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Hamilton recalls plane ride from Sofia with Ian St John
Updated / Wednesday, 3 Mar 2021
12:10
RTÉ Sport Reporter
Though Ireland's prospects of deriving any benefit from the fixture were considered slim, RTÉ took a chance and sent George Hamilton to Sofia to do live commentary on Bulgaria's match at home to Scotland on 11 November 1987.
Bulgaria hadn't lost a game at home in several years and, as the Irish players and management could attest to, referees had a rather pronounced tendency to deliver outrageous decisions in their favour in the Vasil Levski Stadium.           
Nonetheless, there was a chance. In the previous round of international fixtures, Ireland had concluded their campaign with an impressive 2-0 home win over the Bulgarians while the Scots, who'd already ruled themselves out of contention with a poor start to the campaign, beat 1986 World Cup semi-finalists Belgium 2-0 in Hampden later that day. This was the only combination of results that could have kept Ireland's hopes alive that week.

Sofia , Sofiya-grad , Bulgaria , Stockholm , Sweden , United-kingdom , Israel , Vasil-levski , Dobrich , Belgium , Hampden , Buckinghamshire