Sheffield Wednesday winger Barry Bannan has disclosed details of the epic journey he undertook to see Celtic in the UEFA Cup Final in 2003, the Sheffield Wednesday website reports.
In an article entitled ‘my football firsts’, Bannan revealed that the first stadium he ever went to was Celtic Park, which led into Bannan discussing how he made the trip to Seville to see the Hoops.
“We made the eight-hour journey”
“I’d say my biggest memory following Celtic was when we got to the UEFA Cup final. We happened to be in Benidorm on holiday and the final was in Seville. Me, my dad and my brothers all went from Benidorm, there were Celtic buses from there, so we made the eight-hour journey to go and watch the final” Bannan said, as quoted by the Sheffield Wednesday website.
That was fortuitous for Bannan and his family to be in Spain already when the final was taking place. However, it showed real commitment to go on such a long journey to see the Hoops play Porto.
However, when you consider that it was the first European final Celtic had been in for 23 years, then it is understandable why Bannan and his family made the trip.
A very memorable game
The game was certainly memorable. The Hoops battled valiantly, but ended up losing 3-2 to the Portuguese side after extra time.
That shouldn’t take away from the performance of the team on the night, or of the fans, who backed the team to the limit.
It will be interesting to find out Bannan’s memories of the game itself, and that of Henrik Larsson, who scored two goals on the night, but still ended up on the losing side.
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