UEFA will not force Vorskla Poltava to play their Europa League games in a more accessible location meaning Arsenal fans will face quite the journey to watch their team in action this season.
Vorskla are playing in Europe for only the second time in the history and their 25,000-capacity stadium is served by poor transport links. Many believed Arsenal would ask UEFA to switch the game to Kharkiv, Kiev or Dnipro, but UEFA have confirmed the game will take place at the Butovsky Vorskla Stadium in Poltava.
From the Emirates to the Butovsky Vorskla Stadium is 1,700 miles but it is not possible to fly to the local airport, which is one of the oldest in the country and only has one runway, from London.
Fans who plan on attending the game will, therefore, have to fly to Kiev or Kharkiv then get a train to Poltava. The trains are said to run ‘infrequently’ and take just over three hours from Kiev, just under half that from Kharkiv.
Once there, accommodation will be scarce but according to Booking.com there seems to be enough and what there is, is incredibly cheap. The first option that appears, a basic twin room, costs just €16-a-night even if it does look like a council tower block with interior design from the 70s. For the authentic Soviet-experience, it seems hard to beat at that price:
For €9-a-night Arsenal fans can book into the Dream Hostel which gets an exceptional 9.5 rating and at least looks like it was built within living memory:
The best part? Arsenal play Spurs when they finally return from Ukraine.