Final to follow headline act United
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Article summary
Manchester United FC's title triumph may dominate the headlines in north-west England but a small media army is slowly switching its focus to the UEFA Cup final.
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Mixed emotions
'CHAMP10NS' screamed the headline on the back of the Manchester Evening News after Sir Alex Ferguson's team claimed a tenth title in 16 years with victory against Wigan Athletic FC. Images of victorious Reds dominate the newspaper and, for once, rival Manchester City FC fans may have cause for gratitude given their side's dismal 8-1 defeat by Middlesbrough FC. Yet over the next two days, red will give way to white, and light blue will replace sky blue as Rangers FC and FC Zenit St. Petersburg supporters arrive en masse.
Rangers support
With only 350km to travel from Glasgow, Rangers are expected to provide the lion's share of fans in Manchester; Zenit followers have to journey seven times that distance from St Petersburg. Former Liverpool FC defender Rob Jones, who played under and with several Scotsmen at Anfield and now lives in nearby Warrington, told uefa.com: "Knowing the Scots, there will be over 100,000 Rangers fans in Manchester to party. Whether they win or lose, I'm sure the atmosphere will be amazing."
Worldwide coverage
For those not fortunate enough to have a ticket for the sold-out match at the City of Manchester Stadium, a press corps of more than 500 will be sending out coverage of the final across the world. The game will be beamed to 50-plus countries, from Malta to Macau, Singapore to sub-Saharan Africa. There are 230 journalists from the written press while 133 photographers will be dotted around the pristine pitch following the action. Whether it is Zenit or Rangers whom they capture hoisting the large UEFA Cup trophy aloft on Wednesday, is the question their audience will want answering.
