Boab’s Little Piece Of Scotland’s Sojourn To Perugia

From a conversation held in the Bank Bar a reality came to fruition. 

Since it was to be Dundee’s first trip in the UEFA Cup proper for 29 years, this Web site editor was adamant he was going to Perugia especially since he knew he’d miss the home leg due to holiday commitments.

After checking over the websites for cheap flights one stuck out and it was the flight from Birmingham to Pisa for £26.50 Return including all Taxes.  Obviously overjoyed with this price I let my fellow revellers at the Bank Bar know of this deal and so the dream had begun.

In total five of us were going to make the pilgrimage to Perugia.  This included, myself, Paul Murphy, his son also Paul, Anne Docherty and a late replacement for Joe McComish in Lynne Bewley.

Paul Murphy Anne Docherty Paul Murphy and Lynne Bewley

We all met up at the Bank Bar prior to leaving for Taybridge Station except for Anne who was meeting us at the Station.  The usual stupid last minute checks in the bar were made, carryout, tickets, carryout, Passports and of course the final check on the carryout.  Then it was the short trek down Union Street and yes we did pass all the bars on the way to the Station.  Having arrived in plenty time we did have time for a drink whilst waiting for Anne to arrive.

It was at this moment I received a telephone call from Fraser MacDonald the Secretary of the DSA, how did he know I was at the bar?

Phew! He wasn’t after a drink he was just after some information for the programme for the Partick Thistle match.  Fraser was obviously desperate to find someone to write about the fact he’d called me and picked on a hyper Perugia bound fan, who incidentally would have agreed to anything as the train was arriving at the Station Platform.  Maybe in hindsight I shouldn’t have had that drink in the Station bar, honestly to all that know me I only had literally seconds to answer all of Fraser’s questions off the cuff, that’s my only defence to potential derision once the Programme goes public. 

Lynne was the source of plenty ribbing, especially when she came out with the statement she was hoping to go to a Dundee away game sometime.  It was pointed out that the trip was actually to watch Dundee play in Perugia how far away did she look upon an away game to be?  Lynne also had a plentiful supply of Imodium Tablets, she obviously is a regular at our home games.

After a long eight hour journey the weary travellers finally reached Birmingham Airport.  To face a six hour wait for the flight to Pisa, ok the trip was cheap but it had its pitfalls.  Sleep was at a premium and was grabbed at every opportunity.

Paul grabs some much needed Shuteye on the train to Birmingham

We then finally boarded our flight for Pisa I don’t remember much about this flight apart from it was where I got my first real sleep.  I assume the journey was uneventful as we arrived in one piece at 9.30am. 

There were a handful of Dundee fans who had been on this flight also and various means of reaching Perugia from this point were being mapped out.  We were going to be travelling by train which would require us to change at Firenze (Florence).  Others had decided to wait until the buses which had been organised by Helen Donegan arrived at 3pm.  One hapless band had arranged for a people carrier over the Internet and forgot who they’d booked it with.  They finally arrived at Perugia, but had to fork out for another means of transport.  Sorry Broughy but that story was priceless.

We forked out a very reasonable 11 Euros for the train from Pisa to Perugia.  It enabled us to see a part of the Countryside at a leisurely pace.  Our next train to Florence wasn’t for two hours so we had plenty time to become tourists and see the sights that Pisa had to offer.  Apparently it has some sort of Bell Tower people like to see.

Pisa is a very nice City but you really have to be alert to the fact if a car doesn’t run you down some maniac on a Scooter or bicycle will do their best to.  Scooters would still appear to be the most common form of transportation, in Pisa at least from our experience.

It was fortunate that Paul had a bottle of Irn Bru with him as he was able to rectify a potential building problem.  I’m not sure what the locals were saying but I never recognised the word Grazie in what ever they were shouting at him.

We even met up with one of the Capital Dark Blues members.  Brian Gavine was writing out his postcards when I happened to notice him.

It was then back to the serious business of getting to Perugia as part of the Dundee FC Van-Guard.  We knew we had to validate our tickets prior to boarding the trains or receive a fine.  The difficult part was finding a validation machine which would actually work, now as a Dundee fan would it be paranoia to think maybe this was a plot to finance the cheap Italian rail system?  Eventually a ticket machine was found on another Platform which worked, obviously the Italians hadn’t taken into account the tenacity of Dundee fans not willing to be fined.

On our arrival in Florence more and more Dundee fans could be spotted, some had arrived via Bologna and Milan and Florence was the funnel where all these fans had to filter through.  It was time to unfurl the Dundee flag for the first time on Italian soil.  The flag was recognised as some locals from Florence could be heard saying Perugia.  It can only be assumed these locals were Fiorentina fans as they could be heard shouting Forza Dundee with their thumbs up.

On our arrival in Perugia we made a quick pit stop in a bar directly opposite the Train Station.  The sight of the Dundee fans advance guard certainly had the locals chatting and they were defiant with their predictions for their own Teams chances of success, with their common consensus of being a 2-0 victory for the home side.

The bar owner was shocked at the amount of beer he was having to sell and obviously was regretting not having an advance order of stock in on time as his entire stock of beer had been wiped out within 30 minutes.  This included 7.7% beer which he’d probably never thought he’d ever shift.  It was then onto finding our Hotel and getting rid of the baggage at last.  Showers were also the order of the day after travelling in the same clothes for 23 hours.

After Freshening up it was time to explore Perugia and it was a delight to explore, as Perugia is a beautiful historical Medieval City.  The Town planners have to be commended in the way they have managed to blend in the Historical buildings within modern day life.  The escalators were also much appreciated as with Perugia being a Medieval City the Old Town Centre is actually at the top of the hill within the Ancient walls which are still fully intact. 

Land marks were noted for future reference and after our evening meal it would appear every Dundee fan had noticed the same vantage point with where to meet, the Piazza IV Novembre the location of the Fontana Maggiore.  This setting was at the top of the main street leading from the Piazza Italia where the players and officials were staying, it had a huge set of Stairs leading to the Cathedral San Lorenzo which were utilised by the growing number of Dundee fans.  A ready made terracing for the fans to practice their songs for match day.  It was a party atmosphere and everyone was out to have a great time, even the Police were joining in the spectacle posing for pictures and even letting one young boy into the Police car to switch on the flashing Blue light.

Robert Laird sharing a friendly moment with the Cabinieri

The following is a pictorial display of the Tuesday evening party.

(Click On Image for larger pictures) 

Jimmy Marr took time to join the fans and share a few stories as the atmosphere was too much for him to miss.  Jimmy was going to try organise tickets for Melanie Bayes from Auckland and Christian McFadden from Philadelphia but they never showed up to collect them the next morning.  They will still have some stories to tell when they get home to their respective Countries I'm sure.

Just as the Party seemed like it couldn't get any better, Wullie Shepherd arrived on the scene with his bagpipes and the fans went crazy again, I don't think the Perugian's will ever forget the night the Dundee fans graced their City with the impromptu Ceilidh.

Fortunately we had already left prior to the troubles which broke out later.  Again a very small minority hell bent on causing trouble almost spoiled the entire spectacle for all the true Football fans from both teams.  Though it must be stated the Locals who had mixed and drank with the Support apportioned no blame to Dundee fans.  It would appear Italy have the same problems the UK have with trouble makers latching onto any team in order to cause trouble and muddy other teams good names.

The next day feeling very fragile but through self inflicted drinking, we decided to explore more of Perugia before heading back to the Piazza IV Novembre to await the arrival of the fans who'd been staying out with Perugia.  It was whilst walking through the Centre we got a glimpse of the Stadium in the distance.

The Stadium is an open bowl construction with one side covered.  It is only bare concrete seating more like terracing than seating.  I was surprised that this can be construed as being individual seating by UEFA's ruling.  The fact it is also uncovered would mean Perugia would not be accepted within the SPL.  To be honest the old Dens Park benches were more comfortable to sit on, hence the reason the majority of fans stood on the concrete to try keep warm.  As Wednesday night was to prove to be very cold with a freezing wind blowing towards the Dundee support.  This of course wouldn't dampen the Dundee Supports enthusiasm.

Whilst heading up to meet the main Dundee support we came across an old familiar face.  Yes Ivano Bonetti was just crossing the Piazza Italia next to the Dundee Officials hotel.  Ivano confided in us that the Perugia playing surface was a very good one and would suit Dundee. 

The following is a pictorial display of the Wednesday and Match.

(Click On Image for larger pictures) 

Although Dundee were defeated on the night every fan that I spoke to admitted they wouldn't have missed the spectacle for the world.  Even after the game I'm sure the Police could not believe the good humour the Dundee fans were still in, with scarves being handed to the Police as Souvenirs.   One special moment was the Police congratulating the fan who managed to acquire the Match ball.

The only real disappointment about the whole trip was the fact a virtual curfew was enforced on the fans after 11pm.  The problem with this was not all fans had accommodation booked for the Wednesday night, as they were getting buses to the airport in the early hours of the morning.  Our group were one in such a predicament and it was freezing with nowhere to go, there were some young children in this situation, maybe a thing the Mayor should have taken into consideration.

All in all the trip was a great adventure and one I certainly want to experience again.  The only real thing which can top this trip off would be a Victory the next time. Arriva derci Perugia and Good Luck on your own adventures in the Competition.