The time Town fans have spent in Moscow would by no means have been counted as a wasted journey had the result not gone our way last night, but the superb victory in the auspicious surroundings of the Luzhniki was the icing on the cake.

The day was spent seeing more of the sights of Moscow as the presence of the Blue Army became ever more evident on the streets, and particularly in Red Square. Wherever you went there were Town supporters wearing the almost obligatory shapka and in some of the hotel bars confused Russians listened to singing and were amused by the hats of the 1,000 or so who had travelled.

As early evening approached supporters started to leave their hotels by coach to get to the stadium. Others made the short hop to the Sportivnaya Metro station. Rather surprisingly the train was not dominated by Torpedo scarves and shirts, one or two were visible, but it was not the same as the Underground when Town are playing Chelsea for example.

Exiting the station saw the first of several police searches in the five-minute walk to the stadium. Fans were asked to step aside by the groups of police who searched and then sent them on their way. We managed to avoid getting searched until we got to the entrance to the stadium. Our cameras were queried but we were allowed to pass.

Inside the police presence was equally large with entire squads cordoning off areas where supporters weren't to go.

The stadium is a fantastic sight both from within and without. Few of the 80,000 or so seats were occupied as the teams came out. It was the Town supporters who made most of the noise with the chants echoing back from the vast expanse of empty arena. However, it was still an impressive sight.

The police were in the main a rather po-faced bunch. With the seats dirty, fans stood throughout, but whenever a Town fan was seen to put his foot on a seat he was chastised.

At half-time Town fans and Torpedo fans swapped shirts badges etc and some lucky Moscow kids now own My Other Car's a Tractor car stickers. They also fought over items like the 95/96 green away shirt kindly donated by Blues fans.

Merchandising was a bit odd at the ground. Only two people I have met got hold of a programme, apparently sold to them by a shifty-looking man with a suitcase. Earlier in the day I had seen one, shown to me by an equally shady looking chap at the fans' match (the result of which was announced over the tannoy). I'm going to have a look in their shop later today to see if I can find one. It also appears there were at least two counterfeit programmes available, although again in very short supply.

After a second half of Town joy we wandered back to the Metro to nip for a celebratory ale. We changed train at Okhozny Ryad where some Torpedo fans were showing a large banner to Town supporters. Suddenly there was a shout from further along the concourse and a group of lads, clearly intent on violence, piled in. We made a swift escape as they were stopped in their tracks by the huge number of police travelling on the Metro from the ground. It was explained to us by a Russian in shaky English that these were fans of another Moscow club after Torpedo supporters and not anyone after ourselves.

After calming down a bit we ended up back at the Hotel Rossiya, the base for many supporters, for a drink or two. Some on the official trip had been dismayed to discover that their flight had been brought forward and that they would have to leave the hotel at 5am and that they were now to fly on a smaller Aeroflot twin propeller craft. Some chose to drink through the night.

The bar we were in was full of singing with a lot of Town fans. In amongst them all was a loan/lone Mackem, a guy called Sean Vasey from the Wearside Roar fanzine, who had promised a Town supporting mate that he would go to Town's first UEFA game this season. The only travelling Macktor Boy was as good as his word.

Some of the celebrating fans eventually made their way back to their rooms with the by now familiar entreaties from prostitutes.

It's been a quite amazing few days and the performance on the pitch added to an already memorable experience. Today sees most on their way home or already back in England. The rest of us still here are off doing more sightseeing.

Few who were here will forget Town's trip to Russia. Next stop Sweden.

Photo: Action Images

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