Sadly this tour culminated culminated in Rangers slumping away in Europe to yet another defeat from a very average team (despite the oil money from Mr Chelsea Abramovich) and facing a tricky home tie to seal entry into the champions league proper.
For some time I'd had a feeling that we could end up getting a Moscow trip in Europe and so when CSKA's name came out in the draw I wasn't too unhappy as had always wanted an excuse to go to this centrepiece of former communist control. The CSKA's first leg draw in Baku, Azerbaijan however meant that no firm arrangements could be made as the tie wasn't assured although there seemed to be a groundswell of belief that Moscow would be the destination, and so it was to turn out.
Trouble is, as we all know the club had agreed to the Tuesday night fixture leaving those of us wishing to travel to the game six days in which to have everything organised. This meant that for those wishing to go independently the trip was basically a non-starter (perhaps the reason for Rangers agreeing to the Tuesday kick-off to deter non-travel club members?) due to the late notice in which to arrange flights, accommodation & the trickiest part (& extortionate) an entry VISA for Russia.
Travel Club members like myself had the opportunity to pre-book the trip to the third round qualifier prior to the draw actually taking place and it was widely held that around 900 people had signed up for either an overnight or day trip to what ever destination awaited the team. Come the Wednesday (the day of the cska/ baku 2nd leg) news breaks that for those wanting to go to Rangers first european game of this campaign they would need to be at ibrox the next day with their passport & 2 photos in order to apply for the Russian visa, which would cost £120 due to the short notice involved. The travel club also stated that no charter to Baku would be taking place if they were to emerge victorious which begs the question why have a travel club then?
As we all know CSKA came through so it was off to ibrox on the Thursday to sign up for the trip and to give the backhander, sorry appropriate administration fee, to apply for the entry Visa. Its at this point I started to panic, when my mate & I arrived at ibrox there wasn't much activity, nor did there seem to be many forms all ready filled out, when I asked how many had signed up, no information was forthcoming…what had happened to the 900 who had put their names down?
That Thursday saw many hours spent on the Follow Follow Message board & on the phone trying to find out what was happening as word started to spread (or was I spreading it?) that the travel club flight was going to be off due to lack of numbers and that we would all be left snookered for travel to the game. It was only later that night that I got a tip that the flight would be going no matter what and on the Friday the trip was officially confirmed. Panic Over.
Monday morning 7am saw the travel club members who had backed up their earlier commitment (and as it turned out a fair few independent travellers who had switched sides so to speak) picking up their passports (newly adorned with VISA documentation) at Glasgow airport to board the charter flight for the 3 & ¾ hrs flight to Moscow. On board the flight you could pick where you wanted to sit due to the empty seats as it soon became clear that there was only about 150 of us all on the trip.
The flight touched down at the little used (by those from the Western World anyhow) Domodedovo Airport where we then climbed aboard the three buses waiting for us (2 going to the 3* hotel Russia, which was to be our digs (superbly located next to the kremlin / St Basil's Cathedral & Red Square), with the other bus going to the 4* Renaissance) to then begin the hour long experience of being driven into the Moscow City centre where our hotel was. Believe me when I say that is an experience in itself, Muscovites seem to have a problem with the capitalist control freakery of Traffic Lights, so they try and avoid using them.
The 3000 roomed Russia hotel suited us down to the ground and despite a few teething troubles getting everyone into the correct room I think everyone found the hotel okay and far removed from its description in the Rough Guide to Moscow tour book as a 'Colossal mice-and cockroach infested labyrinth'.
From there on the trip for my mate & I was a continuous surreal adventure as we visited and experienced the Moscow sites we'd grown up watching only on the news.
My personal highlight was finding myself alone in red square at around 3am, which is frankly a bit out there for a country lad from Ayrshire to experience!
The Bus to take us to the ground set off around 5pm with a few us sporting the Cossack hat of Stereotype infamy (not a good move in the 26 degree heat!) and we got to the ground around 6pm, then we had the Army & police trying to marshal us all back onto the buses for no apparent reason which didn't go down to well, eventually they relented and treated us with a bit more hospitality as we got into the stadium and settled down for the game to begin.
The game itself was, as I'm fast learning on my away trips with Rangers, the only real disappointment of the trip as we conspired to give the game away to the very poor Russians.
The stadium itself was quite impressive (the home of Lokomotiv Moscow & recently modernised) with the CSKA fans making a decent amount of noise for the numbers that were in the ground. The Rangers section was in the far corner enclosed with protective glass, not that there seemed the potential for trouble; the more open stands had a huge moat in front of the pitch to thwart any would-be pitch invaders.
The game over we milled out back onto the buses for the journey back to the airport for the flight home, discussing the game & a certain criminal case in the Lothian region (thanks to the star of the bus), sadly the flight home was to be curtailed for a few hours due to a problem with the plane so it was a case of more match discussion & indeed an overall investigation into where Rangers stand at this point in time.
Time at the airport was also passed watching a well-known Glasgow businessman extricating himself from a rather strange situation, which had the police & security guards up in arms, much to the amusement of the rest of us.
Finally the replacement plane arrived and it was time for the journey back to Glasgow, all in all a journey, which lasted less than 48 hrs but seemed to have lasted much longer.
Since my return I seem to have became the unofficial Russian tourist board spokesman as I loudly proclaim what a great place Moscow was, I personally would have no hesitation in returning (there was plenty of things that I never had time to do) and as for any fears over personal security I would say I felt a lot safer walking about in the early hours over there than I would in Glasgow city centre of an evening.
As it stands I forecast a nervous but ultimately successful return leg at ibrox where we will triumph 2-0 and set up another champions league adventure, for which I'm already saving my pennies to experience!
I'll just end by saying the assistance of the travel club reps in Moscow was appreciated by all (I doubt I'm speaking out of turn on this) and the fact that they are Rangers fans themselves creates a great bond between us all (please take note Mr Bain, Rangers Fans make Good employees!!!!). A wee mention as well to the Russian guys who ended up in the Rangers section, they impressed many by their commitment and knowledge of the team and it would be great if we could build upon this over further visits to their country.
We Are Rangers
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