Our first European away adventure — from a party at Birmingham Airport to an unforgettable night in France

There are rugby journeys you remember because of the result, and then there are journeys you remember because of everything that happened around the rugby. Our first European away adventure to Montpellier in September 2005 was most definitely one of the latter. It was the beginning of something completely new for Worcester Warriors supporters, and from the moment we gathered together at Birmingham Airport, there was a feeling that this was going to be an adventure we would be talking about for years to come.

From all corners of Worcester and across the West Midlands, supporters made their way to Birmingham Airport, converging on the departure area with bags packed, tickets safely tucked away and the sort of anticipation that only a first European rugby trip can create. It did not take long before the airport gathering became a party in its own right. Old friends met up, new friendships were made and everywhere you looked there were Warriors shirts, scarves and plenty of laughter. The usual airport routine seemed to take on a completely different character because this was not simply a group of people catching a flight; this was the Worcester Warriors travelling army setting off together on its first great European expedition.

Eventually it was time to board the plane, and with the party atmosphere firmly established we headed across the Channel towards Nîmes. Even before we reached Montpellier, we were travelling through a part of France where history seemed to be everywhere you looked. Nîmes itself is famous for its magnificent Roman amphitheatre, one of the great surviving Roman arenas, and there was something rather appropriate about a bunch of rugby supporters arriving in a city built around spectacles and crowds. The Romans had once filled those ancient stands for their own entertainment; nearly two thousand years later, another travelling crowd was heading into the region for a very different kind of sporting spectacle.

But it was Montpellier that was to become the real destination of our adventure, and this was no ordinary French city.

Montpellier has a remarkable history stretching back centuries and has long been associated with learning, medicine, science and the arts. Its famous university has attracted students and scholars from across Europe, while the city has produced some remarkable figures of its own.

Among them was Jean-Jacques-Régis de Cambacérès, born in Montpellier in 1753. He would rise to become one of the most powerful figures in Napoleonic France, serving as Napoleon Bonaparte's Second Consul and later Archchancellor of the Empire. He was also deeply involved in the development of the great French civil code that became the Code Napoléon, a legal legacy that would influence much of Europe.

Montpellier was also the birthplace of the painter Frédéric Bazille, one of the important early figures associated with the Impressionist movement, while another Montpellier-born artist, Alexandre Cabanel, became one of France's celebrated nineteenth-century painters. It is a city whose history is filled with people who went out into the world and left their mark.

And now, in September 2005, another group of people had arrived from Worcester hoping to leave their own, considerably less historic, mark on Montpellier.

The Warriors had come to play rugby.

When we landed at Nîmes airport, the next part of the adventure began. The luxury coaches were waiting for us, and the superb organisation of Jim McLean, his sister and the Supporters Club meant that the travelling party could head off together. There was a real sense that this was more than simply following the Warriors to an away game. We were representing the club, and we were determined to enjoy every minute of it. There was even time on the coach for JP to get to work selling draw tickets in aid of St Richard's, because even on our first European adventure the supporters had not forgotten the causes close to home.

We eventually reached Montpellier, checked into the hotel, dropped off our luggage and, as you would expect from a group of Warriors supporters who had travelled all the way to France, found time for a quick snifter before setting off for the evening's main event. The coaches were organised to take us to the game, and that was when our first European away day took an unexpected turn.

The coaches arrived at the Montpellier football stadium.

Not the rugby stadium.

For a few moments there must have been a certain amount of head-scratching as everyone realised that somewhere along the way we had managed to arrive at the wrong stadium. The rugby ground was on the opposite side of Montpellier, and with kick-off approaching there was suddenly rather less time than anyone would have liked.

But then something happened that turned what could have been a logistical nightmare into one of the most memorable moments of the entire trip.

The police boss at the football stadium happened to be a member of the Montpellier Rugby Supporters Club.

You could hardly have scripted it better.

He immediately took charge of the situation and organised a blue-light police escort for our three coaches, carrying around 150 Worcester supporters, to get us across the city to the rugby stadium. Suddenly our first European away trip had become something that felt more like a scene from a film than a rugby excursion. Three coaches packed with Warriors supporters, a police escort and blue lights flashing as we were whisked across Montpellier towards our first ever European away game.

There was no leisurely sightseeing tour on the way. We were on a mission, and the excitement inside those coaches must have been something to behold. After all the build-up, the flight, the journey from Nîmes and the anticipation of finally seeing the Warriors in Europe, we were now being escorted across Montpellier by the police.

It was thrilling.

And what a way to arrive.

With the clock ticking towards kick-off, the police escort delivered us to the rugby stadium with only about fifteen minutes to spare. We spilled out of the coaches, excitement levels already through the roof, and made our way into the ground knowing that somehow, despite the wrong stadium and the frantic dash across Montpellier, we had made it.

But what we found inside was even more remarkable.

Around 500 Worcester supporters had made the journey to Montpellier!!

Once they were gathered together the travelling support became a force of its own. This was our first European away game, and nobody was going to sit quietly and admire the scenery. The noise, singing and sheer enthusiasm coming from the Worcester end created an atmosphere that was impossible to ignore.

The players and coaches could feel it.

The support was not simply background noise; it became part of the performance. Every tackle was cheered, every Warriors attack was encouraged and every time the team needed another lift, the supporters provided it. The players were not just playing for themselves. They had hundreds of voices behind them, reminding them that Worcester had travelled with them and that the supporters believed they could do something special.

The effect on the team and coaching staff was uplifting. You could sense the connection between the pitch and the terraces, with the supporters feeding energy towards the players and the players responding by giving everything they had on the field. It was one of those occasions when the travelling support genuinely felt like an extra man on the pitch.

The French drummer tried his best to get the Montpellier supporters going, but the Worcester voices were relentless. The home supporters had their drums, horns and songs, but the Warriors contingent simply kept going. It was noisy, passionate and, above all, incredibly proud. For a club making its first great European adventure, this was a statement from the supporters as much as it was from the team.

And the rugby responded.

THE GAME!!

Montpellier started strongly and the Warriors found themselves behind, but Worcester refused to be overawed. The game became a contest of pressure, determination and belief, with the supporters urging the team forward every time the opportunity presented itself.

Half Time Montpellier 18:10 Warriors

At the start of the 2nd half Warriors began to turn the screw, the noise from the Worcester section grew louder. Eventually the scoreboard swung in our direction.

Montpellier 18 : 24 Warriors

Suddenly the travelling supporters could sense that this was becoming something very special.

The team kept attacking and the support kept driving them forward. It was one of those evenings when the distance between the players and supporters seemed to disappear. Everyone was pulling in the same direction, and when the final whistle eventually arrived.

Warriors had secured a magnificent 31–21 victory.

Four tries, four conversions and a penalty had delivered a memorable European result, with Craig Gillies named Man of the Match. But ask any of the 500 Warriors supporters who were there and I suspect the scoreline, important though it was, would only tell half the story.

Because the following evening would become, for many of us,
the real heart of the whole adventure.

If the police escort had provided the excitement of the journey to the stadium, the Supporters Club dinner at Montpellier Rugby Club provided the soul of the trip. Around 150 Worcester supporters gathered with at least another 100 Montpellier supporters for an evening that demonstrated everything that is so wonderful about rugby. There was no longer a home side and an away side, no French and English rivalry, no scoreboard and no pressure.

There were simply supporters who loved rugby
and had come together to enjoy each other's company.

The food was magnificent, with spit-roasted beef providing the centrepiece, and the red wine seemed to flow with the same enthusiasm as the rugby songs. Before long, French songs were being answered by English rugby songs, and English songs were answered by French ones. The evening gathered its own momentum as the two groups of supporters sang, laughed, drank and swapped stories, and what had begun as a European rugby fixture became a celebration of the friendship that rugby can create between people who, only a few hours earlier, had been complete strangers.

It went on well into the early hours.

Looking back now, that is perhaps what makes
that first European adventure so special.

We had travelled from all over Worcester and the West Midlands, gathered together at Birmingham Airport, turned the airport into a Warriors party, flown to Nîmes, travelled through a part of France steeped in Roman history, arrived in a city that had given France politicians, artists, scholars and scientists, somehow ended up at the wrong stadium, been rescued by a Montpellier rugby-loving police boss and given a blue-light escort across the city, arrived at the rugby ground just fifteen minutes before kick-off, and then stood among around 500 Warriors supporters creating an atmosphere that lifted the players and coaches and helped drive the team towards victory.

And then, as if that wasn't enough, we spent the following evening eating, drinking and singing with our new friends from Montpellier.

You could not have written a better script.

The scoreline says Worcester Warriors 31, Montpellier 21.
But the memory says so much more.

It says Birmingham Airport and the laughter before we even left England. It says Nîmes and its extraordinary Roman heritage. It says Montpellier and the remarkable history of a city that had seen generations come and go long before a Worcester rugby team arrived on its doorstep. It says three coaches racing across Montpellier under blue lights. It says 500 Warriors supporters finding their voices in a foreign stadium. It says players and coaches looking towards the terraces and knowing that Worcester was right there with them. And it says two sets of supporters sitting down together afterwards, sharing food, wine, songs and friendship long into the night.

That was our first taste of European rugby.

And for those of us lucky enough to have been there,
it was an adventure of a lifetime.

SUPPORTERS' VOICE

Because sometimes the greatest memories of following the Warriors are not just about what happens on the pitch — they are about the people beside you, the places you go, the friendships you make and the stories you bring home.