The Eastern Front

So it’s Skonto Riga. After all the waiting and the research, UEFA threw a curveball with the subdivision into pots and the mixing of lower second rounded seeds and higher first round rounds. Skonto were originally seeded in the second round but due to the ramifications of the first round draw they ended up on the unseeded side of the draw.

I think it is a great trip for the fans, but a difficult one from a footballing point of view. Skonto have been one of the powerhouses of Lativan football since independence and although the crown has slipped recently, they are still a force to be reckoned with. Certainly there are many easier sides which we could have got in the draw.

Unfortunately the tie falls in the only two weeks of the year that I can’t take off work. In every year in the recent past these two weeks would have fallen in October but due to how quiet we are they have shifted it to July. I knew this from a few months back, and despite a tentative approach yesterday the answer was still no. I’ll struggle to get to the home game, and the away leg is definitely out.

Still, spent the afternoon researching options for the like of me da who is definitely going. I think people were caught by how expensive flights were. However with less than a month to the game and heading to a destination which is increasingly popular with tourists, it was never going to be a bargain basement price.