Ireland fans face nightmare journey and ticket crunch as Bulgaria venue is confirmed
Ireland’s Nations League fate will be decided over two legs in March against Bulgaria.
Ireland fans will face a nightmare trek to make the Nations League play-off first-leg against Bulgaria on March 20.
The Bulgarian FA have confirmed that the match will take place in Plovdiv, 150km south east of the capital Sofia.
With no flights scheduled between Dublin and Plovdiv, the best option will be to fly into Sofia and get a two-hour bus to Bulgaria’s second-largest city.
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But that is complicated by the fact that the only direct flight option listed between Dublin and Sofia around the date of the match involves a four-night stay - and the cost of the return flight is already over €500.
Meanwhile, the capacity of the recently renovated Hristo Botev Stadium is just over 18,000 - with around 900 seats (five percent) available for away fans.
Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrímsson confirmed why the Bulgarians selected Plovdiv as the venue for the game.
“We just met them after the draw and it's confirmed that it's Plovdiv, they were re-laying the grass before the last game, that's why they played the last game in Sofia,” he said.
“It's a better stadium, a newer stadium so they want to play there.”
While the team will take a chartered flight straight into Plovdiv, Hallgrímsson still has to work out the timing of their arrival and departure.
“Because it's the first game, I think it's a little bit tricky,” he said. “Do we do Monday and Tuesday in Dublin and then fly, and do Wednesday, MD-1 training session there in the stadium?
“And then coming back home, again the tricky thing is, do we fly straight after the match or stay a day down there?
“It's now logistics work for the federation. I think they are going next week for a site visit, just to check the hotel and locations so we can prepare in advance.”
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