Archive for the ‘Football’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Ryburn United v Marsden, Thursday 27th March 2025, 7.30pm

April 8, 2025

This game was in Woodlesford, near Leeds, and with the exception of a car on fire on the hard shoulder, it was an uneventful drive south. I’d done nothing of note leading up to this game and so in an effort to make this mildly interesting, I’ll pad it out by relating how I fed a crow from my hand on the way back from Glasgow, two days previously.

Jen and I had stopped at a services and taken our food and drink to a picnic table outside. There were a couple of crows hopping about and so I threw them a few bits of my pasty. I wondered if I could get one of the birds to sit on the table and so I put the food there instead. That all went well and we progressed to me holding the food in my hand and the crow taking it from my palm. It was happy to do so.

I’ve read that crows are highly intelligent and have great memories, including being able to recognise individual people. I’ll be in his good books now after his chorizo and cheddar pastry snack and if I ever get a puncture on the M74 I should be able to rely upon him and his mates for some assistance.

The game was a Yorkshire Amateur League Cup Semi Final and played at the neutral venue of the West Riding County FA. I’ve not really any idea of where the teams sit in the pyramid, but the ground provided a good venue for the fixture. A lot of the crowd appeared to be mates of the players and many had come straight from work.

There was a three-row covered stand that ran alongside the pitch, although as everyone simply stood in front of it, at the railing, there was no chance of seeing any action from the seats. At each end of the seated section were standing areas that provided a better view. The playing surface was artificial, and with a higher bounce than you tend to see these days. It almost caught out the Ryburn keeper early on, but he scrambled back to claw the ball off the line.

The game was evenly contested until we approached half-time and Ryburn scored three times in seven minutes. The Marsden players left the pitch shell-shocked, whilst I got some chips from the food hut.

As I sat on a bench outside of the clubhouse, I could hear the shouted recriminations from the Marsden dressing room as they rued their failure to keep things tight and see out the first half.

The teams returned, with Marsden believing that the next goal would be critical. It was, but unfortunately it went against them and within a minute of the restart. Despite being four down, they continued to press forward and had some decent chances before driving one into the top corner for a consolation and the best goal of the night.

Any flicker of hope was fully extinguished on the hour when a Ryburn corner bounced twice without being cleared and was nodded in at the back post. The remaining half-hour was played out with less intensity, other than when a couple of players sought to settle old scores by leaving a foot in.

Ryburn missed a penalty before adding a sixth goal to book their place in the final. I encountered no fires or crows on the drive home.

Tags:,
Posted in Football | Leave a Comment »

Scotland v Greece, Sunday 23rd March 2025, 5pm

April 6, 2025

This trip started off with a booking for a Boo Hewerdine gig and then expanded to take in a game and go for a walk. The gig was at a pub called The Doublet in Glasgow and took place in an upstairs room with a capacity of around thirty people. The band was Hotel Art, which is a duo made up of Boo Hewerdine and a Slovakian bloke half his age. We tend to see Boo quite often and I think the Hotel Art songs are the best he’s done for a while. Perhaps it’s like when you have an old dog and then you get a puppy which gives it a new lease of life.

The walk was on the West Highland Way. I had no idea that a national trail would start so close to Glasgow, but I suppose one of the good things about the UK is that you are never too far from the countryside. We walked north from Milngavie, covering about ten miles in total, along a route that was well enough signposted for us not to have to worry about getting lost.

I don’t suppose highland cattle count as wildlife, so the highlight was seeing a hawk. Or something like a hawk. I’ve no idea really what it was but it didn’t look like something that small rodents would feel comfortable being around. It was initially sat in a field and then, on seeing us, it flew into some trees. Next time we are up in Glasgow, we’ll pick up the trail where we left off and see how far we get by doing it in sections.

I hadn’t intended to go to the Scotland game at Hampden Park. I’d been there before and so would usually have selected a game at a new ground. However, I’d hatched a cunning plan to try and make getting tournament tickets easier by signing Paul and I up to the Scottish Supporters Club. We’d collect points by attending games and on the off chance that Scotland ever qualified for another tournament, we’d be in pole position for Tartan Army tickets.

The trip was with Jen, rather than Paul, so Jen had to attend the game to accrue Paul’s point. She much prefers small fixtures to sell outs in national stadiums but was happy to come along. We walked from our hotel on the other side of the river, passing the old Third Lanark ground. It looks as if there is some construction work going on, perhaps the installation of an artificial pitch. I look forward to seeing a game there someday, ideally from the old overgrown terracing.

The highlight of the game for Jen was a macaroni pie. Mac and cheese is seen as a ‘side’ in the US, so the peculiarly scotch experience of eating it in a pie was a welcome novelty. I doubt it will catch on stateside, or even south of Berwick, but I enjoyed it. Next time I might opt for the traditional scotch pie or a donner meat pie. Yes, really. A recent DNA test revealed that I’m 39% Scottish and maybe that explains why I’ve a tendency to eat such delicacies.

The game was pish, as us part-Bravehearts say. Scotland held a one goal advantage from the first leg but were soon two down on the day and a third Greece goal seconds after the break put the outcome beyond doubt. My main interest was in seeing how the Boro’s Tommy Conway did. He was only given the last fifteen minutes but put the effort in and was always looking to be available for a pass. As we accumulate our Tartan Army points I’d hope that he gets more time on the pitch.

The stadium was just about empty by full-time and most of those fans who had remained had done so only to have the opportunity of booing Steve Clarke and his players. It was a little odd pretending to care who won when chatting with the people sat around me, but who knows, maybe I’ll develop an affinity with them. If not, then I’ll just have to go for the pies.

Tags:, , ,
Posted in Football, Hiking, Music | Leave a Comment »

Annfield Plain v Durham United, Saturday 22nd March 2025, 2.30pm

April 5, 2025

It was international week and so this day had been designated ‘Non-League Day’. I’m not sure who makes these designations, but it does seem as if every day has some cause attached to it. Some of them are worth celebrating, Steak and BJ day for example, although if I were a cow I might think differently. I’m also happy to observe ‘Non-League Day’ as often as possible and so Jen and I headed north to Derwent Park for the eleventh tier Wearside League Premier Division fixture between Annfield Plain and Durham United.

The previous night we’d been to see Pete Doherty at Arc in Stockton. He put on a very good show after initially joining each of his three support acts and then being accompanied on stage at various times by his wife, toddler and dog. He had some fanatical followers in the crowd that knew every word of every song, but they were countered by the drunken dickheads who paid attention during the choruses of the hits but talked loudly through everything else.

There was nobody operating the turnstile when we arrived at the ground, but a small kid soon turned up to take the three quid gate money. An old bloke then appeared and thanked us for attending before advising us to buy some homemade cake from the tearoom underneath the small, covered stand.

It was likely to be a difficult game for the home side as visitors Durham United had clinched the Premier Division title the previous week. Durham will be playing in the Northern League next season.

There were around fifty spectators present. We found a couple of seats at the back of the stand and put down a sleeping bag for Henry to lie on. He got a fair bit of attention and the official photographer took a snap of him which appeared on the Annfield Plain social media.

Derwent Park looked old. There was some concrete terracing to our right and most of the pitch barriers and perimeter fencing had probably been there for at least sixty years. For the fans around us it was a chance to catch up with their mates. One bloke was telling the fella next to him about how good he had been at darts until dartitis brought his ambitions to a sudden halt. A woman nearby sought advice on how to fix a boiler that was struggling to maintain pressure. Once she’d received an answer that she was happy with, she left early to try it out.

Annfield Plain took an early lead and could easily have gone two up when an effort was ruled offside. It was always going to be Durham’s day though and a flurry of goals in the second half made the game safe before Annfield Plain pulled one back for a four-two final scoreline.

The visitors showboated until the final whistle with one of their players spurning an easy chance to put the ball wide of the keeper in favour of trying to chip him. The ball didn’t drop in time and landed on top of the netting, bringing howls of laughter from his mates in the stand. He justified his effort by claiming that he’d been after something ‘more audacious’.

Durham were presented with the trophy after the game and marked the occasion by spraying some fizz around. We finished our homemade cake, gathered up the dog’s sleeping bag and left them to a well-deserved celebration.

Tags:, , ,
Posted in Football | Leave a Comment »

FC Luxembourg City v FC Koeppchen Wormeldange, Sunday 16th March 2025, 4pm

March 20, 2025

The final game of the trip was a men’s fixture in the second-tier Division of Honour. I’d checked out the location of the Luxembourg-Cents ground and it was within walking distance of our Airbnb. As the route went through a park, Jen and I decided to take a mid-morning reconnaissance stroll, mainly to reduce the chances of me getting lost when I headed out later for the match.

The footpath took us past the castle and provided decent views of the area below before we had to descend into the dip and cross the river. There was a natural history museum along the way and so we called in for an hour. We might well have been the only visitors not to have brought small children with us. The highlight was a badly stuffed penguin that might well have doubled-up as a pyjama case.

 We found the Luxembourg-Cents ground after a further uphill trek and discovered that there was a bus stop outside for a service that would take us to within a hundred yards of where we were staying. Much as I wanted to keep my step count up it seemed a waste not to take advantage and so we rode back into town. Three hours later I made the return journey by myself for the game.

It was ten euros admission. Thankfully everyone spoke far better English than I do French, German or Luxembourgish. Who knew that last one was even a thing? I got myself a Coke Zero from a cabin, where I eventually realised that the bloke who served me didn’t actually work in there, but was just helping me out whilst the woman in charge was somewhere else.

Luxembourg-Cents has a two thousand, eight-hundred capacity. There’s seating all down one side with a central covered section. I liked that the sides of that stand were clear plastic, so you got protection from the wind, but also were able to see the action when it was taking place by either of the near-side corner flags.

There was a Saint Bernard sat in there for a while, up on a seat, watching the game and possibly with designs on getting out there and chasing the match-ball. Every now and then a plane would fly over, heading for the airport a couple of miles down the road.

Luxembourg City are a fairly new team, formed from a merger and recently rebranded. This was their first season back in the second-tier after promotion last year. Koeppchen Wormeldange have a bit more history behind them, dating back to 1919.

Both sides struggled to make an early impact and there were minimal chances in the first half. Wormeldange came closest to scoring with a effort that was chalked-off for offside.

At half-time I wandered over to where a fella was grilling burgers and sausages. He directed me back to the cabin that I’d been to earlier to buy a ticket and explained to me what to ask for. I ended up with German sausage in a French baguette. Best of both worlds really.

Chances remained at a premium after the restart and for a while it looked like both sides might keep a clean sheet. Luxembourg eventually broke the deadlock twenty minutes from time when one of their players managed to lose his marker at a corner and plant the subsequent free header into the net.

The hosts held on to their lead to take the points and I was able to catch the bus outside of the stadium for a quick return to the city centre and a last evening out.

Tags:, ,
Posted in Football | Leave a Comment »

Racing FC Union Luxembourg Feminine v Union Mertert-Wasserbillig Dames, Saturday 15th March 2025, 7pm

March 17, 2025

At the moment I’m working part time for an hour or two a day. I’m also doing it remotely. That means Jen and I can pretty much be anywhere we like and so we headed off to Luxembourg for a few days.

We were there in 2022 but stayed out in the countryside rather than in the city. I can’t remember why, but there were no matches going on at the time, so I had always envisaged coming back to tick it off as a country where I’d watched football.

Luxembourg is a small place and easy to get around with free public transport for everyone. There’s a good tram system, including one from the airport to the city centre and we had a ride on a funicular. There are also plenty of parks and as I’m trying to do at least fifteen thousand steps a day we wandered around most of them checking out the crocus growth.

The historical part of the city is also worth mooching about. There are some castle walls with underground sections that we spent some time in. Those parts date back some four hundred years and have come in useful every time Luxembourg has got caught up in someone else’s conflict.

My first match of the trip was at the Stade Achille Hammerel and a Ligue One women’s game between Racing FC Union and Union Mertert-Wasserbillig. Racing are Luxembourg’s top women’s side and have won the league title in each of the last four seasons. They look well on course to take the honours this season too and qualify for the Champion’s League.

Union Mertert-Wasserbillig haven’t been doing so well and are bottom of the table without a win all season. It appeared to be the kind of mismatch that, with a bit of luck, might have ended up with a double-figure score line.

It was free to get in and there were probably about another thirty people watching, most of whom will have been friends or family of the players. Dogs were well represented with something really furry sat by the home dugout, what looked like a collie/husky cross a couple of rows in front of me and a pair of beagles up in the back row.

It was less interesting on the pitch. Racing played well within themselves and seemed content to keep possession rather than press for goals. I’d been hoping for something like the twenty goals that England Women put past Latvia but by half-time they’d only scored twice.

At the break I got myself a coffee and a bag of crisps. In Luxembourg the Lay’s blue bag is paprika flavour rather than cheese and onion. I wondered if that’s a standardisation across Europe or whether each country’s head office causes mayhem by creating their own crisp colour code. I’m all for consistency in this issue and would be happy to see it addressed with legislation if necessary. The coffee took a while as it was made with a proper espresso machine. It was worth the wait though and a vast improvement on the dishwater that I grudgingly drink at the Riverside.

The second half was more of the same. Racing didn’t get out of second gear but managed to add a further three goals for an underwhelming five-nil victory. They’d have to put a lot more effort in for the Champions League games against the top sides.

Tags:, ,
Posted in Football | Leave a Comment »

Middlesbrough v Queens Park Rangers, Tuesday 11th March 2025, 7.45pm

March 16, 2025

In the lead up to this game, it was easy to think that the season was done. The defeat at Swansea had halted our two-match winning streak and that poor first half performance had suggested that without the pace of Latte Lath or the creativity of Doak we’d struggle to make the play-offs.

But the gap was only five points or effectively two wins. Mind you, with just ten games remaining, winning two more games than your rivals is a tall order. There’s always hope though, until there isn’t and Harry and I set off for the Riverside thinking that a win would keep the promotion campaign alive.

When I saw the line-up I initially thought that our problem of the lack of centre-backs was going to be exacerbated by the novel approach of playing with three of them rather than two and filling the slots with a right back, a left back and a central midfielder. However, Carrick had stuck to his usual back four with Borges and Howson at centre half. It worked ok. Dijksteel remained at right back and capped his performance with a wide run where he cut inside and passed the ball into the far corner of the net.

Jonny Howson showed how badly he had been missed. He played deep, usually five or more yards beyond the QPR attacking line. He organised everything and despite not being anywhere near match-fit was our most influential player. Even if our missing centre-halves make recoveries I’d keep him in the side, either as a third centre-back or perhaps as part of a midfield three, sitting in behind Hackney and Morris.

After being two-up and cruising a late QPR goal meant a tense final few minutes. Their keeper even went up for a corner and had a header on target. We held on though to keep the play-off hopes alive for another week.

Tags:,
Posted in Football | Leave a Comment »

Penrith v Blyth Town, Saturday 8th March 2025, 3pm

March 15, 2025

Jen and I had walked the central sections of Hadrian’s Wall fourteen years ago. That’s the best part and at the time we thought we’d leave it at that. A couple of years ago we decided to finish the trail off and got as far as Rickerby Park in Carlisle. As I’d identified Penrith’s fixture with Blyth Town as my game for the day, we took the opportunity to head further north before the game and pick up the path where we had left off.

We’d been out the night before, watching Pete Wylie at the Georgian in Stockton. I’d enjoyed his stuff back in the eighties but hadn’t heard anything he’d done since his heyday. It was a decent show with plenty of chat between songs.

The late finish to the gig meant that we didn’t reach Rickerby Park until ten o’clock. That left sufficient time for a nine-mile round trip to Grinsdale, following whatever river flows through Carlisle. We passed by a castle and a couple of churches, but didn’t take the opportunity to have a closer look.

There wasn’t much in the way of wildlife. A black duck and a grey squirrel were about our lot. I’m not certain that it actually was a duck. Lets just call it a swimming bird. Despite carrying my camera in my hand for the entire time I wasn’t quick enough to get a photo of the squirrel. Still, you know what they look like.

Four hours and twenty-odd thousand steps later, we were back at Rickerby Park and with sufficient time to get to Frenchfield Park for the Penrith game. I checked the driving directions on the futbology app and discovered that it would actually be quicker to get to an Annan Athletic fixture in Scotland. It was tempting, but as it would have meant a longer post-match drive back to Teesside, I stuck with the original plan.

We arrived at Frenchfield Park with ten minutes to spare and found the last remaining parking spot. It was seven quid admission, and I bought a programme for a further pound. Despite it being close to kick-off there were plenty of seats in the main stand.

As we’d not yet had any lunch Jen nipped down to the food hut and brought me back a burger and some chips. The burger was fine, but the chips weren’t worth finishing.

Blyth Town are up at the top end of the Northern League Division One table. It’s unlikely that they will catch leaders Redcar Athletic and secure automatic promotion, but they have a more than reasonable chance of finishing in the playoffs. There’s not much for Penrith to play for as they are in the lower reaches of the table and are unlikely to slip into the relegation spots.

Blyth were the better side and by the time half an hour had gone were two goals up. They maintained their lead going into the break. I took the opportunity to prevent my legs from stiffening up and spent much of the second half watching from different viewpoints around the perimeter fence.

There were a handful of young kids supporting Penrith from behind one of the goals. They’d even brought a drum. At the other end it was just some sheep up on the fell. If it was a fell. It might just have been field with a slope. I’ve no idea of the difference.

Penrith got back into the game just after the restart, but within a minute Blyth had restored their two-goal advantage. A thirty yarder from Penrith reduced the deficit to a single goal again and made for an interesting final twenty minutes. Blyth hung on though to take the points.

Tags:, , ,
Posted in Football, Hiking | Leave a Comment »

Unisun Athletic Juniors U15 v Windscale Juniors U15, Saturday 8th March 2025, 10am

March 14, 2025

This was a bonus game that we spotted whilst walking along the Hadrian’s Wall trail between Rickerby Park and Grinsdale. The path pretty much follows the river and goes past the Sheepmount Athletics stadium. The stadium itself was busy with people jogging around the track and someone shotting the putt. Near the entrance some kids were unloading javelins from the back of a car. We never got to mess around with javelins at that age. I’m not sure I’d be trusted to do it even now.

The centre field of the athletics stadium didn’t look big enough for a football pitch and didn’t have any goalposts. However, there were a few games going on in the surrounding fields and so Jen and I paused our walk to wander over to the match that was taking place on the pitch which had a fence around and dugouts for the coaching teams.

I asked about the teams and a lady very kindly called up the information on her phone and let me take a photo of it. Isn’t technology great? It was an under-fifteen game in the West Cumbria Youth League between Unisun Athletic and Windscale. The match was well into the second half and our arrival coincided with Unisun extending their lead to four-nil. We stayed long enough to see a Windscale consolation with a strongly struck shot from well outside the box, before leaving them to it and resuming our walk.

Tags:, , ,
Posted in Football, Hiking | Leave a Comment »

Middlesbrough v Derby County, Saturday 1st March 2025, 3pm

March 4, 2025

I got lucky with my full day back in the UK with both a Boro home game and a stable visit to see Hickton, the Riverside Racing Syndicate horse. I didn’t see him run at all as a two-year-old and so I’m hoping to be more involved in his campaign this season.

We’ve switched trainers for this season to the smaller yard of Declan Carroll and I went along with a couple of other syndicate members to watch him on the gallops.

Declan seems a decent bloke and was happy to spend an hour and a half with us, talking us through Hickton’s progress since arriving. He’s a horse that seems to have some ability, but is reluctant to show it. Hopefully Declan and his team can bring him on a bit.

We watched him run over six furlongs alongside one of the stable sprinters. It’s an uphill track so hopefully he’ll appreciate the much easier gradient next time he’s on the course.

After taking my Mam for quick jaunt around Aldi, I picked up Harry and we set off for the Riverside. Neither of us could work out how to get Radio Tees on the hire car radio, so we missed the team news. The Boro are short of centre halves at the moment, having sold Matt Clarke and then had Van Den Berg and Edmundson pick up injuries.

Jonny Howson still isn’t fit either and so Luke Ayling switched inside. Early in the second half he picked up an injury too which meant that left back Neto Borges took his turn to fill in. It feels as if they’ll all get a go at some point.

Derby are struggling at the moment and came for a point. We had the best of the chances, but it wasn’t until ten minutes from time that Finn Azaz broke the deadlock to give us a second win in four days. Hopefully we can build on that and get back into a play-off spot

Tags:, ,
Posted in Football, Horseracing | Leave a Comment »

Al Ittihad v Al Hilal, Saturday 22nd February 2025, 9.15pm

March 3, 2025

Foundation Day is a public holiday in the KSA and meant a three-day weekend. I took the opportunity to fly down to Jeddah for the top of the table clash between leaders Al Ittihad and second-placed visitors Al Hilal. The fixture is apparently known as the ‘Saudi Clasico’. Al Hilal is undeniably the most successful Saudi club, whilst Al Ittihad’s claim to ‘top-two’ status probably relies more on their crowds than trophies.

On matchday morning I took a stroll along the seafront. It was a popular way to spend Foundation Day and families were out in force, bathing, sitting on the sand or, like me, simply going for a walk. One couple had brought a parrot in a cage out with them. Hopefully for its conversational skills.

Others had hired boats from the Marina and were cruising back and forward, invariably with a large green Saudi flag flying. Those people who didn’t want to leave their air-conditioned cars went up and down the coast road to the Corniche area. A lot of those cars sported large flags too with many of them being waved by a small kid stood on the back seat and with his or her torso sticking out of the sunroof.

My hotel, which was the closest one that I could find to the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, was about an hour’s walk from the ground. I’d picked it so that if I struggled to get a taxi after the game, I’d be able to get back regardless. The match didn’t kick off until 9.15pm, but with little else to occupy my time I set off for the ground early in the evening.

However, with the stadium in sight, I realised that there wasn’t a walking route other than along a three-lane flyover without a pavement. I retraced my steps to a place where an Uber would be able to find me and booked a ride.

I’d bought my ticket around a month ahead of the game from Viagogo. It had cost me fifty quid, but I hadn’t wanted to risk general sale, particularly if it also involved registering Al Ittihad’s ticket app.

The area outside the stadium was busy, despite me being two hours early. I was searched on the way in and the steward was keen to confiscate my notebook. He called his boss over, no doubt hoping for some Brownie points, only for his boss to tell him not to be a dick. When he grudgingly returned the book, I should have asked him his name and wrote it down. Next time.

I had a wander around the concourse area and a young lad came over for a chat. He looked to be around eleven years old and told me that he had lived in Lancaster for seven years. It was great to hear a Saudi kid speak with a Northern English accent.

Once in my seat, I was able to watch a horse race on the big screen. The Boro should do that. Or maybe show one of the early kick-off games. It’s something that I’d like to see at tournaments such as the Euros and the World Cup. It gets people to the stadiums early which would minimise the queues and would likely increase food and drink sales.

Immediately prior to kick-off the home fans held up plastic sheeting in club colours. Both sides had large displays behind the goals that covered almost all of the fans in those sections. It was a passionate atmosphere, worthy of the ‘clasico’ label and if anyone doubted the sincerity of the support in this part of the world, it showed that Saudi fans, or at least those Saudi fans, are as committed to their team as any other supporters elsewhere.

Initial pressure came from Al Hilal and they took the lead midway through the first half. Al Ittihad hit back though and went in at the break two-one up.

A third goal early in second half put the home side well in control and when it looked like they’d added a fourth the fella to my left cleared off in the belief the points were in the bag. A VAR intervention saw the effort chalked off and it took a cool finish from Benzema five minutes from time to finally kill off any thoughts of an away comeback.

I was lucky enough to flag down a taxi after the game, but the traffic management roadblocks meant that we still had the ground in sight half an hour after setting off. I eventually got back to my hotel close to midnight, for what will likely be my final Saudi game for a while. It was a decent occasion to bow out on.

Tags:, , , ,
Posted in Football | Leave a Comment »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »