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Barry J. Leeming    Digest Prgram by  William McArthur  Canada
Theatre Of Dreams  Banner's  by Sam Hayward   Download the digest program here!
The Devil's Advocate "REDitorial" commentary by Alex Paylor  "RED sky at night UNITED delight!"

The Dennis Viollet Fund


www.red11.org DAILY NEWS
Date: Wed Jun 23 21:34:08 GMT+00:00 1999
Mail: barry@www.red11.org

This Issue:
1. PRINCES OF THE UNIVERSE - Classic Barca'99 Report by Mark Roberts
2. New Survey
3. CHARITY SHIELD TICKETS ON SALE ALREADY
4. UNITEDS ARE POLES APART
5. Billion dollar club

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*** CHAMPIONS ***  CHAMPIONS *** CHAMPIONS *** 
  THE TRIPLE  -  www.red11.org CHAMPIONSHIP Sound Archive x 5 
ENJOY THE GOALS recorded from * GMR * BBC RADIO 5 * ITV * SKY * DANISH TV !!!!
   INDEX:  http://www.red11.org/mufc/sound/99

SPECIAL SPECIAL  Mp3  "REDS Going to Barcelona"  3megs hifi-sound
Download here: http://www.red11.org/mufc/sound/mp3/99/Barcelona.mp3

*********************

Daily RED Trivia  Thurs 24th June 1999:

24/6/1970:
 David May born in Oldham. After signing from Blackburn Rovers May made
 his United debut against Queens Park Rangers in August 1994, and won Premiership
 medals in 1996 and 1997. He also won an FA Cup Winners medal in 1996, and has played
 87  times between 1994-98, scoring 8 goals. 

24/6/1975:
 On their Antipodean tour United beat Auckland 2-0 with goals from Peter
 Loughnane and Tony Grimshaw.

Barry Daily Comment:

TODAY print out and read mark roberts fantastic "Barce" report.
its just like being there!
There is a Daily News Survey running for those with www:
Fill in the form at 


 Its the presentation of the European Cup at Nou Camp
  Video including sound   57secs  1.5 meg  Real Video  Use Real Player Plus G2
   Free at www.real.com
http://www.real.com/R/HPplay-1R/www.real.com/products/playerplus/index.html?src=990611home_5

Latest MUFC Squad song is now available in stereo at www.red11.org
Stereo Sound: REAL AUDIO:  607k 4mins "stereo"
   http://www.red11.org/mufc/sound/99/lift_it_high.rm  
 MP3  4.6meg  4mins "stereo"
   http://www.red11.org/mufc/sound/mp3/lift_it_high.mp3  

RED sky at night BARCE' delight
 More fun here: http://www.red11.org/mufc/barcedance.htm
 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


MANCHESTER UNITED STATS v ALL teams on the Web
http://www.red11.org/mufc/stats.htm

Previous News:
 BSKYB Takeover news/pics at http://www.red11.org/mufc/bskyb.htm
  Brian Kidd Press conference, pic, real audio
   http://www.iol.ie/~redcafe/kidd.htm
 Peter Schmeichel's last Season at United!
   http://www.red11.org/mufc/news/schmeichel.htm

Next games:  ****Pre season tour JULY 1999 ***

Melbourne  Sydney  
Thu 15/7 MAN. UNITED V SOCCEROOS evening in Melbourne 
    at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground- capacity 90,000.) kick off 20.00hrs.
- Melbourne Cricket Ground 5 minutes from the city. Good transport available
 Tickets available - starts from $60.00 - behind the goal -next up is $90.00,
   $130.00 and $150.00

Sun 18/7 MAN. UNITED V SOCCEROOS STADIUM AUSTRALIA, Olympic Boulevard,
    Homebush Bay, Sydney  NEW SOUTH WALES  15.00 local time 
     Tickets for Sydney game try here:
 http://www.ticketek.com.au/frame.asp?url=search/search.asp
   then type MANCHESTER in the search field.

   + Far East

Wed 21/7 Shangai first time ever!!!
 This match will be watched by 80,000 fans 
  The game has sold out with the Shanghai Star reporting the home side's
  chairman Yu Zhifei as saying: ''It is unprecedented that the tickets
  should sell out for a match five weeks in advance." 

Sat 24/7 Hong Kong  Repeat of the 1997 game
 "ALL matches will be shown "the same day" om MUTV.

August 1st CHARITY SHIELD  Wembley:  Arsenal
August 3rd Omagh Town, St Julian's Road ground
            Temp seating will be erected to increase the
            capacity to 7,000 for the game.

UNITED Stats v All teams:
http://www.red11.org/mufc/stats/

*** FINAL PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE AS AT 16/05/99 ***
Pos Team                  P  W  D  L   F   A   W  D  L   F   A   GD  Pts
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  Manchester United    38 14  4  1  45  18   8  9  2  35  19   43   79
 2  Arsenal              38 14  5  0  34   5   8  7  4  25  12   42   78
 3  Chelsea              38 12  6  1  29  13   8  9  2  28  17   27   75
 4  Leeds United         38 12  5  2  32   9   6  8  5  30  25   28   67
 5  West Ham United      38 11  3  5  32  26   5  6  8  14  27   -7   57


*** TEAM STATISTICS - MANCHESTER UNITED - 1998/9
AVERAGE HOME ATTENDANCE: 55,188
HIGHEST HOME ATTENDANCE: 27/02/99 - Southampton (55,316)
LOWEST HOME ATTENDANCE:  15/08/98 - Leicester City (55,052)
BEST WIN:                06/02/99 - Nottingham Forest (8-1)
HEAVIEST DEFEAT:         20/09/98 - Arsenal (0-3)
BEST HOME WIN:           17/10/98 - Wimbledon (5-1)
HEAVIEST HOME DEFEAT:    19/12/98 - Middlesbrough (2-3)
BEST AWAY WIN:           06/02/99 - Nottingham Forest (8-1)
HEAVIEST AWAY DEFEAT:    20/09/98 - Arsenal (0-3)*****
  
CHAMPIONS' LEAGUE QUARTER-FINALS
 Manchester Utd  2 v 0  Inter Milan
 Real Madrid     1 v 1  Dynamo Kiev
 Juventus        2 v 1  Olympiakos
 Bayern Munich   2 v 0  Kaiserslautern

**DYNAMO KIEV      2 v 0  REAL MADRID         (Agg:3-1)
FC KAISERSLAUTERN  0 v 4  **BAYERN MUNICH     (Agg:0-6)
INTERNAZIONALE FC  1 v 1  **MANCHESTER UNITED (Agg:1-3)
OLYMPIAKOS         1 v 1  **JUVENTUS          (Agg:2-3)

Semi Finals 
Manchester United v Juventus  4-3agg 3-2 [1-1]
Bayern Munchen v Dynamo Kiev  4-3agg 1-0 [3-3]

UEFA Champions League Final  MANCHESTER UNITED 2 v 1 BAYERN MUNICH
Venue Camp Nou (Estadi FC Barcelona), Barcelona, Spain 
Date Wednesday 26 May 1999 Kick-Off 20.45 CET (19.45 GMT) 

 THE FANTASTIC TRIPLE WAS WON!!
Personal stories here: http://www.red11.org/mufc/barcelona.htm

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See all the listmembers! Click for FULL SIZE!"

Subject: PRINCES OF THE UNIVERSE - Classic Barca'99 Report by Mark Roberts SATURDAY 22ND GYPSY CURSE I got a lift from Aylesbury to Amersham station and hopped on the Chiltern Line train to Wembley Park. The whole carriage had a laugh at all the Timothy Trainspotters waiting for a steam engine to go past on the other platform. On the way from Wembley Park down Wembley Way I bought some lucky United heather from a lovely Gypsy lady after I'd seen some Newcastle fans refuse to buy any from her. That heather was to remain in my pocket for the next week. Unfortunately I missed meeting up with Sean Hennessey and Paul Windridge outside Wembley by just a few minutes. I spent the hours before the match drinking and singing on the slopes outside the old stadium. There was a great pre-match atmosphere. This was even more fun than the '83, '85, '90 and '94 finals I'd been to mind. Spotted Pete Boyle leading us all in song at entrance J and got involved getting others to join in on the slopes where I was pulled off by the Police (ooh errr) as we were obviously making far too much noise for their liking. [insert] Having just read Sean's account of the game I realise we were in exactly the same area at the time now but as we'd never met before we just didn't realise. Oh well I saw him a few days later. We played exceptionally well during the game and hardly put a foot wrong. A 6-0 wouldn't have been out of place. Although we take the piss out of the bar-codes, I thought Newcastle's players didn't deserve the support of their fans who were excellent. We were more sporadic and were probably outsung on the day although it wasn't through lack of trying on the part of many. There are just too many Reds who expect victory and also don't know the words. I didn't get back home until 11:30 after a night drinking in Trafalgar and Leicester Square SUNDAY 23RD NOW I'M HERE At 4:30am I wake up with my head pounding and my heart racing as the big day arrived. Got the 8 o'clock flight from Heathrow to Barcelona and discovered many reds on the flight, including a guy from Limerick, Daniel who'd curtailed his holiday in Australia for the match. He had nowhere to stay for the first night so I offered him a kip on the floor but when I arrived at the hotel the room had 2 beds in anyway which was a result. I phoned Barry to hear how he'd been shafted by the French Police and arranged to meet up the next day. I was looking forward to my meeting with this TV presenter of the future. LAZING ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON Daniel and I decided to go looking for tickets together (I was also looking for Peter Steyger). We asked at the hotel if they knew anyone selling tickets and they did, so after a call and difficult conversation in Spanglish with a Barcelona fan who had 3 tickets we arranged to meet at the hotel. Before that we thought we'd go to the Nou Camp to find out what prices were and see if we could do any better. We saw about30 reds and a couple of touts asking silly money -700 quid. Told him he could "f" off - he understood well enough. Obviously no-one else was biting. We got back to the hotel and got 3 tickets for about 220 quid each, which we thought was less than we'd feared we'd have to pay. NOBBY'S SMELLY KIPPERS AND 70'S CELEBRITY CHEFS In the evening we went drinking on the Ramblas and met four Kerry Reds - Dave, Brian, Eammon and John. There we all met a pissed up 50 year old Catalan guy who knew nothing about football but absolutely loved us. Unfortunately he smelled like he'd been keeping kippers in his underpants for three weeks, in fact funny as he was, he stank so bad we had to ask him to bugger off. He kept creeping up to us trying to take our beer but we smelled the kippers before he got close enough. We were talking to him about United and he'd heard of Manchester United but not any of the players we proceeded to name - Beckham, Schmeichel, Neville, Keane, Robson, Hogg, Coppell, Hughes, May, nor Milne. We did the classic, Bobby Charlton, Georgie Best, Dennis Law and still nothing - not even a glimmer of recognition. Then I tried Nobby Stiles and still nothing but had a flash of inspiration and said "Nobby Steelez". "AH NOBBBEEE STEELEZ!!" was his enlightened reply and he proceeded to dance up and down the Ramblas holding his pint aloft as if it was the World Cup. From that moment on his name was NOBBEE STEELEZ. Amazing how often it works. In the end we all gave him half a pint each to shut him up. While this was going on we were approached by some North African guy who didn't speak Spanish but spoke a few words of English - "You buy" being his favourite. Initially I thought what tat is this guy selling. He had the usual array of cheap lighters, watches and "gold" bracelets. However when he realised we weren't interested in any of it he bought out his masterpiece a gold coloured brass lighter in the shape of a naked woman. OK - more crap we thought until he pressed he head and flame shot out of the lady's erm... "Mrs Craddock", allowing the smoker to light his pipe so to speak. "Fantastico Unbelievo" we told him through the tears of laughter but he wanted 3000 pesetas (about 12 quid) we negotiated him down to 1000 and then decided we didn't really want one anyway as none of us smoked. We said 500 pesetas (2 pounds) or not at all and he wandered off. 1 hour later he was still pedalling these lighters and he came back and met our price of 500 but we told him we had to save our money for beer. MONDAY 24TH GOOD COMPANY First thing Monday Dan and I were off to the airport to pick up PJ Thum from Boston and Peter Steyger from Portland, Oregon. At the first list meet with Barry Leeming and his son Michael, the rest of his Danish posse Leo and Henrik , people from Orange County, California - Scott?, a couple from Los Angeles, Tommy from Cape Town, and the Irish lads from the previous night combined negotiating forces to get 6 more tickets for some of the others. I asked Eammon the Irish Cockney Red why he followed United and he answered "Well they were my local team. I used to live in Harrow and it was just down the road from Wembley. Around 5 o'clock we decided to get 3 taxi's to airport to greet the team coming in on Concorde. We waited and waited and a few of us were interviewed by English television and a few radio stations. As they came through the Spanish Police kept us at bay although I did grab hold of a late appearing Andy Cole and asked him to "do it for us Andy". Even without my great wit and incisive comments Andy looked confident and relaxed. I remember thinking him and Teddy particularly looked confident. After we got back, Daniel, PJ, Peter and I went for a quiet meal in a restaurant and had a fairly early night. TUESDAY 25TH A fantastic breakfast helped wake us up and Peter and I smuggled some food upstairs for PJ. After some sightseeing around the Gaudi cathedral in the morning we were late for the list meet and didn't arrive until 2 o'clock. There I think we met up with Andrew Becker and Paul Gallen. JESUS We ended up singing in the Ramblas most of the afternoon and all night, my favourite of the day being "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" of which another couple of renditions would have killed my voice for the big day. Somewhere in the middle of this Peter and I had arranged to meet PJ in the Quiet Man after his obviously exciting trip to the Museum Erotica (he looked a little flushed). However while looking for it we walked by first time and on into one of Barcelona's slightly seedier part crawling with pimps and their "beautiful" employees. We high tailed it out of there just as Peter was propositioned by a Barcelona Ladyboy. Mercifully the pub appeared like an oasis in the middle of a desert and we quickly got the pints as we chatted to a few Scottish Reds. While there we found the BBC setting up the equipment for children's TV celebrity DJ Zoe "Think of a Number" Ball's Radio 1 show the following morning. A place to avoid first thing Wednesday morning me thinks. First thing Wednesday morning is for sleeping anyway! Who needs Zoe Ball when we have our very own DJ Leeming? Somewhere on the Ramblas Peter's T-shirt was noticed by a certain Steve Fisher - from Vancouver - a top bloke who took great delight in showing his 1976 Cup Final flag to everyone in Barcelona. Steve acted as a good "fatherly" figure to me over the course of the evening although his recounting of my "dancing" with "a leather trousered sausage warrior" leaves a little too much to the imagination! All we did was sing a few songs together in pre battle party. For all I know he didn't even have a sausage!!!! Steve, I shall have my revenge you git!! Later on Steve, another guy (alcohol has removed his identity from my memory banks) and I ended up in some late night drinking establishment which had started to empty but was still very much open at about 3 in the morning. We thought about partaking of one of the special local brews which was alleged to do strange things to one's mental state (although apparently entirely legal) but we were so busy singing songs that we forgot. At this stage I couldn't remember where my hotel was or what it was called but Fish said I could kip on his floor. Unfortunately I lost him walking up the Ramblas as I stopped to talk to Eammon of the Kerry "Cockney" Reds who could barely talk but shared a taxi with me and pointed me towards the hotel he knew I was staying at. WEDNESDAY 26TH WE ARE THE ROADCREW (sorry.... CHAMPIONS) Woke up with a voice like Lemmy from Motorhead and got ready to break the sound barrier. Peter, PJ and I were at the Hard Rock Café early where we joined Barry and his gang. As the Reds took over the place I met Sean who I just missed at the Cup Final and Jon Kosterliz of the Boston Reds (or was that later?), the San Jose Reds of Jon Clarke, Phil Murray and Dave Menashe, Alan Dobson and Paula, Jon Leigh, Paul Windridge, Linda and Ian Harvey, Ethel Sleith, Bill McArthur, Richard Martin (a fellow Led Zeppelin freak!) Duncan Drasdo (and presumably Joined-At-The-Hip? and others I'd hoped to meet in the Nest at the Tottenham game. I think I also met Adrian Hodgson but only because I have just found his email address in my pocket. FAT BOTTOMED GIRLS After about 6 hours drinking in the Hard Rock with this lot Jon, Dave, Peter and Phil decided to make our way to the stadium on a packed tube. Jon Clarke managed to pinch a total of 37 girls bottoms on the way. THESE ARE THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES Once we got in to the awe inspiring Nou Camp we were treated to inflatables that wouldn't have looked out of place in that laughable French World Cup opening ceremony. What a waste of money. However, Freddie Mercury and Monseraat Cabelle belted out Barcelona which as Queen have always been one of my other obsessions alongside United, brought a lump to my throat as old Fred bought further mock-opera to the masses. I realised I hadn't eaten anything during the day except half of Jon's hamburger so kept nipping out to the lovely lady selling the fantastic huge but tasteless hotdogs. I had 4 of them. I'll eat anything when I'm drunk (I'll eat anything when I'm sober). However as there was more alcohol in the sausages than in the beer I stayed on the food. MISFIRE / STAYING POWER My experiences of the game were as has been told by many others on the list but here are my eperiences of a few key moments. I thought there was no way that Ronnie fouled for the free kick we conceded the goal for and at the time that Peter was at fault for the goal as it was the side he was supposed to be covering. Having said that if their goalscorer had put the ball through the gaps in the wall and Peter had saved it he would have been a hero. We played OK at times without looking particularly dangerous particularly before Teddy came on. My only other additions to this are from about the 45th minute of a second half that refused to die. IT'S LATE / IN THE LAP OF THE GODS I remember looking up and saw the huge scoreboard above the United end on 44.52 and thought "Right this is our last chance" as Gary Neville went over to take a throw in which I think we won a corner from. Suddenly Schmeichel appeared in the goalmouth and his flick/challenge was the difference between us scoring and losing. Giggs poked it towards the Bayern goal and Teddy turned it in. I was lifted up by Peter Steyger and the bloke sitting next to me as I furiously and repeatedly pumped my legs into the air. "The Bayern players are shattered, we'll win it in extra time" I thought as did around 110,000 people there on the night. Well we might have done if we'd needed to but we didn't get the chance, just like in 1979. Only this time, things were going to go our way. THE MIRACLE / THE HERO / DEAD ON TIME The next thing I knew we had another corner and I don't believe I will have the rush I had when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer poked the ball into the roof of the net, ever again. After jumping over all the seats along with everyone else I ran up to the back of the top tier. Along with a few others we ran along the back going "Hurh Hurh Hurh Yaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrgh" as we simulated orgasm. "I CANNOT BELIEVE IT. WE'VE F**KING WON!!!!" SHEER HEART ATTACK / I GO CRAZY It felt like we were the highest people in the world as we leant over the wall at the back and screamed into the balmy Catalan night. Maybe future family happenings may give me the satisfaction I felt on the 26th of May 1999 but that peak of ecstasy when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer put the ball in the German net is absolutely unsurpassable. I have never been so proud in my life. GIMME THE PRIZE Fantastic player and fan celebrations followed which I make no apologies for repeating even though they have already been well documented. I was going to complain about having We Are The Champions (along with that twat of a DJ's medley) forced down our throats for the third match running, but nothing could dampen our spirits. Whilst I love the song as a Queen fan, I still say let the fans decide what to sing or at least turn the damn volume down a bit so we can even hear ourselves joining in. Queen never played it that loud! The peak of the musical celebrations was James' Sit Down which was great as it wasn't part of any Jive Bunny type medley. I just hope that somewhere there is footage of the fans lifting the imaginary roof as each player took their turn at lifting the cup at the United end. That was when the music and hype had finished and was the best celebration of the lot - just the fans and the team as one. PARTY As we encountered huge and sweltering cues at the tube stations we turned around decided to walk. So we walked and walked until we came to Placa Espana where we got the tube to the Michael Collins pub and were the first people to arrive there of anyone I recognised although the pub was still very busy. We got beers and familiar faces started to arrive. Jon K, Steve F, Jon C, Dave M, Phil M, Daniel, Sean, Peter, PJ, Andy(?) and Mike(?) all met each other with the same incredulous look on our faces. We started off outside the pub but at some point the police turned up to try and quieten us down. They were itching to shut the place down so we all went inside and kept the noise quiet every time the barstaff went "shhhhhhhhh" - well for about 3 seconds anyway. Phoned home at 3 o'clock in the morning and left 10 minutes of the whole pub singing to the answerphone of a mate back home. HEAVEN FOR EVERYONE Once the Irish band had finished we got into the back room and had our own concert. Stand up / Sit Down if you love Man U was enthusiastically sung by everyone followed by a slight variation in Lie down if you love Man U which only Jon Clarke and I did. Unfortunately we hadn't seen all the broken glass on the floor but I noticed it soon enough as I put my right hand onto it and rushed off to the loo to stem the flow of blood and pick out the bits of glass from my hand. Walked back to hotel where we thought we'd get a taxi back to the Ramblas. Got lost walking around in circles for half an hour so Jon and Dave dropped out after the umpteenth call of "it's just around this corner lads". They walked back to the main road and got a taxi back to Calella and their beds. Phil Murray and I were still after more celebrations. Peter was off to the airport as soon as we got back as his flight left at 7. As we got back to the hotel we met some lads from Northern Ireland who had been at the bar in the German hotel where Bayern were staying. They said the Bayern team were in tears for the first 2 hours but after that they perked up, had a few drinks and joined in the singing. Before we left we decided to visit the hotel bar. Now unfortunately the bar was closed - what?!? At only 5 in the morning? Well we had a plan. The bar was directly opposite the reception but not locked. When the guy from reception disappeared into the office Phil kept watch while I crept behind the bar on all fours. All Phil would have seen from his lookout position is this hand come up from below the bar and reach up to the optics for the nearest bottle to hand which was Bacardi. I found the largest glass in the bar and proceeded to fill it (still from the floor). As I came out of the bar the manager came out of the office but didn't notice me initially. I whipped the glass behind my back and smiled as Phil and I shuffled out saying Championes. SLEEPING ON THE SIDEWALK We walked the 30 minutes to the Ramblas and arrived about 5:30 to find a scene of desolation. Literally hundreds of people asleep in the place de Catalunya. We stopped by a guy who had fallen asleep on the grass by a flowerbed and decided to stick about 15 red flowers into every orifice and item of clothing that the lad was sleeping in. After leaving him to rest we came upon this huge German lying on the paving slabs of the square wearing the full Leiderhausen kit. We started giggling and he woke up with a terrible groan. It was like waking the giant out of Jack and the Beanstalk. The words "Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman" sprang to mind but he laughed and asked us the time. When we told him he thanked us for waking him as he had to be at the airport for a 7 o'clock flight to Munich and he staggered off to find a taxi after congratulating us on the win. LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU At the top of the Ramblas we met a busking guitarist from Portugal. Now he had definitely seen better days as his guitar was missing a couple of strings and he was washed out on presumably more that alcohol but he couldn't play for City. He had however found a management team of Reds who persuaded me to part with about 100 pesetas to play his guitar. Thereupon followed a note perfect rendition of Stairway to Heaven on the equivalent of a shoe box with 4 rubber bands on it. I'll play anything when I'm drunk (I'll play anything when I'm sober). Richard Martin would have been so impressed. Phil and I went back on the first train to get about an hour's kip. THURSDAY 27TH BLURRED VISION / IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY Sorry Impossible to talk today (and think as I thought 4 days constant drinking would have cleared from my bloodstream enough to drive P.J. and Sean to the airport. With a bit of heavy traffic we were on target to get there one hour before PJ's flight and a few hours before Sean Hennesey's. As we were stuck in a traffic jam Sean decided it was time to "just check me flight details.... I'm taking off..........NOW,.... shit!!!!" Silly lad. I assume he was able to get another flight or that his flight was late but rumour has it that he got back home. A KIND OF MAGIC Phil and I decided to go down to the Nou camp and see what momentos we could pick up. We went on a tour of the stadium and museum and sat down in a few seats and just sampled the place again. I was sure I could still hear our chants echoing round the arena - eerie. Many of the United seats were damaged - well they deserved it they should have seen what they'd done to my legs. In the club shop I spied something to take to Calella as a celebratory offering to the lads for putting me up......Barca champagne. Armed with that and a few odds and sods like spare match programmes Phil and I had spied a great souvenir, a 5 foot by 4 foot Champions League Cup Final Barcelona 1999 rigid plastic board with the words Champions Lounge on it. We pleaded with the woman in charge if we could have it and she was very firm in her "No - eez not allowed". Anyway we managed to look so disappointed that some club worker took pity on us and nicked it from the lorry it was put into and gave it to us. Such acting! SEASIDE RENDEZVOUS After re-living of the night before, Phil and I then attempted to find our way to Calella (the Moss Side of the Costa Brava) around 40 miles up the coast from Barcelona. Two hours later and we were still trying to get out of Barcelona and desperate measures were called for as we felt we were destined to remain in the Barcelona Labyrinth forever. I didn't realise quite how desperate those measures were as I approached a man to ask for directions after I had stopped the car in the middle of a housing estate. Phil's voice had totally gone so he couldn't speak to anyone. Anyway as I approached the gentleman I said "Buenos Diaz Senor" "speaka Inglese?". He shook his head and it was then as I looked into his eyes that I realised the poor guy was blind. There I was, having just used up my full knowledge of Spanish, about to ask a non-English speaking blind man the way to the motorway. Well it turned out we both knew left and right in French and with muchos laughter he put us on our way. How he did it we'll never know but we followed his intricate instructions and actually got onto the right road. I believe for the second time in eighteen hours we had been party to divine intervention. PROCESSION We finally got to the Hotel Miami in Calella and caught a couple of hours much needed sleep. We then watched some of the Tour around Manchester in the hotel bar. A quick toast to the Champions of all Europe with the Barcelona Championes champagne and then we all went for a meal with Barry, Henrik and Leo before they started their journey back home. Before Barry went he presented me with a picture of myself in a 1976-77 United top and a great picture of Sir Matt and (Sir) Alex. Cheers mate. Later on we found an internet café where "the internet eez closed at 10 o'clock een Spain senor". After the Danes had quit the town the only thing left to try was the bars We walked down a busy street near the hotel and came across a great store run by a couple of Asian lads. The shop was full of counterfeit football tops and cheap gaudy shiny t-shirts. We found a "new" shiny United top which had the new badge design. No Manchester United or Manchester United Football Club just Manchester Football with a trident on the badge and a mere snip at 25 pounds with Beckham on the back. Phil and I were informed it was the new secret kit that is coming out next year. We had our pictures taken trying on the shirts as we tried not to laugh and asked the eager shop assistants for one with Paul Scholes. Unfortunately this totally bamboozled them and we walked on. As we passed by again later that night Dave and Jon went in and tried on the same shirt and once again asked for the same Paul Scholes shirt while Phil and I watched from outside. Oh how we smirked. After trying one particularly nasty tavern, we arrived at "Champions" bar where we got away with playing Barry's fantastic CD twice!!!! We were told by the friendly Charlton fan on the door that it was the official Manchester United supporters club for Calella this week and we received very friendly service. At some time that evening Jon and I received a vision from above and it came to pass that the "Yip Yap" cocktail was invented. It consisted of a double Vodka, Blue Curacao and something quite revolting which has passed into the realms of the forgotten. If you're ever in a bar called Champions in Calella just ask for a Yip Yap - they'll remember. Before we made our weary way home we tried a couple of nearby nightclubs - one was a pickup joint for prostitutes and another was a gay bar. Oh well homeward bound! FRIDAY 28TH Breakfast was spent filing a mini report on Calella to the lists from the Internet café now that the internet had been "turned ON" in Spain. A lazy day eating and drinking with more emphasis on getting a couple of good meals down us during the day although a few beers and at least 4 bottles of wine by 3 o'clock suggested otherwise. "Some" alcohol later and it appeared to be night. We found ourselves walking along the front, where Dave and I got speaking to a couple of Russian girls on holiday from sunny Moscow. This was only after Jon had started chatting them up before realising he was too pissed to stand up let alone translate the words fancy a sh*g into Russian. We ran through the old Cockburn's sherry TV advert and that was about it ("Ah - so this is a So?" "Erm yes I think it probably is"). It was our one chance to speak to some people who had nothing to do with football all week but Dave and I just wanted to tell them how great it was to be a United fan. Nothing got in the way of football all week. Saturday 29th THE NIGHT COMES DOWN Saturday morning we had a competition to see who could come up with the most tasteless trinkets for friends and relatives. We all headed off for our favourite sports merchandisers and tried on THAT SHIRT again before I settled on a beautiful Calella snow scene shaker?? for my sister. Phil lost after he won a top quality Barcelona Bumbag in a Grab the Prize with a Crane type machine. We finally said our goodbyes and I left for the airport where I spent a few hours sleeping before the flight. . I managed to even check in the Champions Lounge board as hand luggage with British Airways but I fell asleep in the lounge and woke with a start as the flight was called. I rushed out to the gate and suddenly realised I'd forgotten the oversized momento. I went back to the lounge but it had been locked up and the staff had buggered off. It's a shame as it would have looked as good adorning my upstairs window as it did on the hotel balcony in Calella. Bloody BA, they always lose my luggage! Tuesday 22nd June WAS IT ALL WORTH IT? It's now nearly 4 weeks since the peak of this trip and I'm nearing the end of putting this epistle together. It has just struck me that I have never before had such a crystal clear recollection of such a drunken week. I can still remember almost every minute of every day like it happened yesterday. Memories like that stay with you forever and hopefully so do the friends. Thanks to everyone I met for sharing the experience. What a week, what a season. Here's to the next one, where we start again. Bring on the Watford!!!! Now, I wonder if their voices have broken yet???? Mark Roberts
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Subject: New Survey There is a new survey for the MufcDailyNews community. You are currently suibscribed to the www.red11.org Daily News made by Barry Leeming and Bill McArthur Please give us some ideas for the future on the kind of manchester United relatedmaterial you would like in the Daily News? ---- Possible answers are: o More articles? o Less Articles? o More statistics? o Less Statistics? o Longer Digest? o Shorter Digest? o History? o Newspaper Match reports? o Personal Match Reports? o Links to Sound? o Links to other WWW sites? o Software Manchester United Related? o Books? o Videos? o Editorials from other readers? o Player Profiles? o Other? To vote, please visit the following web page: http://www.onelist.com/surveycenter/MufcDailyNews Thanks! Barry & Bill at Simplenet
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Subject: CHARITY SHIELD TICKETS ON SALE ALREADY Tuesday, June 22, 1999 16:46 Ryan Giggs and David May know where they will be on Sunday 1 August. They'll be at Wembley sat on the bench, whilst Jonathan Greening, Michael Clegg and Alex Notman are trying to bring home the fifth Charity Shield of Alex Ferguson's reign. Tickets are now on sale for this showpiece match, in which the Reds will seek revenge for last year's 3-0 hiding by Arsenal. CHARITY SHIELD On Sunday 1st August, United will play Arsenal at Wembley Stadium, kick off 3 pm. Due to the East Stand building redevelopments ONLY POSTAL APPLICATIONS are being accepted from Season Ticket Holders with the following documentation: voucher 57 (from last season's book) duly completed, letter of application and an open cheque made payable to MUFC and a stamped addressed envelope. Please ensure the incoming envelope is clearly marked CHARITY SHIELD. Please note that voucher 57 was previously used for the away game against Barcelona. Therefore, any Season Ticket Holders who attended this game are asked to clearly state in their letter of application their seat details and 8 digit customer number. Private Box/Executive Suite/Club Class Members need to forward a postal application in the usual manner quoting their facilities held for last season. Seat prices are as follows (subject to availability): £55; £50 (extremely small number) Olympic Gallery, £40; £35; £30; £20; £15 and £12. Restricted view tickets are also available priced £40; £30; £20; £15 and £12. Please note, the majority of the allocation is in the £30/£20 price range. Additionally, tickets in the family bay are priced £20 and £15 adults, £10 and £7.50 under 16s. All applications need to be received in the Ticket Office no later than 5 pm on Friday 9th July. UEFA SUPER CUP Manchester United will play Lazio in the UEFA Super Cup in Monaco on Friday 27th August. No ticket details are yet to hand but they will be announced via this website and the usual channels as soon as they are known. Otherwise, Paul Hinson will make some up.
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Subject: UNITEDS ARE POLES APART Newcastle have fallen from being a giant of the Premiership and are now "a million miles from Manchester United", according to Mark Lawrenson. Lawrenson, TV pundit, failed manager at Oxford United and former yes-man at St James' Park under over-rated crybaby Kevin Keegan, said he understood why German international Dietmar Hamann wanted to leave Newcastle for Arsenal. "It doesn't surprise me at all about Didi Hamann," said Lawrenson on BBC Radio Five. "I mean I would want to go and play for Arsenal. What a cracking defence. To be quite honest, Newcastle are a biggish club but they are not an Arsenal. Three years ago they were very, very close to Manchester United, if you were carried away by the League table and the euphoria that Kevin Keegan whipped up. They are now a million miles away. I feel sorry for the loyal Barcodes. They haven't won a button for 30 years, that's worse than Manchester City!"
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Subject: Billion dollar club United are set to become the world's first billion dollar club in the next three years - according to a firm of leading city stockbrokers. Capel-Cure Sharpe claim that the value of the club can soar with the opening of new merchandising outlets in the soccer-mad Far East markets. United, valued at £623 million by the failed BSkyB bid, are also poised to increase earnings if they can broadcast their own home matches on Pay-per-view. Share prices fell following the blocked bid, leaving United currently valued at around £500 million. A bargain.
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