Man City Fans Hire a Trawler to Get to Faroe Islands

By: Laurie | July 16th, 2008

There are fans, and then there are Fans.

A fan (small f) looks at an away fixture, checks the airfare… And if it’s too expensive he (or she) says, “Oh, well. I’ll catch the home leg.

A Fan (big F) checks the airfare, and if it’s too expensive, he (or she) goes in with some friends to hire a trawler to take them across the sea.

Unfamiliar with trawlers? Let’s go to our good friend Merriam-Webster to learn more.

Main Entry: trawl·er
Function: noun
Pronunciation: ‘tro -l&r
1 : a person who fishes by trawling
2 : a boat used in trawling

In other words, this ain’t no cruise ship.

Man City has some Fans. And when these Fan discovered that they’d been given a draw against the Faroe Island team EB/Streymur and decided they wanted to go to the away match, twelve of them went together to travel on the above-pictured trawler.

And it’s not as if you can catch a trawler straight from Manchester to Torshavn, Faroe Islands. (Map of the trip can be found here.) First they had to drive eight hours to Aberdeen, Scotland. Then they caught a twelve-hour ferry ride to the Shetland Islands. And that was where they caught the trawler, for a 26-hour ride across “rough seas.”

That spells “dedication.” Or maybe “unemployment.”

The Three Sisters is kitted out for deepsea divers with 14 sleeping compartments, a kitchen, toilet and shower.

The fans, aged between 25 and 40, like to follow their heroes everywhere. Organiser Leighton Gobbett said: “This should be the funniest trip ever to a football match. It is for people who want a trip of a lifetime and are up for a laugh.”

Football magazine FourFourTwo is helping to fund the voyage. Deputy Editor Matthew Weiner said: “It represents everything that is great about football fans. These lads love their team and will do anything to see them play, even brave the high seas.”

(That quote is from the Mirror. Their rival, The Sun, says that the fans paid £285 apiece for the trawler, and Four-Four-Two is just paying for the booze. I like The Sun’s version better. Although I personally don’t think I’d want a huge booze stash for twenty-six hours of rough seas. But perhaps I’m just not Fan enough.)

Good luck, gents. And don’t forget the dramamine.