Is it just me or is everyone taking the p*ss out of Arsenal fans?? I don’t mean taking the p*ss in a “you’re not very good” kind of way because qualifying for the Champions League Final (doesn’t that sound good????) shows that Arsenal are in fact very, very good. I mean that now we have qualified for the Champions League Final (still sounds bloody good!!) everyone and I mean EVERYONE is taking the piss out of us by racking up their prices to ridiculous levels. Like most Arsenal fans it’s only just sinking in that we’re off to Paris for the biggest club match in the world – and that means trying to get match tickets / travel tickets / accommodation in Paris. But everywhere I look greedy bastards like Eurostar, airlines, hotels are charging up to ten times as much for 16 – 18 May 2006 as they are charging for the days before and after.

I think I’ve secured a couple of tickets for the match, from a French lad who got them in the UEFA ballot in February 2006 but obviously I’m having to pay way over the odds for these. Next I’m trying to arrange travel. British Airways / BMI / Easyjet, Eurostar etc. have trebled or even quadrupled their prices. The best one however is Ryanair, I thought I’d be a bit inventive and fly via Dublin as two low-cost flights would be a small price to pay. WRONG!!!! We can get to Dublin for £0.28 return so no problem there but return flights from Dublin to Paris on 17 / 18 May are (wait for it…) £360 compared to £40 the day before or after, an increase of 900%.

There must be a lot of Dubliners rushing to travel to Paris in mid-May, or could it be the arch-profiteer Michael Ryan jumping on the bandwagon and trying to fleece Arsenal fans? And the biggest irony is that Ryanair’s website has a “Search for cheap flights” button – surely they should all include a “Click here to be ripped off” button for the duration of the Champions League.

I’ve written many articles for the Gooner about how greed threatens to ruin football but this really takes the biscuit. Does it cost Ryanair more to fly a plane on 17 May?? NO. Does it cost Eurostar (£728 return for two people!!) more to run a train on 17 May?? NO. They do it because they know that thousands of decent Arsenal fans want to see the biggest game we have ever played in and because they know we have no choice but to pay their stupid prices.

I watched the Anfield match on 26 May 1989 on TV and to this day I wish so much that I had been there. I don’t want to sit down in 5 / 10 / 15 years time and curse myself for not being in Paris but I’m finding it hard to justify spending nearly £2,000 to be there. Although I suppose the two-fold joy of seeing Thierry Henry lift the European Cup in his home city whilst at the same time consigning Totteringham to the UEFA cup is worth so much more than £2,000. Here’s hoping!!!!

(Ed's note - Oh well, you can't win 'em all! Apologies to Mark that this wasn't posted before the events discussed, but the sentiments are still worth airing. Athens next year anyone?)