News, Manchester
A football fan is travelling more than 2,500 miles (4023km), taking in three European cities en route, to reach Bilbao in time to watch Manchester United in the Europa League final.
Like thousands of others, United fan Adam Paterson will be travelling to the Spanish city for the final against Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday 21 May.
But Mr Paterson’s journey is far from direct, taking in Dublin, Paris and Rome before reaching Bilbao just before kick-off.
He told Radio Manchester: “We just thought why not? It is not every week you’re in a European final.”
Mr Paterson described his journey, with friends Dylan Heath and Will Baldwin, as “weird and wonderful”.
“We set off on Tuesday afternoon, going from Manchester to Dublin for a couple of hours; then we go from Dublin to Paris, sleep overnight in Paris and then we are up really early in the morning to go to Rome from Paris, and then from Rome into Bilbao – and we land in Bilbao at about 2.30pm,” he said.
“That’s not even the worst bit of it – we don’t even have a hotel. We will just have to pull an all-nighter.”
The next morning, he says he is travelling via coach to Madrid, and from there, to Palma, where they will get a flight home to Manchester.
And Mr Paterson is not the only fan preparing for a long journey to see the match.
Sue McGranigan is also leaving on Tuesday, setting off at about 03:00 BST via coach to Bordeaux.
She said: “We get to France for 19:00 Tuesday, stay overnight – so at least we’ll have a little rest – then we’ll leave Bordeaux at 09:30 Wednesday morning on the day of the game and we arrive in Bilbao about 13:30.”
United are looking to win the Europa League for the second time in eight years, while Tottenham are bidding to end a 41-year wait for European success.
