• 1995
• Second leg

Andy Walker
"I remember every trip then seemed to be overshadowed by the fact that Fergus was watching every penny.

"Then when we got to the airport they wouldn't let us in or out without us paying a ransom -it was run by the Mafia!

"We stopped over in Turkey but stayed in Batumi one night and it was the worst hotel I have EVER been in.

"In the background there was constantly the sound of the shelling in the mountains in the distance, which was disconcerting to say the least.

"The beds were awful, damp with bugs. I slept in my tracksuit.

"You couldn't even use the pillows because they were bogging, I remember fluffing up my T-shirt to lay my head down. It was horrible."

Walker and room-mate Malky Mackay moped around a tiny room counting down the hours to game-time.

And when they squeezed onto a cramped balcony and heard the artillery booming, they ducked backed inside.

A double from Andy Thom and Simon Donnelly's strike saw Tommy Burns' men scrape through 3-2.

Simon Donnelly
"It was a bit of an experience to say the least.

"You always think you'll be staying in nice hotels when you travel abroad but we were really in the back of beyond that time.

Ransacked

"We had an armed guard in our hotel because the reception was pretty infamous for getting ransacked every now and then.

"It was different to what we were used to but the best thing to do is just have a joke about it.

"You can't think about these things too much. I was sharing a room with Phil O'Donnell and we just laughed about the whole thing because it was so unbelievable."

It wasn't just the lawlessness that gave Sid and his pals sleepless nights, the filthy mattresses in their rooms were too disgusting for them to lie down on.

Things weren't much better outside the hotel and Donnelly will never forget the sight of animals wandering about the roads.

He admitted: "It was one of my first trips away but it's definitely been the worst for me.

"Whenever I've gone abroad I've been lucky enough to stay in nice hotels or nice countries.

"That seemed to be a one-off but it was so much worse than any of us expected.

"Everyone always remembers the cows being on the road as the bus was driving through the country and that's the last sort of thing you expect.

"Just about every one of the boys slept in their tracksuits because the beds were horrible.

"We didn't know what was living in those mattresses so the safest thing was just to not get under the covers."

Donnelly revealed it wasn't even a relief for the Hoops stars when they flew out of Georgia on an old, rickety plane. He added: "A few of the boys in that Celtic team weren't the best of flyers and when we got on that plane, their fears weren't helped.

"It wasn't exactly a top of the range British Airways plane. It was this old rattly thing that had us scared to leave the ground.

"It was a right old plane but we had to just get on with it and hope for the best.

"We took our own food because no one trusted the cooking over there. We really just wanted to get in and out as quickly as possible with the job done.

"There was a bit of hassle trying to take off again and we were all a bit confused as to what was going on.

"There was a bit of money changing hands to try and get us out of that country and a few of us were wondering what was going on.

"I didn't pay too much attention because I was young and it was all new to me.

After that the only way was up because once you've been to Batumi, everything else is an improvement."

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(1998) BHOY - THAT WAS A DUMP

Boyd recalls Georgia woe


TOMMY Boyd heaved a sigh of relief Scotland's first-ever game in Georgia wasn't scheduled for the hell-hole of Batumi.

Memories of Celtic's Euro clash there 12 years ago still sends the former skipper squeamish.

Celtic won the first leg Cup Winners' Cup tie 3-2 with Andreas Thom scoring a double and Simon Donnelly also netting.

But what Boyd remembers of the Sputnik Hotel is soiled bed sheets, vile sanitation and a rat scurrying through the bedrooms.

And one Celtic official had his room ransacked and robbed shortly before leaving.

On the outside, stray cows roamed the dirt track streets and gun shots could be heard pinging around the city in the war-torn country city. And 5000 heavily-armed troops were rushed to the stadium - complete with the back-up of two water cannon - when President Eduard Shevardnadze decided to take in the big game.

During the match Peter Grant was spat on and Celtic players abused in the hostile surroundings.

And the escape route to the airport was blocked until accompanying sports writers handed over £100a-time in ransom to pistolpacking malitia.
Celtic, though, got through to the next round.

"The best place to be were the dressingrooms, as they had just been done up, " said Boyd.

"But the hotel was shocking.

"The degree of dirt, grime, dampness in the bed and mould going up the walls was something you thought you'd never experience.

"Football players usually get pampered with five-star hotels - and at that time we did.
Unfortunately, this was not one of them.

"We also took our own chefs to prepare the food and to make sure everything was as spotless as they could make it.

"Batumi was a small, very deprived town at that time and certainly not the best.

"Tbilisi, I believe, will probably be a bit more modernised.

But Scotland can probably expect the same sort of hostile atmosphere there."

Boyd may not have very good things to say about the part of Georgia he once visited but he has plenty to say about Alex McLeish's men ahead of tomorrow's all-important clash.

He added: "I would consider Scotland to be favourites.

"We are sitting on top of our group and Georgia are out of the equation.

"The unity and cohesion in the team has got us to where we are today.

"And I don't see Alex McLeish allowing them to take their foot off the pedal, either.

"It will be hard work over there and we are missing a few players though injury and suspension. But I think the players coming in are able replacements and will help the team to get something away."