Euro 2012 Diary – Arrival

Wrexham.com’er Mike is out in the Ukraine for some Euro 2012 Group B games and is bringing Wrexhamites an insight into the tournament, the fans, and the reality in what’s been a mixed opinion to one of the host countries.

15 hours door-to-door and 3 flights later I find myself in Ukraine’s third largest city, Kharkiv. The stadium of Europa League Semi Finalists Metalist Kharkiv plays host to 3 matches from Group B of the Euro 2012 Championship, 2 of which I’ll be lucky enough to attend over the course of the next 10 days.

The stadium has been the subject of much scrutiny following alleged racist attacks and Nazi salutes as claimed by a recent Panorama report. Ex England defender Sol Campbell was so horrified with scenes he was shown he advised fans to stay away. It’s worth stating that I have attended a high profile match in this stadium a couple of years ago and witnessed nothing like the scenes broadcast by BBC in their report.

On a lighter note I was pleasantly impressed with the obvious preparation that has been made for the event. Everything down to the welcome, presentation and security has all been faultless so there’s reason for optimism as the tournament gets underway (here at least) today.

Dutch fans are out in force and taking over Kharkiv, and there is a definite sense of anticipation for the team who are considered as one of the tournament favourites. This was reflected in the amount of queue jumping and shoulder rubbing I had to endure at the airport!

As I write it’s now my first full day here and Slav (my Ukrainian buddy) has already taken me to the stadium not only to pick up our tickets for Netherlands v Denmark, but to show off the decorations and atmosphere already evident!

We took the metro back to the city centre, and it’s clear to see that Ukraine is a country of contrasts. There is a stark rich/poor divide here and the transport reflects that too. A journey on the metro costs just 15p, whereas a train from here to Kiev is upwards of £40. I won’t even mention the cost of internal flights though a large part of that is down to the current circumstances.

Today we’ll be joining a march of several hundred Dutch fans as they make their way to the stadium and I’ll report on the first game from Kharkiv.

I’m optimistic we’ll get a tournament free of off-field controversy on the basis of what I’ve seen so far.

See you next time,
Mike