Nine hours, 450 miles, four countries and the English Channel. That was what lay between Albion and their pre-season tour base on the Dutch-German border.
The Baggies are in town, as is the Express & Star, with Venlo looking to be a decent base camp for the next phase of the Premier League preparations.
It is far more welcoming than the internet guides suggested, although Albion’s secluded training base on the outskirts is unlikely to provide the players with much scope for sightseeing.
The town dates back to Roman times when it became an important trading post for the Hanseatic League, becoming a city in 1343. After several sieges it was incorporated into the Generaliteitslanden of the United Provinces before becoming part of the Netherlands.
Venlo is most famous this century for its part in Second World War Nazi plot, used to justify the invasion of Holland in 1940.
The Venlo incident saw two British intelligence service agents kidnapped by the Gestapo as they were lured into a staged “plot” to assasinate Hitler, with the Nazi’s claiming the incident as proof that an independent Netherlands was a threat.
The town remains just a few miles away from the German border on the modern map of Europe, making it perfect for the Baggies’ training camp.
They face Borussia Moenchengladbach on Wednesday and Cologne on Saturday but first they have two solid days of training.
The humidity may not match the stifling conditions in Croatia and Slovenia a year ago, yet it is still hot enough in central Europe to make pounding the training pitches decidedly uncomfortable.
What we have learned on tour so far – part one. Rabbits don’t last too long in the middle of the M20.
Despite the best swerving efforts of photographer and driver David Hamilton, one bunny went the way of the Kevin Phillips contract talks, during stage one of the Tour De Europe from West Bromwich to Dover.
What we have learned on tour so far – part two. French bar tenders on Sea France Ferries don’t do multi-tasking.
It took a significant stretch of the English channel for two thirsty newspaper men to get served with a couple of drinks, as Le Garcon waited for the microwave to finish for a previous customer.
What we have learned on tour so far – part three. The T-Mobile phone signal is better in the middle of the Channel than in several parts of Wednesbury.
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