Sixth straight season......

[AngerManagement]

In European competition begins tonight

I know this is not much of a thread to bother starting and could have just been mentioned in the match thread, but I thought it was worth making a bigger deal of this fact so we can take note of where were are and how far we have actually come in the past few seasons.

It wasn't that long ago I literally DREAMED of us somehow making it to the Uefa cupm even during the glory times with Jurgen we failed to make it to Europe

European nights at the Lane are very special occasions and I am excited for tonights game

We've had five straight seasons of European football now including a CL outing, shows we have been on the rise and is worth remembering this, shows we have become a much more consistent team in the last few years and when you think back to the late 90s and early 2000's it illustrates how much we have to be thankful for and why we also have a lot to look forward to hopefully

 

[Wellspurs]

Agree, anyone remember working out all the permutations that first season we got in? If X wins the Fa cup etc.

 

[AngerManagement]

I've been guilty of taking the Europa league for granted since CL has become our target and focus

Its quite a sobering thought to remember that just a little while ago we were all desperate for nights in Europe, I hope we rotate our squad well so that we can have a balance that allows us to play a strong enough side to do well in this tournament while giving youngsters experience and keeping squad members fresh too.

I'm looking forward very much to tonights game and the competition in general now the disappointment of missing out of CL has finally left me

 

[nferno]

Lol I remember the day Mendes' goal against manure was wrongly disallowed and stopped us qualifying for uefa. I was so depressed, almost as much as when chelscum won the cl and stopped us getting in.

 

[AngerManagement]

Lol I remember the day Mendes' goal against manure was wrongly disallowed and stopped us qualifying for uefa. I was so depressed, almost as much as when chelscum won the cl and stopped us getting in.

I remember countless final games of the season where we had a remote chance of making it to the Uefa if we won well and other results went our way, Chris Armstrong missing on the line at St James Park springs to mind

Before these last few seasons I had only EVER seen us in Europe via two cup runs, one of which came via the League cup at a time when the bigger teams no longer took it seriously and the likes of Leicester and Middlesbrough were capable of winning it

 

[hodsgod]

Great nights, I was there in 84 to see the last European trophy. One hell of a night.

 

[Blake Griffin]

Agree, anyone remember working out all the permutations that first season we got in? If X wins the Fa cup etc.

don't forget the days leading up to the fairplay draw

 

[werty]

We weren't in Europe in the 09/10 season, so it's our third straight season. But yeah, I know what you mean. Growing up watching us, getting into Europe thorugh the league seemed like an unrealistic aim, but now it's the minumum requirement. Shows we've come a long way the last 4-5 years.

 

[mark87]

The fact that alot of fans are disappointed to be missing out on CL and have to 'make do' with the Europa League shows how far we have come. I for one am looking forward to the Europa League this season and hope we take it seriously.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

In European competition begins tonight

I know this is not much of a thread to bother starting and could have just been mentioned in the match thread, but I thought it was worth making a bigger deal of this fact so we can take note of where were are and how far we have actually come in the past few seasons.

It wasn't that long ago I literally DREAMED of us somehow making it to the Uefa cupm even during the glory times with Jurgen we failed to make it to Europe

European nights at the Lane are very special occasions and I am excited for tonights game

We've had five straight seasons of European football now including a CL outing, shows we have been on the rise and is worth remembering this, shows we have become a much more consistent team in the last few years and when you think back to the late 90s and early 2000's it illustrates how much we have to be thankful for and why we also have a lot to look forward to hopefully

Great post, worthy of a thread. I think we all get a bit complacent and take this shit for granted at times, but those of us with a few miles on the clock particularly appreciate how fucking shit we were for 10-15 years prior to this and how much a bit of consistency has meant to this club.

European nights were always special. Away games the best crack in football as they combine those two favourite pastimes of travel and football.

Love the Tony Montana/AVB avatar by the way.

 

[brasil_spur]

We weren't in Europe in the 09/10 season, so it's our third straight season. But yeah, I know what you mean. Growing up watching us, getting into Europe thorugh the league seemed like an unrealistic aim, but now it's the minumum requirement. Shows we've come a long way the last 4-5 years.

Eh??

 

[Blake Griffin]

eh?? what?

sevilla at home in the wafer cup had a better atmosphere than any of the cl games imo, hope we can go far and get another game like that(but with a better result this time)

 

[kevinfish]

I remember countless final games of the season where we had a remote chance of making it to the Uefa if we won well and other results went our way, Chris Armstrong missing on the line at St James Park springs to mind

Before these last few seasons I had only EVER seen us in Europe via two cup runs, one of which came via the League cup at a time when the bigger teams no longer took it seriously and the likes of Leicester and Middlesbrough were capable of winning it

Praying to God we got in through fair play...

 

[ShelfSide18]

I remember the excitement of going to the lane a few years back when we played Slavia Prague in the 2nd leg of the UEFA Cup group stage playoff - our first Euro night at WHL since Kaiserslautern under George Graham. Now we take games like that for granted, back then it was just the dream of being in Europe and then the excitement all the way through until we lost to Sevilla and that amazing atmosphere that night.

I know since then we've taken in the likes of the San Siro and Bernabeu and we're used to playing in Europe now, but there are many, many football fans out there who would want to be playing Lazio on a thursday night.

Away European games are amazing, hopefully we get through the group and get a good draw, I'd like to go to Bilbao personally.

 

[alamo]

Love this thread.

I was at the game when we were back in Europe under BMJ and the fans yelled "MARTIN JOLS BLUE AND WHITE ARRRMY..... DUM DUM DUM DUM" non-stop for 90 minutes.

Fucking amazing atmosphere. Fucking great away day.

Really hope we recapture that spirit this time around

 

[3Dnata]

I remember being on here when people were doing the permutations about a fair play place after our league positions became desperate.
It's great to be in Europe and I'm glad the current management seem to be taking it seriously.

 

[parklane1]

Its great to be in Europe, some of my greatest memorys have been European games at the Lane Ajax, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Anderlecht etc. They are always special nights for me and i am hoping that under AVB we will go all out to win the trophy.

 

[nidge]

Eh??

He's is right we didn't play in Europe in the 09/10 season. It's the season we finished 4th and then played in the CL in the 10/11 season.

 

[Annabel]

Anyone remember hoping we could get in through the intertoto cup?

 

[Kingstheman]

don't forget the days leading up to the fairplay draw

We woz (always) robbed!