WHUDeano 7:00 Wed Jun 2
Palermo away
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Enjoyed reading the Croatian & Metz stories, gutted I wasn’t at either. I was however in Palermo - one of my all time favourite times following West Ham.
Anyone have any good stories to share?
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Replies - In Chronological Order ( Show Newest Messages First)
southbankbornnbred
7:10 Wed Jun 2
Re: Palermo away
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Pwoper naughty.
Although I did enjoy four days of Sicilian culture before chairs and bottles starting heading towards my head. Fuckers.
The night before the game was mental in terms of how quickly things deteriorated around Teatro Massimo.
The evening of the match was hilarious. Kept bumping into fans with cuts, bruises and black eyes and a "you should have seen the other guy" story to tell - including Palermo fans.
My B&B owner viewed me suspiciously on the Thursday morning, when he saw me on the local telly having a coffee at one of the cafe's where it had all kicked off the night before.
Genuinely received a text from my boss asking: "Have you been arrested yet?"
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El Scorchio
7:12 Wed Jun 2
Re: Palermo away
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Jimmy Walker entertaining the away fans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWfpGrKN_Ag
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southbankbornnbred
7:13 Wed Jun 2
Re: Palermo away
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Watched much of the rioting unfold from the rooftop terrace bar of a hotel. Several WHOers were with me. Bumped into Def on the day of the game. Probably why my boss asked if I'd been arrested!
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WHUDeano
8:38 Wed Jun 2
Re: Palermo away
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Loved everything about it, the only let down (as always) was West Ham not turning up.
Was anyone here involved in the march through the town? I'm sure a friend of mine told me that his mate punched the mayor en route!
We spent the day at the beach down the road, the trouble the night before made it pretty obvious what would happen on the day, so we went on an all dayer at the beach. We had no idea what had been happening during the day and were singing bubbles in the taxi and giving it large to the mopeds all around us. Turned out the taxi driver took his ridiculously high fixed fare and dropped us off at the wrong end of the stadium in the middle of a sea of pink....things escalated quite quickly from that point.
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Colchester Sid
9:42 Wed Jun 2
Re: Palermo away
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We were on the march but ducked out before the ground to get in a couple more beers
Ended up outside the ground before kick off - police decided safest option was to take us through the main entrance, down the tunnel and around the pitch to the West Ham corner
3,000 West Ham belting out Bubbles as we walked across the pitch was a pretty special memory
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cup of tea
9:56 Wed Jun 2
Re: Palermo away
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Knew it was going to be naughty out there so 6 of us stayed in Cefalu for a few days before the game. Lovely hotel great hospitality and food/drink. We even drank with locals one evening and they gave us some Palermo scarves.
Got a minibus to Palermo for the game avoided any aggro bar some shouting and gesturing at us near the stadium which was expected. Minibus back to Cefalu after the game and home 2 days later so we made a real stay of it.
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joyo
10:29 Wed Jun 2
Re: Palermo away
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Had a week out there,stayed in village 5 miles from city think called Montrea, hired a car and done the island..apart from Mount Etna thought it was a shithole
On day of match we were in full colours and drove to stadium missing all the ambushes and fun,plod couldn't believe us walking up and untouched...was bit dodgy after as we had to slip away from escort and didnt want to get on coaches as motor was parked not too far from ground...found their plod just as much as cunts as the pinkies
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southbankbornnbred
10:39 Wed Jun 2
Re: Palermo away
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I missed the march.
Was with a few old WHOers and we ended up having a few drinks elsewhere. Got in a cab to the ground. It was a good day, apart from the result and dodging bottles/glass/chairs/blokes on scooters with bike chains.
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Eastside surge
10:54 Wed Jun 2
Re: Palermo away
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Remember being on the coaches back to the airport as we flew in and out on the day of the game and every single police car/ van in sicily must have been used for the escort as it was blue lights as far as the eye could see felt rather important actually!
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Don Ravioli
8:45 Thu Jun 3
Re: Palermo away
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One of my best mates old man was the one that chinned the mayor.
Didn’t go down too well he said.
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AKA ERNIE
11:45 Thu Jun 3
Re: Palermo away
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Was on the terracing before kick off and ray Winstone appeared being held up by his mates as he was fucking wasted lasted about 10 mins before being carried out by his mates.
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chim chim cha boo
11:59 Thu Jun 3
Re: Palermo away
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FAR from a shithole, believe me. So lovely in fact that I went back last year. A beautiful city with a ton of culture. Although if you did what a lot of people did and jump on a plane at Stansted, get arseholed, went to the game and did the same in reverse you haven't really been there.
Sicily is one of the most beautiful islands on the planet. And yes, I was at the Aboriginal bar off Massimo square when it all kicked off. A bunch of drunken 18 year old West Ham wankers started it by throwing bottles.
It was odd to see their old bill joining in with the ultras and we still bashed them on the night before the game but I absolutely fucking loved almost every minute that I was there. I even bumped into the entire West Ham team when they visited the catacombs.
A brilliant away day.
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Mr Kenzo
12:04 Thu Jun 3
Re: Palermo away
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A fair few made their own way to Palermo by using different routes to avoid the ridiculous prices the airlines were charging
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southbankbornnbred
12:09 Thu Jun 3
Re: Palermo away
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Chim - spot on.
Great place. Been to Palermo three times now, and travelled extensively around Sicily with Mrs Southbank.
My only gripe about Sicily is that, beyond Cefalu, it’s hard to find a decent public beach. So much of the island’s waterfront is still privately owned by “you know who”. But the culture, food, scenery and history is immense.
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ChesterRd
12:38 Thu Jun 3
Re: Palermo away
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Honestly can't remember how our small group got to the ground, definitely wasn't on the march but may have walked or got a taxi. Afterwards got onto a bus into the centre and found a lovely restaurant for some late night grub. Palermo was fascinating, with its faded grandeur. Visited the Catacombs, what a weird place that was with clothed bodies on display. My over riding memory on the flight home was thinking it looked like most of the passengers had been a war zone. Naturally West Ham out on the pitch were a massive let down.
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TheBoleynBoy
12:45 Thu Jun 3
Re: Palermo away
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West Ham weren’t that much of a let down on the pitch over the both legs, had Palermo had a different keeper we would’ve gone through with ease, he played a blinder both games pulling off a billion saves. Obviously defence let us down in the end but that keeper was unreal them games. Think his name was Fofana.
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southbankbornnbred
1:13 Thu Jun 3
Re: Palermo away
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TBB, not sure which game you were watching, but Palermo picked us off with some ease in that second leg.
Corini (the slaphead) and Simplicio (the little squat Brazilian), their two central midfield players, ran the show.
It was a good counter-attacking performance, because they knew they had the away win and the numbers in midfield. If I'm honest, Pards got taught a bit of a tactical lesson that night.
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southbankbornnbred
1:15 Thu Jun 3
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We looked like the sort of team that hadn't qualified for Europe for a while and fell for pretty much every trap set for us by a canny and gnarly Palermo side.
A salutary lesson for next season and one which, I think, Moyes will be conscious of.
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ChesterRd
1:27 Thu Jun 3
Re: Palermo away
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I don't know what game some people were watching in Palermo either, but if they think West Ham were matching Palermo it wasn't the one I was.
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