Since Arsenal’s euphoric Premier League win last week, it has been a never-ending party in much of north London (apart from in Tottenham, although they had their own cause for celebration). And with Arsenal poised to play in the Uefa Champions League final on Saturday, Gooner fever is about to spread to the continent. So it was not surprising that in Stansted’s departure lounge, about 30 miles north-east of central London, the team’s iconic red-and-white shirts were an unmissable sight on Friday morning.
Most Gunners – or Gooners, as they are colloquially known – were preparing to embark on (mostly indirect) journeys to Budapest, where Arsenal will face Paris Saint-Germain. “We’ll get there by train, plane and automobiles,” said Darren Cornish. The 53-year-old IT manager from Hemel Hampstead was not exaggerating. Arsenal fans the Guardian spoke to plan on trekking to the Hungarian capital via overnight buses and trains from surrounding countries after flights to Budapest spiked following their Premier League victory.
All 13 of Wizz Air’s Budapest-bound flights from London had sold out by Friday but, according to Skyscanner, the last available price for a ticket was £407 one way. To avoid getting hit by a hefty price jump, Cornish “jumped” on booking his travel after the semi-final, managing to secure return flights to Linz, Austria, for £150 return. He will be taking a three and a half hour train to Budapest on Saturday morning. Most of his friends are travelling to the Hungarian capital indirectly, including through Vienna, Bratislava and even Rome. “A very minimal amount of people I know are going direct,” he said.
Cornish was in Highbury, north London, on Sunday after Arsenal’s final Premier League match of the season against Crystal Palace. “I’ve never seen scenes like that at the Emirates and I’ve seen Arsenal win [the league] at Anfield, Old Trafford, White Hart Lane and Highbury,” he said. “The amount of people and the sheer scene of relief on the streets. I don’t think it’d be matched by any other London club.”
Arsenal have made it to the Champions League final for the first time in 20 years. With euphoria from the team’s Premier League win still firmly in the air, Cornish is in a forgiving mood. “This game is a free hit,” he said. “If we lose, we’ve still got the premiership. If we win, it’ll be the best thing ever. There’s no pressure on these boys.”
Ben Boxhall is flying to Kraków with two friends. The trio from Essex were babies when Arsenal last won the Premier League. “We were 18 months old when they won the league in 2004. This is the first one that we remember and celebrating with our parents and friends,” said the 23-year-old who works in marketing.
They plan to catch a bus from Kraków to Budapest at 5am on Saturday. “We’ll get there for about midday,” said Adam Wares, 23, who works in finance. The trio have not got a hotel booked in Budapest and, after joining the thousands of fans expected at the Uefa meeting point where the game will be shown, plan to pull an all-nighter before catching the first bus back to Kraków.
“We were looking at flying to Budapest but it was about £500 to £600 on Wizz Air,” said Wares. Instead they paid £170 for their return flights.
Ollie Laurence, 23, who works in construction, said he knew “people who are paying north of a grand” on flights to get to Budapest. But the prospect of a second Arsenal victory could make it worth it. “It could be the perfect season. If we win the double it would be unbelievable,” he said.
Also flying to Linz was Sonny Living, a 21-year-old graduate from Hertfordshire who is looking forward to a “great time with some great people”. He paid just under £200 return for his flights. He was about a month old when Arsenal last won the Premier League. He said stakes for Saturday’s game “won’t be as high because we’ve had a successful season regardless”, though he anticipates the squad may be more “fearless” on the pitch. He has not secured tickets yet but is on the lookout. “They’re floating around for about £2,500,” he said, a sum he would be willing to pay.
Some slightly older fans are just as excited about Arsenal’s Premier League victory. Neil Roberts has been going to home and away matches for the past 25 years. “When you haven’t had success for so long, when it does come around it’s magical,” said the 43-year-old, who owns a landscaping business. Though he was not openly declaring his support for the Gunners in the airport, he insisted he had an Arsenal shirt in his suitcase.
He was travelling with Jeff Steward, 60, an electrical engineer. He took the risk after the first leg of the Champions League semi-final and snagged flights to Linz for £60. He hedged his bets last year too but did not fly out in the end. “It’s only the flights you lose out on,” he said.
Paul Dawson, 48, an IT manager, another member of the crew who all hail from Aylesbury, said he looked at return flights to Budapest after the semi-final. “Within two hours of full time, they’d gone up by 10 times,” he said.
But for many fans, their long-winded and costly journeys to Budapest are all worth it. “Memories are worth more than money,” said Roberts.