Here we were in the UEFA cup. Middlesbrough FC! We had been in dreamland since winning the Carling cup in the February of 2004 and after knocking Banik Ostrava of the Czech Republic out in the first round, we’d been thrown in at the deep end in the group stage. We were tied in a group of 5 (top 3 only to qualify) with Italian giants Lazio, Partizan Belgrade (one of the original crack European sides) of Serbia, Villarreal an up and coming strong side from Spain as well as Greek minnows Egaleo. After defeating Egaleo 1-0 away and disposing of Lazio 2-0 in an epic home match, it was the turn of Villarreal and fulfilling a personal dream of watching my beloved Boro in Europe for the first time.
The beach in Benidorm...
Three of us (my friends Scott and Paul as well as myself) got flights from Birmingham to Alicante and hired a car with the plan being to stay in Benidorm for two nights and make a little holiday out of it, and then drive up for the game in the middle of the trip which would be about two hours away. Despite it being late November, the weather was still nice and warm and you could comfortably walk around in your t-shirt. We had a nice paella dish on the seafront, before going back to the hotel and getting ready for a night out. We set off walking into Benidorm’s town, stopping off for a drink at a place that was only charging a Euro for a pint of Amstel! We went to Cafe de Benidorm, where there was a comedian on, before hitting some of the clubs, many of which were giving away free shots. We got some food in the early hours, bumping into some fellow Boro fans in doing so, before retiring to bed… A good night was had and we were all really looking forward to the game!
The next day we went and had a few games of pool at the Harley-Davidson bar on the seafront and grabbed a bite to eat before heading up for the game which kicked off mid-evening. Villarreal is located near to Castellon not far from Valencia and we arrived in good time and got parked up. We walked into the square near the ground, which was heaving with fellow Boro fans and joined in as the atmosphere was building nicely! It was pretty emotional stuff seeing all these scenes - something I’d dreamed about seeing for many years - celebrating my team on foreign shores surrounded by fellow Boro fans!… This was it - We were about to watch Middlesbrough FC play in Europe! I think the locals were somewhat puzzled as they watched on as the fountains got filled with washing up liquid! We went to our gate in good time wearing our sombrero’s we’d got especially for the game. But there was mayhem outside, as everyone got penned in by barriers. A crush was developing, and I ended up getting pushed over the top of a barrier with a woman. The barrier went flying too but luckily nobody got injured. There seemed to be no reason for the hold up either which was annoying to say the least. After I dusted myself off and went through the turnstile, we were all body searched which delayed us still further and we missed the start of the game. The seating was unorganised (no proper seat numbering) and the viewing was bad. It felt like a free-for-all and eventually as more and more fans streamed in there was a realisation that there were too many fans in the area. Fortunately, the stewards saw sense and opened up a big steel gate divide and allowed us into another area which was adjacent behind the goal which was much better.
We weren’t happy that McClaren had left out Viduka and Hasselbaink our most potent attacking forces and instead played Nemeth and Job, as well as Parlour being rested for Doriva, but we started off okay. Juan Roman Riquelme was pulling the strings for Villarreal in midfield like a magician though and the breakthrough was made before half time when he fed Guayre who slotted home. El Madrigal erupted in Spanish cheer as the home faithful celebrated. Changes were made after half time and we had a Riggott ‘goal’ disallowed for offside which was quite debatable as we pushed for an equaliser. Villarreal killed the game off though with about 15 minutes of play left. Riquelme was again the orchestrator as he played a 1-2 with Javi Venta, who neatly slot home. And that was that - the game had ended disappointingly and we were left feeling deflated. But still it was a great experience and we were beaten by an impressive side who deserved their victory.
Zenden battles for the ball in our clash against Villarreal...
A funny thing happened at breakfast the next morning before left for the airport. Already tight on time, we went down to the hotel restaurant only to find that they’d stopped serving. We were puzzled at first, but then quickly realised that we were mistakenly on English time and not Spanish time which is 1 hour ahead. We suddenly panicked that we were going to miss our flight, so we dashed up to our room like something from a Benny Hill sketch to collect our bags. As we went through the door Paul slipped and fell full force on his hip!!! We didn’t have time to worry about it though, so we grabbed our bits and raced to the car. We made the flight by the skin of our teeth! Boro beat Partizan Belgrade convincingly 3-0 in the remaining group fixture and in doing so ended up topping the group. We were mega chuffed as it was such a hard group! We ended up bowing out of the competition in the last 16, to eventual losing finalists Sporting Lisbon, a dignified effort for our first ever attempt and we could leave with our heads held high. After all, the best was still to come the following season!
By Ben Charlton.