Community Shield date confirmed

The FA has confirmed United's Community Shield match against Chelsea at Wembley will take place at 15:00 on Sunday August 8.

Ticket will cost £40, £30, £20 and £15. Details here.

United are expected to get 27,000 tickets, which will go on sale to executive members and season ticket holders in early July.

They are expected to go on general sale at the end of July.

A full ticket, travel, hotel and pub guide will be published here shortly.

Yeovil ticket, travel, hotel and pub guide

Yeovil
Huish Park
Somerset
Pre-season friendly
Saturday, July 24, kick off 15:00

Preview
This will be the second friendly match of the summer for a squad made up of first-team players not involved in the World Cup and academy players.

After starting their campaign in Dunfermline, they will head to Somerset seven days later to play this match in Yeovil.

This will be a benefit match for former Yeovil midfielder Darren Way, who was forced to retire from the game in February, aged 30.

In December 2008 – nine days before Christmas – Way was involved in a car accident near Yeovil.

A passenger in the 4x4 vehicle, Way had to be airlifted to hospital and was at one stage in a serious but stable condition. He broke an arm, a leg and a hip.

The Plymouth-born man left hospital in January 2009 after having eight operations. He hopes to one day play football again in some capacity.

As a youngster, Way played for England Under 16s and signed a pro contract with Norwich, but not much came of it.

So in 2000, he moved nearer home and signed for Yeovil and scored 26 goals in 207 appearances over the next five-and-a-half years.

He was part of the wonderful Yeovil Conference-winning side that showed their class by demolishing the other team to promoted, Doncaster, 4-0 in a league match that season.

Way's ability and hard work in the centre of the pitch caught the attention of Swansea and he signed for them in January 2006 for £150,000.

But injury and operations restricted him to 16 games in two years. He lost out on a place in the first-team running and so moved back to Yeovil on loan, eventually making the switch permanent in July 2008.

Things started well with two goals and some decent performances in 15 appearances, before the December car accident.

Throughout his time with the green and whites, he was affectionately known as the Weasel for his industriousness in midfield.

Premier League referee Andre Mariner will take charge of the match. Way is hoping to make an appearance at some stage in the match.

Tickets
Huish park will celebrate its 20th anniversary in the month of this match. It holds 9,665 and has 5,212 seats.

Away fans go behind one goal in the Copse Road End or in the end section of the Cowlin Stand on the halfway line.

Tickets on sale now priced at £15 adults, £5 concessions, £35 for two adult and two children. Get them from 01935 847 888 during business hours.

Reds who have bought tickets have praised the Yeovil ticket office staff for sending the tickets by post so they arrive the day after purchase. If only other ticket offices were as good, eh?

Travel

Car - £60
If you're using a satnav, use the destination postcode BA22 8YF.

This journey is just short of four hours and is 238 miles. It will cost you about £30 in petrol each way.

The basic route is the M6, M5 and A37.

Leave the M5 at junction 25 and take the A358 signposted Ilminster until you reach the A303 at Horton Cross.

Keep going and follow the signposts for Andover and London until you reach the Cartgate roundabout.

Then take the A3088 signposted Yeovil. At the first roundabout, take the first exit.

At the Western Avenue roundabout, turn left and then turn left again onto Luton Way. Follow the road round to the stadium.

Parking
You can either pay £2 to pay on the club car park, but you would have to get there early.

There is a field the club uses as an overspill car park too. Getting away after the match can take a while as you're technically in a cul-de-sac.

Train - £78
The nearest station to the ground is Yeovil Pen Mill. Yeovil Junction also serves the town, but there are no decent journeys serving it.

It is three miles away. Buying two singles using option 3 or option 5 outward and option 2 homeward in advance from National Rail will cost £78.

Buying on the day to use any of the routes below will cost £85.60 return.

Going, you have five options. Coming back, you have two

Outward
Option 1 – journey time 5:22
Leave Piccadilly: 05:25
Arrive Stafford: 06:17
Leave: 06:26
Arrive Birmingham New Street: 06:57
Leave: 07:12
Arrive Bristol Temple Meads: 08:38
Leave: 09:09
Arrive Yeovil Pen Mill: 10:47
One-way cost: N/A

Option 2 – journey time 6:00
Leave Piccadilly: 06:10
Arrive Tamworth: 07:18
Leave: 07:48
Arrive Bristol Temple Meads: 09:38
Leave: 09:49
Arrive Yeovil Pen Mill: 11:17
One-way cost: £N/A

Option 3 – journey time 5:23
Leave Piccadilly: 07:15
Arrive London Euston: 09:23
Tube to Waterloo
Leave Waterloo at 10:20
Arrive Yeovil Pen Mill (pictured): 12:39
One-way cost: £35

Option 4 – journey time 5:08
Leave Piccadilly: 08:27
Arrive Birmingham New Street: 09:58
Leave: 10:12
Arrive Bristol Temple Meads: 11:39
Leave: 11:49
Arrive Yeovil Pen Mill: 13:16
One-way cost: £N/A

Option 5 – journey time 5:23
Leave Piccadilly: 09:15
Arrive London Euston: 11:23
Tube to Waterloo
Leave Waterloo at 12:20
Arrive Yeovil Pen Mill: 14:38
One-way cost: £35

It is too far to walk from the station to the ground, so you have two options.

1. A taxi will take 10 minutes and cost about £10-£12. Call Radio Cabs on 01935 426 666 or Abba Cabs on 01935 433 334.

2. Walk a few years to the bus stop outside the Pen Mill Hotel pub (pictured) and catch any bus into Yeovil (the 58A, for example).

Then walk two minutes to the Borough Shopping Centre and get the Number 1 bus to Abbey Manor Park.

Homeward:
Option 1 – journey time 4:59
Leave Yeovil Pen Mill: 17:05
Arrive Bristol Temple Meads: 18:35
Leave: 19:00
Arrive Piccadilly: 22:04
One-way cost: £N/A

Option 2 – journey time 5:14
Leave Yeovil Pen Mill: 18:18
Arrive Castle Cary: 18:31
Leave: 18:40
Arrive Taunton: 19:01
Leave: 19:18
Arrive Birmingham New Street 21:38
Leave: 21:57
Arrive Piccadilly: 23:32
One-way cost: £43

Fans' coach - £23

The Reds Away coach to this game has been cancelled due to a lack of interest.

We will let you know if we hear of any other coaches going to this game.

Apologies to those who enquired about booking.

Bus - £55.90
Megabus doesn't run between Manchester and Yeovil.

National Express runs coaches between Manchester and Yeovil, but you would have to travel there on Friday and back on Sunday.

A return costs £55.90 and the journey takes 7 hours 20 minutes each way, leaving Chorlton Street at 09:45 on Friday and leaving Yeovil Bus Station at 10:55 on Sunday.

Plane
The nearest airport is Bournemouth 80 minutes away, but there are no doable flights from Manchester to there.

There are flights to Southampton which is about 90 minutes away, but a return would cost you £90 plus a length train journey.

Hotel and pub guide to follow

United announce Oxford friendly

A United XI are to play Oxford in a pre-season friendly at the Kassam Stadium in Oxford on July 27.

Ticket information is still to be announced. The match is likely to start at 7.30pm, though it is to be confirmed.

A full guide will appear here in the coming days.

Dunfermline ticket, travel. hotel and pub guide

Dunfermline
East End Park
Fife
Pre-season friendly
Saturday, July 17, kick off 15:00

Preview
The Scottish season starts slightly earlier than the English one.

Dunfermline playtheir first game in the Co-operative Insurance Cup first round against Arbroath on Saturday, July 31 – the same day United will be playing St Johnstone in a friendly up the M90.

So this match will give their First Division side a chance to dust off after a brief summer break in time for competitive action.

For United, it will be a chance for youth team and reserve squad players to have a run out.

Don't expect many big names as the first team play Celtic in Toronto the day before, and even that team will be missing plenty of players involved in the final stages of the World Cup.

United last played Dunfermline in August 2007 for Scott Thomson's testimonial. It ended 4-0 to the reds. Chris Eagles and Ryan Giggs scored one each and Wayne Rooney scored two.

Tickets
East End Park used to have an artificial surface a la CSKA Moscow but it was replaced with grass in 2005.

The stadium holds 12,509 fans. All four stands are covered. Away fans will be put in the north end of the Main Stand.

Reds will be in the East Stand behind the goal, which holds 3,073.

Tickets for the away end are on sale now priced £12 adults, £6 concessions. That is £4 and £2 cheaper respectively than the match three years ago.

Get them from 01383 745 909 on weekdays from 09:00 to 14:00 or from 01383 626 737 on weekdays except Monday from 09:00 until 12:30 and on Saturdays from 09:30 to 17:30.

You can also pay £55 for the complimentary bar package which includes a pre-match two-course meal, a match programme, a seat in the Main Stand, half time refreshments and a free bar from 12:30.
Or you can pay £25 for all of the above except for the free bar. Full ticket details here.

As of July 13, Dunfermline had sold 1,200 tickets and 300 hospitality packages, with 250 of those thought to be from reds. The club are expected a crowd of 3,000 plus.

Travel

Car - £60
It's a 249-mile journey which will take just short of four hours each way, depending on the traffic.

The basic route is the M6, M74, A8 and A90. Use the postcode KY12 7RB for the stadium in your satnav.

The stadium is only a two-minute drive and a ten-minute walk into town but if you want to park near the town-centre pubs, use the postcode KY12 7NU.

Parking – free
There is a car park behind the North Stand for cars and coaches. It costs £3 per car but coaches are free.

If that's full, park for free on one of the residential roads opposite the stadium, like Garvock Terrace and Lambert Drive (KY12 7UP). There is plenty of space.

Train - £42
Dunfermline has two stations: Dunfermline Town and Dunfermline Queen Margaret.

All the trains you can catch go to both, but it's easier to get off at Dunfermline Town (pictured).

If you buy in advance from National Rail, you can get there and back for £42. If you buy on the day you're looking at £60.

On the way there are five options. On the way back, there are two.

Outward
Option 1 (journey time 4:34)
Leave Victoria: 06:45
Arrive Wigan Wallgate: 07:21
Leave Wigan North Western 07:37
Arrive Edinburgh 10:22
Leave: 10:48
Arrive Dunfermline Town 11:19
One-way price in advance: £22

Option 2 (journey time 4:05)
Leave Piccadilly 07:45
Arrive Haymarket 11:04
Leave: 11:23
Arrive Dunfermline Town: 11:50
One-way price in advance: £21

Option 3 (journey time 4:04)
Leave Piccadilly 07:45
Arrive Preston: 09:30
Leave: 09:53
Arrive Haymarket 12:16
Leave: 12:23
Arrive Dunfermline Town: 12:50
One-way price in advance: £28.50

Option 4 (journey time 4:52)
Leave Piccadilly: 08:57
Arrive York: 10:23
Leave: 10:34
Arrive Edinburgh: 13:01
Leave: 13:18
Arrive Dunfermline Town: 13:49
One-way price in advance: £88.30

Option 5 (journey time 4:04)
Leave Piccadilly: 10:16
Arrive Edinburgh: 13:39
Leave: 13:49
Arrive Dunfermline Town 14:20
One-way price in advance: £24.50

Walking between the two Wigan stations takes about one minute. Leave Wallgate, turn right and you will see North Western to your left after a few yards.

When you leave the train, you'll exit onto a dual carriageway called St Margaret's Drive.

Turn right and keep walking until you see a bus stop on the other side of the road.

At this point you can either follow the steps by the bus stop onto West Drive and into the town centre – a five minute walk – or keep following St Margaret's Drive to get to the ground.

When you reach the roundabout, turn right onto Appin Crescent and the ground is up ahead on the left after a few more minutes of walking. Be warned though, there are no pubs along the way.

It would cost about £4 in a taxi from the train station. Call A1 Taxis on 01383 415 151 or Abbery Taxies on 01383 735 555.

Homeward

Option 1 (journey time 3:56)
Leave Dunfermline Town: 17:31
Arrive Haymarket 18:00
Leave: 18:16
Arrive Piccadilly: 21:27
One-way price in advance: £21

Option 2 (journey time 4:28)
Leave Dunfermline Town: 18:06
Arrive Edinburgh: 18:41
Leave: 18:52
Arrive Wigan North Western: 21:31
Leave Wigan Wallgate 21:55
Arrive Victoria 22:34
One-way price in advance: £22

Fans coach – £23
The Reds Away coach to this game has been cancelled due to a lack of interest.

We will let you know of any other coaches going to this game if there are any.

Apologies to those who enquired about bookings.

Bus
Megabus does not run services from Manchester to Dunfermline.

If you really wanted to, you could get a return between Manchester and Edinburgh for £8 and then get the train onwards, but it would mean staying in Scotland on Friday and Saturday night and travelling at stupid times of night and morning.

National Express does not run any services between Manchester and Dunfermline on the day though, again you could go to Edinburgh and then get the train, but there are very few coaches and the ones that do run go at stupid times and cost way too much to make it worthwhile.

Plane and train combo (£41.69 one way, £99.38 return)
The nearest airport is Edinburgh Airport, which is only 26 minutes away by road and 55 minutes by bus to Edinburgh and train to Dunfermline.

You can fly from Manchester for relatively cheap on matchday, though you will have to wait until the following morning to fly back.

Saturday
Leave Manchester Airport: 07:45
Arrive Edinburgh: 08:50
Price: £33.99
Airline: flybe

From outside the airport, get the Airlink 100 bus to Edinburgh Train Station.

It costs £3.50 single and £6 return, runs every 10 minutes and takes 25 minutes.

That should get you to the station at 09:30.

From there, reaching Dunfermline Town takes 31 minutes and direct trains leave at 09:17, 10:48 and 11:19. It costs £4.20 for a single. (You cannot buy a return ticket as you are travelling back the next day, so it would be two singles i.e. £8.40 return).

So all being well, you should make it to Perth by 11:23 – more three-and-a-half hours before kick off.

Sunday
Direct trains leave Dunfermline Town at 11:39, 13:39 and 15:42. Then you can catch the Airlink 100 bus from outside the station.

Leave Edinburgh Airport: 18:50
Arrive Manchester Airport: 19:55
Price: £50.99
Airline: flybe

Getting to the ground from the town centre

The stadium is a mile to the north east of the town centre. From the High Street, walk from the Viceroy past Marks and Spencer and keep going until you reach the roundabout.

Go straight on onto Appin Crescent and the ground is on that road on the left side of the road. It's a 10-minute walk in all.

It would cost about £4 in a taxi. Call A1 Taxis on 01383 415 151 or Abbery Taxies on 01383 735 555.

Ryanair slash Ireland flight prices

Reds looking to go to the August 4 friendly between United and a League of Ireland XI can now get cheaper flights.

Before today, the cheapest return flights between Manchester and Dublin would have cost £44.98

And the cheapest return flights between Liverpool and Dublin would have cost £36.98.

Now, the cheapest Manchester return is £35.90 and the cheapest Liverpool return is £27.35.

But don’t forget Ryanair charges you £5 per return journey to check in and also charges a booking fee, which changes depending what card you use.

You can bypass the booking fee by getting a pre-paid Mastercard Debit Card through Fairfx.

The cards are free, but you have to upload £10 onto them when you order them. They take a week to ten days to arrive. Get one here.

A full ticket and travel guide to the League of Ireland match can be found here.

St Johnstone ticket, travel, hotel and pub guide

St Johnstone
McDiarmid Park
Perth
Pre-season friendly
Saturday July 31, kick off 14:00

Preview
This match is a testimonial for veteran goalkeeper Alan Main.

Now aged 42, Main made his debut in the Scottish Highland League aged 15.

The Elgin-born stopper signed for Dundee United in 1986 and made 152 appearances in a nine-year spell.

He then joined St Johnstone and appeared 233 times in seven years before spending a year each at Livingston and Gretna.

Main returned for a second spell at St Johstone in 2007 and played 75 games, helping the Saints to promotion to the Scottish Premier Division in 2008/9.

Main, who has played for St Johnstone more than anyone else, broke his hand at the end of last season and so was unable to have a testimonial match.

He will strap up the hand and play some part in the fixture.

United last played at St Johnstone in October 1989, two months after their stadium opened. Brian McClair scored the only goal in a 1-0 win which also featured Mark Hughes and Bryan Robson.

Sir Alex Ferguson played for the Saints from 1960 to 1964, making 37 appearances and scoring 19 goals.

Tickets
Opened in 1989, McDiarmid Park was the UK's first purpose-built all-seater stadium.

The capacity is 10,673. There is the Main Stand to the west, the Ormond Stand to the south, the North Stand and the East Stand.

United fans will be in the north end of the Main Stand. Entry is £15 for adults and £5 for under 16s on the gate. There are no advanced ticket sales.

Travel

Car - £65
From Manchester, the journey will take about four hours and ten minutes each way. It is 263 miles in all.

The basic route is via the M6, the M8 and the M80.

For the stadium, put PH1 2SJ in your satnav. For Perth town centre, which is a five-minute drive away from the stadium, use the postcode PH1 5UB.

Parking – free
At the stadium, there is a large, car park which holds 1,000 cars and 100 coaches. It costs £3 per car. Coaches can park fore free.

There is also lots of free street parking opposite the ground on streets like Newhouse Road and Grange Terrace. However, motorists should look out for signs showing parking restrictions and be mindful that, if they don't abide by them, their vehicles could be ticketed or even towed.

Train - £30.50
If you book the train in advance, it will cost £30.50 to get to Perth (pictured right).

If you buy your tickets on the day, or the advance promotion tickets sell out, you're looking at £78.40 return.

Outward
Option 1 (5.04)
Leave Piccadilly: 06:33
Arrive Glasgow Central: 09:45
Leave Glasgow Queen Street: 10:41
Arrive Perth: 11:37
One-way fare £16

Option 2 (5.09)
Leave Victoria: 06:45
Arrive Wigan Wallgate: 07:21
Leave Wigan North Western: 07:37
Arrive Edinburgh: 10:22
Leave: 10:34
Arrive Perth: 11:54
One-way fare roughly £30 if booked as three single tickets in advance from National Rail.

Option 3 (4:51)
Leave Piccadilly: 07:45
Arrive Preston: 08:22
Leave; 08:37
Arrive Glasgow Central: 11:03
Leave Glasgow Queen Street: 11:41
Arrive Perth: 12:36
One-way fare roughly £30 if booked as three single tickets in advance from National Rail.

Homeward
Option 1 (5:01)
Leave Perth: 16:55
Arrive: Glasgow Queen Street: 18:09
Leave Glasgow Central: 18:40
Arrive Preston: 20:58
Leave: 21:10
Arrive Piccadilly: 21:56
One-way fare: £14:50

Option 2 (5:34)
Leave Perth (pictured right): 17:00
Arrive Edinburgh: 18:25
Leave: 18:52
Arrive Wigan North Western: 21:31
Leave Wigan Wallgate: 21:55
Arrive Victoria 22:34
One-way fare: £14.50

Walking between the two Wigan stations takes about one minute. Leave Wallgate, turn right and you will see North Western to your left after a few yards.

Walking between the two Glasgow stations takes less than ten minutes. Leave Central, turn left onto Union Street. Walk for a couple of minutes and turn right onto Kemp Street. Queen Street is right ahead of you.

Fans coach - £23
The Reds Away coach to this game has been cancelled due to a lack of interest.

We will let you know of any other coaches going to this game.

Apologies to those who enquired about bookings.

Bus - £15
Megabus runs between Manchester and Perth, but the journey time is over seven hours. The only way of getting there and back via Megabus is to set off the day on Friday and return on Sunday.

Friday from Manchester (all prices one way)
Leave Shudehill: 12:40 17:00 £10
Arrive Perth Broxden:18:45 00:05 £5

You will arrive at a park and ride stop on a roundabout to the west of Perth town centre.

From there you can get the 301 bus into town for free.

It runs every 15 minutes from 07:00 to 19:00 so if you're wanting to get to or from the town centre outside of the those hours, you will need to get a taxi. It's only a two-mile journey though, so won't cost more than £5.

Call Perth Radio Taxis on 01738 628 171 or Ace Taxis on 01738 444 000.

Sunday from Perth
Leave Perth Broxden: 06:45 09:35 £10
Arrive Shudehull: 13:00 15:45 £10

The good news is National Express does run a coach from Manchester to Perth which allows you to travel there and back on the day of the match...the bad news it costs an eye-watering £58.00 return.

On the way there, you leave Chorlton Street at 01:10 and arrive on Cross Street, Perth at 08:56 after a 75-minute wait in Glasgow.

On the way back, you leave Cross Street at 20:52 and arrive in Manchester at 03:35 after a 45-minute wait in Glasgow. You can also travel to Perth on Friday and back on Sunday, but it still costs £58 return

Plane and train combo (£41.15 single, £97.24 return)
The nearest airport is Dundee, but flights from Manchester to there are circa £200 return.

But Edinburgh Airport is only an hour away and you can fly from Manchester for relatively cheap on matchday, though you will have to wait until the following morning to fly back.

Saturday
Leave Manchester Airport: 07:45
Arrive Edinburgh: 08:50
Price: £30.65
Airline: flybe

From outside the airport, get the Airlink 100 bus to Edinburgh Train Station. It costs £3.50 single and £6 return, runs every 10 minutes and takes 25 minutes.

That should get you to the station at 09:30.

From there, reaching Perth takes 80 minutes and direct trains leave at 09:35, 10:34 and 11:35.

You can also change at Stirling. Single tickets cost £7 in advance or £12.90 on the day. Returns cost £14 in advance or £14.30 on the day.

So all being well, you should make it to Perth by 11:00 – three hours before kick off.

Sunday
Direct trains leave Perth at 09:35, 10:34, 11:57 and 15:25. Then you can catch the Airlink 100 bus from outside the station.

Leave Edinburgh Airport: 18:50
Arrive Manchester Airport: 19:55
Price: £46.59
Airline: flybe

Getting to the ground

On foot
It would take about 40 minutes from the town centre. From St Ninian's Cathedral, follow the A85, which starts as Barrack Street and turns into Dunkeld Road and Crieff Road. The stadium is on your right.

Taxi
It would take less than 10 minutes and cost about £8. Call
Perth Radio Taxis on 01738 628 171 or Ace Taxis on 01738 444 000.

Hotel and pub information coming soon.

League of Ireland XI ticket, travel and hotel guide

Airtricity League of Ireland XI
Aviva Stadium
Dublin
Pre-season friendly
Wednesday, August 4, kick off time 20:00 TBC

Preview

The match will take place to celebrate the opening of the new 50,000-capacity Aviva Stadium in the Republic's capital.

An international rugby union game is scheduled to take place on July 31, but the United match will be the first football fixture at the new stadium.

Despite the fact that it is a United XI match, it is understood United have signed a contract with the League of Ireland which insists on the “big-name players” taking part.

Tickets - section updated Aug 3

Tickets are on sale now

If you buy them from the general pot, priced at e45 (£37.48) and e85 (71.20). the e.60 and (£49.98) and e75 (£62.81) tickets appear to be sold out.

Add on to that a e4.50 (£3.76) booking fee per ticket onto the e45 tickets and e5.50 (£4.60) onto the e85 tickets.

Any tickets ordered now have to be collected at the box office. There are no concessions available. Get tickets here.

Weather

The match will be played under sunny skies, according to the BBC.

After a cloudy and rainy night tonight, conditions are due to pick up tomorrow, with temperatures reaching 18C/64C tomorrow day time.

It will be sunny with the odd patch of cloud, with the temperature cooling to about 14C/57F for the evening game.

Get more details here.

Flight - £27.35 - section updated July 29

Here are a selection of the cheapest and most convenient flights available. All flights take 1 hour. All prices one way

Leaving Manchester on August 3
07:55 Ryanair £155.77
08:00 Aer Lingus £170.40
10:55 Aer Lingus SOLD OUT
15:45 Ryanair £76.22
19:15 Aer Lingus £105.40
21:55 Ryanair £55.28

Leaving Liverpool on August 3
06:30 Ryanair £39.99
16:00 Ryanair £39.99
21:45 Ryanair £39.99

Leaving Manchester on August 4
07:55 Ryanair £101.20
08:00 Aer Lingus £80.40
10:55 Aer Lingus £90.40
15:45 Ryanair SOLD OUT
19:15 Aer Lingus £90.40
21:55 Ryanair £39.99

Leaving Liverpool on August 4
06:30 Ryanair £39.99
16:00 Ryanair £39.99
21:45 Ryanair £39.99

Leaving for Manchester on August 5
06:30 Ryanair £33.32

06:30 Aer Lingus £67.06

09:30 Aer Lingus £129.56
17:50 Aer Lingus £217.05

20:35 Ryanair £124.99
20:40 Aer Lingus SOLD OUT

Leaving for Liverpool on August 5
07:45 Ryanair £150.39

17:15 Ryanair £83.72

23:00 Ryanair £33.32

So the cheapest Manchester and Liverpool return is £73.31.

But don't forget Ryanair charges you £5 per return journey to check in and also charges a booking fee, which changes depending what card you use (find out how to avoid the booking fee here).

The return fare on the Terravision bus from Manchester Shudehill to Liverpool Airport is £10.

The train fare from Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Airport is £6.40 after 10:00 or £7.60 before 10:00.

From the airport to Dublin

The airport is six miles north of the city centre.

From outside the terminal, you can get the Dublin Bus Airlink 747 or 748 service, which runs to the Central Bus Station every 10 minutes or less and costs e6 for a single and e10 for a return. Journey time is 35 minutes. A taxi would cost e28.

Other flights

Another option would be to fly from Manchester to Belfast on bmibaby and then get the two-hour train south to Dublin.

But those flights would cost at least £35, so it would be more expensive and take longer.

Ferry - £55

The ferry goes from Holyhead to either Dublin or Dun Laoghaire. Going to Dun Laoghaire is often cheaper and is 45 minutes away from Dublin by Tube.

There are three ways of reaching the ferry.

Car - £26

You can drive and park for £5 in a car park 500 yards from the ferry (there's even a free bus between the two).

The journey from Manchester costs about £13 in petrol each way and takes roughly two hours and 15 minutes via the M6, M56 and the A55.

Train - £27

Manchester to Holyhead takes 3 hours and 19 minutes changing at Crewe or Chester. The train station is a five-minute walk to the ferry.

You can book for £27 return via National Rail or book a train and ferry package through Stena for £55 return.

The cheapest ferry (not including train) we can find is £33 return from Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire so it makes sense to book the whole thing through Stena.

Coach - £50

The good news is the coach station. The bad news is, it is only served by National Express and returns cost £50 and arrive at ridiculously unsociable hours.

Stena Ferry Times:

Holyhead to Dublin
Aug 3 board by: 09:30 departs: 10:00 arrives: 12:00
Aug 4 board by: 09:30 departs: 10:00 arrives: 12:00

Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire
Aug 3 board by: 13:05 departs: 13:50 arrives: 17:05
Aug 4 board by: 13:05 departs: 13:50 arrives: 17:05

Dublin to Holyhead
Aug 5 board by: 07:35 departs: 08:20 arrives: 11:35
Aug 5 board by: 20:30 departs: 21:15 arrives: 00:30

Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead
Aug 5 board by: 12:45 departs: 13:15 arrives: 15:15

Arriving in Dublin

The town centre is four miles east of the ferry port. A taxi takes about 15 minutes and costs about e12.

The number 53 bus from outside the port will take you to Dublin Bus Station on Amien Street for e1.80 single.

You will have to pay for either in euros, but there's a cash machine outside the port building.

Arriving in Dun Laoghaire

The ferry port is right beside Dun Laoghaire DART (Irish Tube) station. From there, you can get the DART north to Dublin.

It takes about an hour to reach Connolly Train Station in Dublin and services run every 10 minutes or less throughout the day. An adult single costs e2.30 or a three-day pass costs e11.40.

Getting to the stadium

On foot

The Aviva Stadium is two miles south east of Connolly Train Station. and would take about 40 minutes to walk there.

It's slightly quicker to walk from St Stephen's Green, which is a mile away.

Walk up Merrion Row, Baggot Street Lower, Baggot Street Upper and cross the Grand Canal at Baggot Street Bridge.

Then go straight down Pembroke Road and cross the road at the junction of Northumberland Road 0and Merrion Road.

By Tube

Get the Dart from anyone of a number of city centre stations to Lansdowne Road Station, which actually passes under the West Stand. An adult single costs e2.30, a return costs e4.20 or a three-day pass costs e11.40.

By bus
Services 7, 8, 45 and 84 go past the stadium. A single costs e1.80.