Slovenian Prva Liga
Sunday 19th March 2017
Imagine buying tickets for a game abroad, getting there and finding out there's a bumper attendance because the chairman has given away thousands of free tickets!
That's exactly what happened here as Olimpija Ljubljana, the second-best team in Slovenia who were under the ownership of the colourful character that is Milan Mandaric, took on Koper at 20,000-capacity Stožice Stadium which doubles up as the national team's home.
I'd planned the trip well in advance through WizzAir, taking advantage of some bargain air fares and flying out from Luton Airport for a Saturday-Tuesday break. As a consequence, with the game scheduled for the Sunday, it meant there was plenty of time to explore Ljubljana which, although quaint and picturesque, it's hardly a bustling hub of excitement!
Other than Maribor competing in the UEFA Champions League on a handful of occasions since the early 2000s, I didn't know much (well, anything) about Slovenian football before this trip and what unfolded on the pitch didn't really whet the appetite to want to learn more. Furthermore, despite Mr Mandaric's generous 'free ticket' offer, the crowd which turned out was still only around the 7,000-mark - leading to a very echo-type atmosphere inside the stadium.
The ground itself isn't too shabby - it's comfortable, clean, modern, all-seated and situated around four kilometres away from the city centre. Catching a bus is probably the easiest way of getting to it should you not fancy a leisurely stroll which will otherwise take around an hour or so.
On the pitch, Leon Benko put Olimpija ahead early on and they were looking comfortable before the visitors upped their game and got a deserved leveller through full-back Matic Paljk who signed for Swansea City at the end of the season only to be released after a year.
It wasn't a thriller and my abiding memory of this trip will be the 'Phoenix Nights' type events which happened outside the ground beforehand.
Dotted around the perimeter were various catering kiosks selling the usual pop, crisps, popcorn and other light snacks at very cheap prices. Many folk (myself included) fell into the trap of buying something from here only to walk a few yards towards the turnstiles where stewards were confiscating the goods because they wanted everyone to pay higher prices for exactly the same food inside the stadium!
I've since been back to Slovenia to watch Maribor though it's unlikely that I'll be back again at any point in the near future.
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