Keef

Quite a few British teams did these kind of tours, some as early as the turn of the century. While such a trip would be costly now, at that time they were incredibly lucrative for visiting clubs. The games would attract huge crowds and would often be attended by presidents, cabinet ministers and other members of high society who would occasionally hold banquets in honour of their guests. I don't know whether or not Motherwell received the VIP treatment, but they would still have done quite nicely out of the trip.

I don't recall Primal Scream being involved but he did spend a lot of time with Sean Dickson from The Soup Dragons/The High Fidelity, and that he sampled the delights of Buckfast and deep fried Mars bars. I have it on VHS somewhere.

Peel did a TV documentary series about ten years ago called 'Sound of the Suburbs', which featured music scenes outside of cities. In one episode, in which he visited Lanarkshire, he referred to Motherwell as one of his favourite teams. Later in the programme he's seen hanging out at the Electric Bar with Stuart from The Delgados.

If Becali has evidence then he should present it. If not, his comments are worthless.

Thanks John, that's very helpful. I'm going to bed now but it's been very interesting to talk to you and to learn more about your club. As I said earlier, I have developed an interest in East European football but this has come mainly from books. It's good to talk to real fans like yourself and to read what you have to say about your club.

Motherwell played CFR Cluj in a friendly in Austria last year. The report is here: http://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/index.php?op...&Itemid=133 Am I right in thinking Steaua was owned by the state/the army before the 1989 revolution?

As I understand it, Romanian football used to be similar to how Scottish football is now, with two big clubs (Steaua and Dinamo) dominating the domestic competitions. It seems that a few smaller clubs have emerged in recent years and have broken that domination. Why do you think this has happened?

Yes, the pressure to win is all on Steaua. You are historically a big club and are former European Cup winners. You might never have such a good side again but I expect your club will still believe you should be doing well in Europe every season. Motherwell, on the other hand, rarely qualify for Europe and although we obviously want to win every game, we're not expected to make any real progress so the fans treat each European tie as a new adventure. Your English is good, no need to apologise.

200 or 300 would be excellent and would make for a good atmosphere, I hope. I'm fascinated by this tie as, by coincidence, I have been reading a lot about Eastern European football in recent months. It's great to be playing one of the giants from Eastern European football even if they are not the team they once were.

Onicas, that is the best first post ever! Do you know if many Steaua fans will travel to Scotland?

That would be the ultimate Secret Santa present for someone at work. When the person receiving it opens it, it'd be great to react to their inevitable look of disappointment and bafflement by saying: "I knew it. You already have one, don't you?"

No, forget it. It was just a particularly weak, tired joke by me. Don't worry.

The title of this thread is potentially libellous.

It's bizarre to think that you could own that image mounted and framed, or as a keyfob or fridge magnet. That's one for the wall above the fireplace, isn't it?

Effectively a life ban, that.

Thanks Altivlora, always good to meet fans from elsewhere and to hear their stories.

Falkirk v Hibs is presumably on because of John Hughes' return, no?

According to this - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_national_football_team - just one in the most recent Romanian squad, which is quite surprising. I'm not sure how many internationalists they have from other countries, though.

Jamie Murphy beat Phil O'Donnell's record as our youngest participant in European football when he played against Nancy last year but that must have been broken again by the recent appearances of Paul Slane and Robert McHugh although I'm not sure who the youngest is of these two. EDIT: In fact, who is our youngest goalscorer in ANY competitive match? Might Slane or McHugh have beaten that record last night?

I have no time for Chick Young but the same goes for many pundits who, for apparent experts on the subject, have an astounding lack of knowledge of much that goes on in Scottish football.

We had our moments last season: getting up to third at one stage, the unbeaten run between December and March, the win at Tannadice etc. so while it was a letdown compared to the previous year, it wasn't all doom and gloom. It's always difficult, though, for a manager to retain his credibility among supporters when he has been close to accepting other jobs. There came a point in the last few weeks of the season, when it was clear we were well clear of relegation and that we were unlikely to trouble the top six when I really wanted the season to end and the manager issue to be resolved as it seemed clear by that point that McGhee was highly unlikely to stay on. It's quite an accusation to suggest McGhee deliberately wasted our chances but, as Stu92 says, if he knew he had no intention of staying then what motivation would he have to engage with out-of-contract players or to make any serious long-term plans? I still think that, on the whole, he is a decent manager, but there has been a pattern throughout his career of starting well, fading then leaving, kind of like a manager version of Jim Hamilton.

Thanks, BCFC. I'm a big Clarky fan and was sorry to see him go, although I accept the time was probably right, from his point of view, for him to move on. I've never been especially interested in pursuing the careers of players in any serious way once they've left Motherwell but it's always good to get the odd update from time to time.

There's always a few scouts and opposition managers at every game. No point in reading too much into it.

I would have been really up for this but there's not a chance I'll be able to afford it just now. Good luck to all the guys who do make the trip - I totally envy you!

Steaua Bucharest are not the side they once were, otherwise they would simply not be playing in the qualifying rounds of the Europa League. The fall of the communism destroyed the power base of many of the giants of East European football and their ability to retain their top players. Steaua will, however, be clear favourites to win the tie and I do fear they might be just a little too good for us at this stage. What gives me some cautious optimism however is the way in which Gannon has been prepared to change his approach following the first legs of the two ties we have played so far and to gear training for the second legs towards exploiting the opposition weaknesses he has noted in the first. My only real hope at this stage is that the tie is still alive after the first leg, after which anything can happen. As someone pointed out in a match report I read, many of our players were not born in 1986 when Steaua won the European Cup so the name and status of the club won't mean as much to them as it does to those of us who are old enough to remember that team. The less the opposition's reputation means to our players, the more fearless they might be in their approach.