Secondly, the Barcelona v Chelsea game is the one which will be televised on “council telly” in Spain. To see the Villarreal/Rangers game your best bet is a British pub with Sky.
An English journalist friend of mine who has lived in Spain for the last five years described Villarreal as being “like Skelmersdale on a wet Sunday night” - only two hotels on the town (both owned by the same and guests in the two-star have to walk over to the four-star if they want dinner!) and the pubs are extremely few in number and small.
However, the biggest concern - especially for a club like ours which has known such tragedy - is safety. The away section is small, confined and awkward. The turnstiles for the visiting section are underground at the end of a long alley with a sharp turn and prone to congestion. The visiting section is surrounded by tough plexiglas screens and funnels down to a point - there is no easy way to escape congestion if the section becomes over-crowded.
IF YOU ATTEMPT TO ENTER THE VISITING SECTION WITH FAKE TICKETS OR BY ATTEMPTING TO JUMP THE TURNSTILES YOU WILL BE PUTTING YOURSELF AND OTHER BEARS IN SEVERE DANGER.
Experience over the years in Europe has led many to think that the local cops would prefer to have ticketless visiting fans inside the stadium rather than wandering about. However, their experience with Manchester United and Everton fans in recent seasons means this will not happen in Villarreal and non-Spanish ticket holders will be quizzed and refused admission.
Additionally, Bears over there report that they expect checks at railway stations and on the motorways to turn back groups of ticketless fans.
So, with Bears safety being my first concern my advice is as follows:-
By all means try to get a legitimate ticket for the visitors area. And get there early if you do have a brief. Refuse to use a forgery. Don’t mill around Villarreal in the hope the authorities will open the gates to let you in. For safety’s sake my best advice to those traveling without tickets is to enjoy your holiday in Valencia, Benidorm, Barcelona or Salou and watch the game in the safety of a pub with Sky coverage of the game.