DASC Euro Travel Club

The Dunfermline Athletic Supporters Club held a meeting tonight to develop their plans for the Pars march into Europe!

There was a cracking atmosphere in the Kingdom Suite tonight at East End Park as over 50 members of the DASC Euro Travel Club met to hear about the latest plans for supporting the Pars UEFA Cup campaign.

Meeting Chairman Kenny Cowan introduced representatives from Sport Fayre Ltd, the English based sports travel specialists who are the Club`s travel partners for the Euro trips. David Dryer from that company explained his company had taken Hibs to Lithuania last week and as well as working with Celtic and Dundee, they also worked with most English Premiership teams.

It was made clear that the first priority of Sports Fayre is to get the team to the away venue. It is likely they will then have spare capacity on the team plane for supporters. This is where the DASC Euro Club members or other independent travelling fans will have an opportunity to have these seats. If oversubscribed the company would look at putting additional planes on although he noted August is a very busy time for hiring aircraft, which is likely to be reflected in the price compared with later in the season, in the depths of winter!

Mr Dryer indicated that the Hibs trip last weekend, for example, cost fans about £400 each which included a couple of nights in a good hotel. Again, depending where the Pars are drawn could result in problems getting accommodation in the height of summer.

Mr Dryer introduced his colleague, Ian Aidie, who is to head up their Scottish operation based in Glasgow, Sports Fayre Scotland Ltd. A useful question and answer session followed.

Both Mr Dryer and Mr Aidie had to leave the meeting but received a warm round of applause from the appreciative audience. The impression they gave was of a very experienced and capable organisation. A good choice by the Club.

For the avoidance of doubt, Sports Fayre Ltd are not the appointed agents for the DASC Euro Travel Club. They will act as official travel "partners" of the football club. The Euro Travel Club will liaise with Sports Fayre Ltd but, at the same time, will continue to research and prepare alternative methods of transport, routes and packages for their members.A telephone hotline will be introduced for Euro Travel Club members to book their seats etc. as soon as the draw is announced.

With the UEFA Cup draw taking place on 30 July and the first date for a potential away tie on 12 August, all supporters need to start preparing now whether or not they are members of a travel club. One of the requirements for travelling in Europe is a safety issue. At the instigation of the SFA, the football club will need a note of names and passport numbers for all fans travelling to Europe. Clearly, this is very dependent on the goodwill and cooperation of the fans to comply. Details can be phoned into the Pars Ticket Office. There could be tangible benefits, in due course, if we are drawn against a side where the ticket allocation is limited.

The winner of the prize draw winning a free place to travel with the official party to the first European tie was, Stuart Gray.