Perth to Austria proved to be too problematic for St Johnstone fans desperate to see their team play in Europe again.
But Spain to Austria didn’t.
Lifelong Saintee, Andy Douglas, an expat living in Andalucia, jumped at the chance to make his way to Klagenfurt for Thursday night’s Europa Conference League clash with LASK when entry restrictions eased at the weekend.
Another supporter, Ross Watson, travelled from Germany.
The pair of them sat together in the Worthersee Stadion to witness a famous 1-1 draw with Saints’ highly-rated opponents.
And they also managed to find former Perth cult hero Attila Sekerlioglu for a half-time chat.
Dino we are up to your left ! Come over at half time pic.twitter.com/j1VFFi3hnW
— Ross Watson (@ross_watson1) August 19, 2021
It certainly proved to be a worthwhile adventure.
And now Andy has got his heart set on three more trips to follow the club in the group stage should Callum Davidson’s men complete the job against LASK next Thursday night.
“I got the train down from my place north of Malaga,” said Andy, 59, originally from Gannochy on the outskirts of Perth.
“I jumped on a flight to Vienna, quick taxi to the railway station and then four hours on the train to Klagenfurt.
“I didn’t come here with any expectation of getting a ticket.
“I’ve not made any home games for a long time and price-wise this was probably better for me.
“I saw the opportunity, had time on my hands and just went for it.”
https://t.co/vSTXGB7W9I pic.twitter.com/nRwvltJlhk
— James sin pero (@goalboss) August 19, 2021
Andy, who was a season ticket holder for two decades when he lived in Perth, has followed Saints to places like Finland, Monaco and Armenia.
He’ll have made a few of his friends back home very jealous over the last couple of days.
Jealous friends
“I booked the tickets on Friday,” he said. “And then Austria changed their regulations for getting from Spain.
“I’ve been winding up my pals on social media, alright!
“If you’ve been on as many Tartan Army trips as I have, you know how to react quickly and get things booked.
“It was great to see the team run out in another country I’ve never watched Saints in.
Chris Kane with a MASSIVE goal for @StJohnstone! 😱
After surviving some early pressure from the hosts, Saints strike first in Austria 🔥
"What a goal! What a start!" 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/A884H4ge1c
— Premier Sports (@PremierSportsTV) August 19, 2021
“Having missed all these epic moments last season it gave me the impetus to say ‘to hell with it, I’m going’.
“This won’t go on forever and I can’t believe this is another European trip for Saints.
“We’ve been living in dreamland.
“Another big thing is getting the chance to see this team while they’re all together.
“You never know, hopefully there will be the opportunity to get to more matches in the group stage.
“I’ll try and go to every one of them if they qualify.”
