Famous Five opened to
Athens Refugees!
Free pint and food offered by
club to Athens fans - STUART CROWTHERA
FREE PINT AND SANDWICHES are being offered to fans who where in Athens
last week but could not return for the rearranged game on Thursday as
another gesture to disappointed fans from the club.
The doors of the Famous
Five stand at Easter Road will be thrown open at 6.45pm on Thursday for
the 7.15pm kick off, which will be beamed to Scotland by BBC
Television. Fans who made the trip last week are invited to attend
with entry to the stand being some form of proof, such as flight or match
ticket, from fans that they were in the Greek capital for the postponed
game. Club sponsors Carlsberg will provide the first pint free of
charge, while the club will lay on the food.
"We felt we should make a gesture
to the supporters to show them that their backing for the Club is
appreciated. We hope that in doing this, they can generate their own
atmosphere and get as much from the game as possible,"
club managing director Rod Petrie said in announcing the initiative this
morning before joining the rest of the Hibs party on the flight to
Athens. The club were clearly sympathetic to the 1,400 fans who made
it to Athens only to find no game to watch, with around 250 fans returning
to the Greek capital today and tomorrow on flights subsidised by the club
and official travel agents Skye Travel. Compensation is also being
sought by the club on behalf of fans who were heavily out of pocket as a
result of the late postponement by UEFA of all European ties following the
terrorist attacks on the United States last week.
Famous Five stand - open to fans for the game on Thursday (hibs.net)
Petrie said: "We
have now written to every supporter who travelled to Athens asking them to
let us know details of their costs and losses, and we will seek to get
compensation from UEFA. We can't guarantee we will be successful, but we
will try. In addition, we have chartered an aircraft and we
contacted all supporters who travelled with the Club's official tour
operator and offered them a chance to travel at a significantly subsidised
cost. That flight is now full, and we have taken a sizeable number of fans
on board the Club's official party charter as well."
Not all fans however are
convinced that the club have done everything possible, with some pointing
out that they have heard nothing from the club in spite of claims by the
managing director that every fan who travelled has received a
letter. A number have contacted Hibs.net to point out that no
contact has been made, while others are saying that the only letter
received stated only that the as they travelled on the official charter
last week, the club already knows the level of compensation sought in
their case. Around 100 fans who made the trip last week were also
denied the opportunity of returning on the subsidised flights for the
rearranged game, primarily because by the time they were contacted or were
in a position to ensure they had the required time off work, all seats had
been taken.
Yet more fans who
travelled independently last week have remained in Greece for an extra
week, and as they will not be returning until Friday will have difficulty
meeting the deadlines set by the club for compensation forms to be
completed and submitted to Easter Road. While it is expected that
Hibernian will look sympathetically on individual cases, there could yet
be a backlash from such fans if they are in some way excluded from any
compensation claims.
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