Damien Gormley has travelled to England three times in the last month to watch Manchester United. Gormley will be at Old Trafford again on Saturday for Aston Villa's visit.
Attending matches involving the Red Devils throghout Europe is Gormley's passion. A trip to Kazahkstan to watch a match against Astana is among his favourite and most memorable adventures. Now, though, with restrictions easing Gormley is relishing being back at Premier League clashes.
Since the start of the campaign Gormley has attended games against Leeds United, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and West Ham United. There has not been a shortage of drama with Gormley enjoying the football and break away.
"It is really normal, it throws you a bit," Gormley says about life in England. "When I went to the Leeds game I travelled in my car, it was a ferry trip. Going into a petrol station you have your mask on, half the people there have a mask on.
"Suddenly you get into a city you realise nobody has a mask on. There is no mention of Covid. You think this is really weird because it is still very prominent here in Ireland. In the stadiums it feels completely normal because everybody is buzzing to be back."
Since his teens Gormley has travelled by plane, train, and automobile to see Manchester United; he would not have it any other way. Ultimately, is is why Astana lingers in the mind.
"In the Europa League you get some crazy games," he says. "United happened to draw Astana in 2019. I said I'm going to have a look at this, you could fly from Frankfurt. So I booked a Ryanair to Frankfurt, changed and got a long flight out to Kazahkstan. It was minus 20 degrees, I had to wear proper winter gear.
"It was such a mad experience, I will never forget it and it was such a cool city. A purpose, man built city in the middle of nowhere.
"It was the furthest point in the world I think where you could watch your team competitively. It was really good, a few other Irish lads made the trip."
**Listen to the full interview with Damien Gormley on this week's 'Cian on Sport' podcast available on Soundcloud, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
