RE: Astraeus 737 diverted after fans ‘riot’
I am also a Celtic fan, probably one of the few Norwegian Celtic fans there is 🙂
This is a typical newspaper story. You cannot “Run riot” on an airplane. Rioting is when a large number of people go completely bonkers and try and cause damage to everything around them.
It never ceases to amaze me how people judge a group the same if they wear the same clothes, just like racists judge a group of people the same if they have the same skin colour. And innocent football fans often find themselves being held accountable for something another person they don’t even know did just bechause they have the same top on.
In spring 1998 i travelled to London to see my local team from Oslo take on Chelsea at Stamford bridge together with about 3500 other fans. All Ryan Air flights the week before and after the match were full of football fans. Inevitably there had been reports about a person here and there being drunk on the plane and such, but should i be held accountable for that?
On the day of the flight we took a bus to Oslo Torp, a ridiculous name for the airport, since it’s actually 2,5 hours from Oslo, in a different county. It was snowing heavliy, and we were all worried. After waiting for two hours at the airport in the departure lounge (where some people had bought stuff at the tax free and started drinking it bechause of the long wait..) we were told that the aircraft has had to land on OSL, about three and a half hours to the north. So it was back in the bus, go to OSL, and finally, after waiting at OSL for an hour we got on the flight.
Since we were flying RyanAir i didnt exactly expect a free lunch as an apology for us missing an entire day in London, but when i came to the aircraft, wearing my football top, I had not been drinking, i wasn’t angry bechause of the delay, i actually tried and smile to them as i boarded the aircraft, but i still got a very hostile reception from the crew. The aircraft was a mess, and had not been cleaned and the cabin crew did not greet me back when i said hello and tried to smile as i walked in. I still remember one of the women actually gave me one of those scary looks that only women can do when they are really pissed.
What the hell did i do?
The cabin crew remained hostile towards everyone thruout the journey, we had no food or drinks onboard and most people hadnt eaten for many hours. Then, a moron lit a cigarette in the bathroom. What a jerkoff i thought, and was glad when he put it out and returned to his seat without any arguments whatsoever. But still, the captain came on the microphone and told everyone that if “we did something like that again”, they would land somewhere and leave us all behind.
I dont know what happened on this aircraft, but i do know, that if you are a football fan and one in your group steps out of line, you lose all credibility.
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