A RED, white and blue army left Ibrox Stadium today as a convoy of Rangers fans set off to join thousands already in Manchester.
VIDEO SPECIAL: See the convoy setting off for Manchester
with Matthew Lindsay in Manchester
A RED, white and blue army left Ibrox Stadium today as a convoy of Rangers fans set off to join thousands already in Manchester.
Every car, pick-up truck, transit van and mini-bus was covered in flags, balloons and scarves as around 200 vehicles began the journey through the city en route to Manchester, where tickets are selling for up to £2000.
Music blared as CDs belted out Rangers songs and a deafening procession of tooting car horns signalled the start of the journey.
Merchandisers at Ibrox were doing a roaring trade as fans snapped up last-minute flags and Uefa Cup T-shirts.
In one car, decked out with flags, Myra Fielding, 49, travelled with son Jack, 10. She said: "The atmosphere is going to be fantastic, it's a once in a lifetime chance.
"I don't really care how long it's going to take us to get there, we're really looking forward to it."
Also travelling was a family from Rutherglen and a group of fans who had come all the way from Australia.
Rab Smith, 57, from Melbourne, had travelled with a group of fans to Scotland. Initially from Johnstone, he moved to Melbourne in 1982.
He said: "There's about a dozen of us from Melbourne in our party. I'm really glad to be home, this is unbelievable."
Also making the trip was Cooper Black, 2, and his dad, Alex, 37, from Cambuslang. Mr Black said: "It's not often you get the chance to be in a European final, so we're going to love this."
One of the most colourful vehicles leaving Ibrox was a group of six from the Glasgow city centre bar Madness. Travelling in a Lincoln Navigator, the fans were decked out in Union Jack cowboy hats and their American car had red, white and blue ribbons on the bumper and even on the car's hub caps.
Central Station was also besieged with fans heading to the game by train.
The crowds included John Macinley, 32, of Pollok, who was wearing a Union Jack top hat, and his pal Roddy Finchley, 34, also from Pollok, who was wearing a jester's hat.
John said: "It's going to be a momentous night. To have Rangers in a European Final is unheard of and if we win it Manchester will never have seen anything like it."
meanwhile, thousands of fans were already in Manchester, for what will be the club's first European final in 36 years.
Tickets for the game against Zenit St Petersburg are selling for 30 times their face value.
The stadium has a capacity of only 47,000 but the tickets, which have face values of £35, £55 and £95, are changing hands for between £1000 and £2000.
Local touts have stopped selling tickets for Manchester United's game with Chelsea in the Champions League final in Moscow next week because they think there is far more money to be made flogging tickets to desperate supporters for tomorrow's Rangers game.
James Anderson, from Scotstoun, Glasgow, was hoping to pick up a ticket for the final, but said: "The cost of tickets is unbelievable.
A lot of my friends have paid up to £500 to get one and I had hoped to get one here for around that.
"But you have to say enough is enough. I was offered two for £1200 earlier today. I can't afford that, but there are obviously people out there willing to pay that.
"It is mental. I have been a Rangers fan all my life and am desperate to see the club play in a European final.
"But I will pass on the prices tickets are going for.
I would rather just soak up the atmosphere in the city than fork out that much for one game."
Alex King, of Drumchapel, Glasgow, drove down with a group of friends this morning - without a ticket or a hotel to stay in.
He said: "I wouldn't miss this for the world. I have been at every home game in the Uefa Cup this season and travelled to Lisbon and Florence, but I couldn't get one for the final.
"But I don't really care. The important thing is just to be part of it. I feel I am helping the team just by being here.
"I will watch the match on one of the big screens they have put up. It will be the next best thing to being at the game. I'm really looking forward to it.
"I am sure I will find somebody's floor to sleep on, but if I don't manage that it won't matter. I don't think I would be able to get much sleep even if I had a room."
Stewart Kirkland, of Yoker, Glasgow, was one of the lucky ones to get a ticket in the official ballot.
He said: "There are so many Rangers fans here it is unbelievable. I have hardly seen a single Zenit St Petersburg fan since I got here. Everywhere you turn there are Rangers supporters. It is quite a sight. This is Magic Manchester!
