Lions fans win fight to right to party

Plans for British and Irish Lions fans to establish a permanent party base in Auckland for the test series against the All Blacks have been approved by the local city council. The "Barmy Army" which has grown out of the original group of dedicated...

Plans for British and Irish Lions fans to establish a permanent party base in Auckland for the test series against the All Blacks have been approved by the local city council.

The "Barmy Army" which has grown out of the original group of dedicated followers of the England cricket team, already have a $500,000 (NZ) specially converted mobile trailer that is travelling to every match venue on the 11-game tour. The trailer has a hot tub, email facilities, bulletin boards and also carries Barmy Army merchandise.

The fans had hoped to set up a permanent base from yesterday on Auckland's waterfront in the former sheds of the Alinghi and Team New Zealand America's Cup yachting syndicates.

However, the New Zealand Herald newspaper reported yesterday that planning permission had been granted for the venue to open on June 25, the day of the first test between the Lions and All Blacks in Christchurch.

The second will be held on July 2 in Wellington with the final game on July 9 in Auckland.

Barmy Army organisers expect up to 25,000 Lions fans to be in Auckland for the final week of the tour, which also includes a match against provincial side Auckland on July 5.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.