Thousands of Hapoel Tel Aviv supporters set off in an organised convoy on Thursday, heading not to Bloomfield but to a Hungarian provincial city, for a fixture the club has waited 12 years to play again: a European away — or rather, a European "home" — match.
ONE reports the fans travelled in roughly 30 buses, escorted by seven police vehicles on the approximately two-and-a-half-hour drive out from Budapest, in what the outlet described as a major logistical operation to get the red faithful to the stadium in time for kickoff.
The occasion is Hapoel Tel Aviv's first leg against Bulgaria's Ludogorets Razgrad in the second qualifying round of the Conference League, kicking off Thursday evening at 21:30 local time at the DVTK Stadion in Miskolc.
Hapoel are staging their home European fixtures this season at the Diósgyőri Stadion in Miskolc rather than in Israel, part of the arrangement clubs have adopted for continental competition amid the ongoing security situation. It means home advantage now comes with a road trip for the club's own fans.
Israeli outlets including Sport1-Maariv and Israel Hayom reported in the buildup that demand for tickets was intense, with more than 5,000 supporters having committed to making the trip — a striking number for a match played roughly 2,500 kilometres from Tel Aviv.
The return leg is set for July 30 at Ludogorets' own Huvepharma Arena in Razgrad, where Hapoel will look to complete the tie and advance further into Europe for the first time in over a decade.
For a club whose last European campaign dates back 12 years, the sight of a police-escorted fan convoy rolling into a Hungarian stadium car park was itself part of the story — a reminder of how much the return to continental football means to Hapoel's supporters, wherever the club is forced to call home.
