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Gers fans travel in numbers ahead of Uefa Cup final

14/05/2008

An estimated 60,000 Rangers fans are descending upon Manchester ahead of tonight's Uefa Cup final against Zenit St Petersburg.

The match is being staged at the City of Manchester Stadium in the Eastlands area of the city.

And many Glasgow residents are taking advantage of the ease of travel to the city just 200 miles to the south to witness the atmosphere that surrounds their team in Europe.

The Gers have been allocated only 13,000 for the match itself, although as many as five times that number are expected to arrive in Manchester today to watch the game on big screens that will be erected throughout the city centre.

City officials have been keen to point out that there will be no facilities for watching the game around the stadium in order to discourage ticketless fans from travelling to the area and searching for illegal touts.

Rangers officials had hoped to take up some of the allocation reserved for Zenit supporters, who are not renowned for travelling in numbers to away games in Europe.

However, organisers have confirmed the Russian side have sold out their end of the stadium, which will have a maximum capacity of 44,000 for the match.

Many fans with tickets are already in Manchester, having travelled down yesterday to soak up the atmosphere in bars and pubs during the current UK heatwave.

Rangers earned their place in Manchester thanks to a penalty shootout victory over Italian side Fiorentina, while Zenit knocked out tournament favourites Bayern Munich 5-1 on aggregate.

The final itself kicks off at 19:45 BST.