.  I spent the next night in Stanstead airport as the flight was too early for me to get there at 5.30am the next morning.  I was already knackered even boarding the flight.  There was another direct flight going straight to Palermo at the same time and the Ryanair agent allowed me change the flight last minute for free.   Arriving in Palermo I followed everyone to the beautiful town of Cefalu.  There was a campsite near the beach, and that is where I would be stationed.  I also snagged tickets for the Egypt and Holland games at face value in the town square in Palermo.  I was getting so lucky with everything. Now I had to survive on a budget of 15 pounds a day for 2 weeks.  I even allowed an Aston Villa fan who was living in London at the time to share my tiny one man tent as long as he paid for half the campsite fee.  I was in heaven.  I would walk to the village every night to watch the games on the big screen.  The atmosphere has fantastic every night.  I found a cafe that served big plates of pasta for 5 pounds.  I would eat there every night and survive on fruit in the afternoons.  This even allowed me to buy a few cans of beer from the store so I was set.   I attended the Egypt game and partied hard in the campsite that night with a bunch of Dutch supporters who had taken me under their wing.   Next came the game against Holland.  This was now really exciting.  I left the campsite early as I was hearing of a possible rail strike.  Half way to Palermo the train was stopped.  Hundreds of Irish fans streamed out of the carriages in panic.  The train wasn't going anywhere.  I headed for the freeway.  I saw a group of Irish supporters chasing a car that had slowed.  I joined them and then found myself racing towards Palermo with 45 mins before kick-off.  I'm forever grateful to the young Sicilian who picked me up that afternoon.  My Italia 90 memories may have been so different if I had missed the Holland game.  I still reflect on the faces on many supporters who may have missed the game, stuck at the side of freeway 30 miles outside Palermo.  My luck was still with me. On arriving at the stadium I was blown away at the thousands of supporters outside the stadium without tickets.  When I got inside just after the anthems I realised I was sitting in the middle of a massive band of orange clad Dutch fans.  There I was with my Penny's Italia 90 shirt and shaky shamrock, but the Dutch were my friends and I knew all their songs.  Now I really felt I was at the world cup.  I was deflated after the Egypt game, and I imagined my friends back in Dublin and London laughing at me.  Now things were different.  Quinn had equalized.  The Dutch didn't seem to mind.  We were both going through to the next round.   I got back to the campsite exhausted but happy that night.  Waking up the next morning it dawned on me that I would be unable to attend the Romania game and was stuck in Cefalu for another week.  Everyone streamed out of the campsite the next morning.  The next 6 days my main worry was running out of money.  My budget was down to 10 pounds a day.  I also realised I hadn't paid the campsite fee.  All I could do now was eat fruit, swim and watch the games in the town each night.  I was ready to leave.  I watched the Romania game with two remaining Irishmen who were also left stranded in Cefalu.  The next morning I was headed back to Stanstead.  I came clean with the campsite and told them I had run out money.  I'm forever guilty about this as I promised to mail them money when i got back to London.  I never did.   My flight was at 6am the next day.  I would have to spend the night in the airport again as I couldn't get there that early.  I actually set my tent up behind a billboard in the Palermo airport car park and slept soundly that night.  I woke up starving.  I had completely run out of money, and was just eating bananas all week.  I couldn't wait to get on the plane as they served meals.  This I think is the only time in my life I experienced true hunger, but it was all worth it.  I had done Italia 90 on the cheap.  I returned to London malnourished and sunburnt.  The next day I was back sweeping Bond Street.   I haven't been to Italy since, but I'd love to revisit Cefalu.  If that campsite still exists I want to tell them my story, and maybe buy them a good wine.   I had gotten lucky on my adventure, the cheap last minute flight, tickets upon arrival in Palermo, the campsite being so forgiving, the street vendor selling cheap fruit, even the Ryanair official allowing me change flight for free last minute. Anyway, reading this blog is bringing back great memories from almost 30 years ago.  I still have the ticket stubs and a blurry collection of photos from my one disposable camera which I'll dig out and post shortly.   Now lets go and beat Denmark next week and maybe i'll find a last minute flight to Saint Petersburg and the adventure can continue.      Thats a cracking tale. You just have to go and do it. A few of my pals dropped out after we were drawn on the islands and the costs went up by a couple of hundred quid. They all have big gaffs and jobs now but they all regret not pushing the boat out back then. You cant buy memories back. Just do it and worry later.

Yeah, few of us planned to go but being straight out of college the extra couple of hundred quid put it out of reach. Went off to London to find work and that was nearly two weeks wages. Watched the games in McGoverns in Kilburn. Always regretted not pushing the boat out!

Cracking story, Lapira!

Edited by Drumcondra 69er - 02 Nov 2017 at 11:23pm

Class

I was there, I was 16 at the time. We went overland with Funtrek for £995. All travel, 3 weeks accommodation, match tickets and transfers were included. Took us 2 days to get there, stayed in Paestum in southern Italy. Took us 18 hours to get from there to Sardinia for the England match. The trips to Palermo took about 9 or 10 hours. I got so badly burnt the day before the Egypt game (proper sunstroke with puking, diarrhoea, the lot) that I broke down in tears with the pain just before full time, some geezer tried to comfort me by putting his hand on my sunburnt shoulder thinking I was crying over the game "It's alright son, we can get this back". Not proud of my reaction. We almost missed the Holland game due to striking Fiat workers blocking the train lines in Sicily. Stayed up to the Romania game and I was so exhausted from all the overnight ferries and trains that I literally slept for the entire month of July when I got back. Never again.

Fanny MaGee wrote: I was there, I was 16 at the time. We went overland with Funtrek for £995. All travel, 3 weeks accommodation, match tickets and transfers were included. Took us 2 days to get there, stayed in Paestum in southern Italy. Took us 18 hours to get from there to Sardinia for the England match. The trips to Palermo took about 9 or 10 hours. I got so badly burnt the day before the Egypt game (proper sunstroke with puking, diarrhoea, the lot) that I broke down in tears with the pain just before full time, some geezer tried to comfort me by putting his hand on my sunburnt shoulder thinking I was crying over the game "It's alright son, we can get this back". Not proud of my reaction. We almost missed the Holland game due to striking Fiat workers blocking the train lines in Sicily. Stayed up to the Romania game and I was so exhausted from all the overnight ferries and trains that I literally slept for the entire month of July when I got back. Never again.

Did you sh!t yourself?

Fanny MaGee wrote: I was there, I was 16 at the time. We went overland with Funtrek for £995. All travel, 3 weeks accommodation, match tickets and transfers were included. Took us 2 days to get there, stayed in Paestum in southern Italy. Took us 18 hours to get from there to Sardinia for the England match. The trips to Palermo took about 9 or 10 hours. I got so badly burnt the day before the Egypt game (proper sunstroke with puking, diarrhoea, the lot) that I broke down in tears with the pain just before full time, some geezer tried to comfort me by putting his hand on my sunburnt shoulder thinking I was crying over the game "It's alright son, we can get this back". Not proud of my reaction. We almost missed the Holland game due to striking Fiat workers blocking the train lines in Sicily. Stayed up to the Romania game and I was so exhausted from all the overnight ferries and trains that I literally slept for the entire month of July when I got back. Never again.

Never again as in trains, ferries and coaches! Alright if you're a kid but it'd literally kill me if I did something like that again. Another thing, I put nothing but pizza and beer into my body for 3 weeks and somehow lost weight. If I was to do that now I'd double in size.

For those wondering if I pulled at Italia 90, I can categorically say that I didn't.  I was a skinny awkward 18 year old.  4 years later at the 1994 World Cup in the USA was a different story altogether.  I'd filled out a bit, was now 22 and had that extra bit of confidence and courage.  Maybe it was something to do with the sweltering heat, the noon kickoff times and plenty of hot suburban American girls all drinking ice cold beer in the sun before and after the games.  Some had never met an Irish person before, so all the stars were aligned at that world cup for a young Ireland fan to sow his oats with several open-minded and slightly tipsy blonde American beauties.

Ahhhhhhhhh yes those were the days .