UEL Final | Archie relishing European journey: "Experiences I'll never forget"

Archie Gray hadn’t played in Europe before stepping out against Qarabag in MD1 of this season’s new format of the UEFA Europa League at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium back on 26 September.

Four months later, still 18, he’d started all eight of our league phase matches, taking in atmospheres at the likes of Ferencvaros in Hungary, Galatasaray in Turkey and, closer to home, Ibrox, as we finished fourth, losing only once, to take our place in the Round of 16.

As the final against Manchester United in Bilbao fast approaches – we’re now a week away, 21 May – Archie, who turned 19 in March, has reflected on two moments – that first game against Qarabag and a lively night in Istanbul.

“Starting against Qarabag, it was a really proud moment,” said Archie, now up to 10 appearances in the UEL. “Playing in a European competition for this club and playing in Europe in general is something a lot of people don’t get to do in their careers, so I’m very grateful for that.

“Galatasaray, obviously with the atmosphere, I’ve never witnessed anything like that in football. We couldn't hear ourselves... every time we touched the ball it was just whistles. We couldn't hear a thing! It was a tough game, and we learned from it.

“It was crazy, and a big learning curve for us, especially in Europe, experiencing different ways of teams playing, stadiums, atmospheres and just getting used to it all. I'll probably say that was the point we realised, ‘right, we're in for a journey here’ and from there, we’ve looked solid.

“I loved every second of it. You don’t get to experience atmospheres like that too often. That adds more to the game as well. It was an intense game, we had a red card, then we almost brought it back (from 3-1 down, having been 1-0 up - it finished 3-2). It’s an experience I’ll never forget.”

Archie was on the bench for both legs of our semi-final victory against Bodo/Glimt. “The feeling after the semi-final was amazing, obviously, getting to a final, but the job’s not done yet,” he said. “We’re taking it step by step, and we enjoyed that.”

Asked what it would mean to lift that famous trophy in Bilbao, Archie said: “It would be a very proud moment for me and my family, to us all as a team, especially for my brothers to be able to look up to me and for me to be able to say I’d won a trophy.”