Best night of my life bar none.
All the memories from Istanbul are still so vivid in my mind inc. the great time we had at Taksim square the day/night before the game.
I remember getting to the stadium in a taxi with 5 cases of beer & bottles of vodka/whiskey/rum - my pals (who'd got there an hour or so before) were like rabid dogs when they saw the booze. They'd rung me earlier to say that there was only non-alcoholic beer(?) being served so I was pretty loved right then.
Later on watching in awe as - what seemed like - thousands of Reds marching through the turkish countryside to get to the stadium.
Funnily enough I was going through some of my old stuff in the loft the other day and I found a few bits from Istanbul.
My match ticket, a programme, a metal pin badge from the final along with a couple of things i wouldn't normally buy - a tshirt and a cap which have both got a cityscape of istanbul printed on them with the words "I was there".
Dunno why I got them but I'm glad I did. My lad was only a toddler in '05 but he's heard & watched so much about that European Cup campaign that he was absolutely made up when I gave the stuff to him.
His response : "I can't wait until our next CL final - I'm definitely going with you !"
I remember watching the '81 & '84 finals when I was about the same age as my lad is now and dreaming of going to a final to cheer our lads on.
It was a long wait to finally get there but boy was it was worth it !
In my heart I believe my lad won't have to wait as long as I did to see us in another european cup final.
When he gets to go it'll be great - just not as good as Istanbul !
