Manchester United fans share travel frustration

Manchester United fans have been posting online about some of their travel nightmares 

This followed their Europa League final in Bilbao

Author | Olivia T

Before the match, many fans had also complained about the lack of affordable, direct flights into Bilbao. Alongside the opposition fans, many travelled weird and wonderful ways to get there. 

Did the city lack the infrastructure to host such an occasion?

Remember The Geese posted a detailed account of his nightmare on the Manchester United Red Cafe forum: "Last night was a shambles. No buses or taxis. Inhumane to have people stranded in a city that was asleep. Bilbao was completely lacking in infrastructure to house such an occasion.

"I had booked an Uber 10 days prior for 1am. I knew that there wasn't going to be any buses back to my hotel in Santoña that time of night. However, I got a notification at 12:55am to say that there suddenly wasn't a driver available. I spoke to a female steward who was answering queries and offering people advice. I explained my situation and she told me to hang on until 3am, by which point, she will have finished her shift. I was told that she was going to get a friend of hers to taxi a few people around. Meanwhile, she had recruited three other lads, all of whom were wanting a ride to the airport.

"The lady told me that her and her friend were going to take these lads to the airport first, then come back for me. I had no other option but to trust her. I waited for her to return. An hour later, her and her friend had returned from the airport. It was now my turn.

"Again, she had recruited another couple of lads. These two chaps were heading even further out than me - Santander. Anyway, I eventually reached my hotel at 4:30am and paid her/her mate €100 (which was pretty good value in the circumstances). Two hours of sleep and I was off to the airport myself. Perhaps, I should count myself fortunate. Just a horror show."

READ MORE | Europa League Final match report 

No trains and no taxis

Adam89 posted on this same forum: "I was staying about 20km from the stadium and was out before the trophy lift etc trying to find a route home, but nothing. It was on one of the "cercanias" routes but the last train back there was before halftime. 

"Uber was quoting 100+ euro for the 18-minute journey which, given I'd got a good deal for a hotel out of town, was happy to accept. But no driver would take it. Uber kept prompting me to pay more to make it more attractive or make me a "priority". In the end I just gave up and jogged/walked back. Gave me a lot of time to think about the match and club going forward, didn't get anywhere with it though."

Slept in the coach station 

Another added: "Couldn’t get a Taxi back to the airport so walked across the road to the coach station, had security guards going around waking people up, this was at 6AM though."

Travel and Accommodation was probably downside for this fantastic city, if it was a Bilbao final I think it would have played but they’re not ready to host to different teams at the moment."