Stoke City deliver a first-class Euro stag do for postman Jo

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Stoke City deliver a first-class Euro stag do for postman Joe

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GROOM-TO-BE Joe Cartwright had more than one reason to be celebrating while over in Tel Aviv.

Not only was it the first time he had seen Stoke City play away in Europe, the trip was also organised for the 40-year-old's stag do.

Joe was joined by 10 friends on the 4,500-mile return journey, which started with a pint in Wetherspoon's, in Stoke, at noon on Wednesday.

From there, the boys got a train from Stoke-on-Trent to Gatwick Airport, before catching a flight to Geneva.

They then slept in the Swiss airport overnight, before catching another flight to Israel on Thursday morning.

Postman Joe, who is due to marry his fiance Gemma in Las Vegas next month, said: "When the draw was made, we all thought it would be a great idea to go to one of the away European games and coincide it with my stag do.

"Ukraine was too soon and we didn't fancy going to Turkey in case there was any trouble, so Israel was the perfect choice.

"I think Gemma and a few of the other lads' other halves were a bit worried, but we're all big boys."

The group paid £265 each for their flights and three nights' accommodation in an apartment in Tel Aviv.

They are due to fly back to the UK on Sunday.

Joe, who lives in Dresden, added: "We had a look at the flights and they worked out cheaper going to Geneva first and then Israel, rather than getting a direct flight.

"Apparently Tel Aviv has a really good nightlife and our apartments are near to the beach so it should be a great few days away.

"Nine of us, including myself, are season ticket holders at Stoke and the other two go to the matches regularly, so we'll all be cheering the lads on.

"I've had a look at the weather forecast and it's been sunny up to now, but they are forecasting rain while we're there, so fingers crossed they have got that wrong.

"I've got the first couple of days booked off the work next week because I think I'll have plenty of sleep to catch up on."

Around 200 Stoke fans made the trip east to the 14,700-capacity Bloomfield Stadium. Among those in the stag party was Niall Birks, a 38-year-old telephone engineer, from Dresden.

He said: "These are great times to be a Stoke fan when you think about it.

"A couple of the lads went to watch Stoke in the Anglo-Italian Cup in the 1990s and a few went over to Croatia in the qualifying round, and they are still talking about those trips.

"It will be good to have our own trip to be able to tell people about after this one. I've had a little look on Google and everyone has only good things to say about Tel Aviv.

"We're meeting up with a few more Stoke fans we known from our local pub in Dresden, the Park Inn, so there will be quite a few of us."

Positioned on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline, Tel Aviv, or Tel Aviv-Yafo to give it its full title, boasts a population of just over 403,000.

Jason Simms, a 41-year-old company director from Dresden, was hoping the price of a pint wouldn't set him back too many Israeli Shekels.

He said: "I've had a look on the internet and it looks like the price of food and drink over there is the same as it is here.

"There's expensive places down by the docks but there's also cheaper places, it just depends where you go.

"It's a bit strange because we're going to watch Stoke in the Europa League but we will actually be in the Middle East.

"We will probably be the last Stoke fans in town on Sunday."

Darren Thomas, aged 41, from Meir Heath, said: "One of the lads who is coming has taken charge of the trip and has got a list of where we need to go and things to do.

"We're only a 25-minute walk away from the ground so it's worked out quite well.

"We'll be taking our Stoke flag with the name of our local pub on it.

"I think the pub is going to be half-empty until we all come back."