Football Adventures with James Rendall
My football adventures all over the world
Regular readers will know I love Italy. I am not so inured in its ways to defend its every nuance, far from it, but if someone asked me what's your favourite country, the answer writes itself. The contrast from Northern European ways makes for a pleasant change in Italy, but it requires a mindset change … Continue reading Lower Puglia
Basilicata is one of the last four regions of Italy (20 in total) where I hadn’t watched a game. Indeed, prior to this trip, I hadn’t even set foot in any of the four missing places, let alone seen a game. Yet, like buses, you wait 38 years, and two games come along together to … Continue reading Basilicata, baby!
The poet and comedian John Hegley probably wouldn’t expect to get a name check in a story about Italian football, but because of him, Luton and Crotone are inexplicably and forever linked in my addled mind! He always said he tried so hard to get Luton into a poem, and while it’s largely a verbal … Continue reading Pythagoras Country
Back late ‘80’s I was already intrigued and sold on the Italian game. In the same summer that I saw my first game in Italy in June 1987, the southern city of Barletta was in a fiesta mood, too. Furie Rosse, red fury as the SSD Barletta are known, due to their red and white … Continue reading Jousting in Barletta
In the southern reaches of coastal Marche and the vast seaside plains of Abruzzo, which is the next region down, football is on the up. In the vanguard, and leading the way are Pescara, who successfully negotiated many a round in the Serie C play-offs last term to step up to Serie B. Indeed, only … Continue reading Border Lands- A Samb Tale
Have you ever done an overseas home and away double of the same fixture in one season? If you live overseas, undoubtedly, but I am talking more about those who journey from one land to another periodically to watch games, rather than an ardent fan of one club. If collecting tales for Football Weekends wasn’t … Continue reading Home and Away
The name Casarano might not be a familiar name to you. Unless, of course, you scour the lower leagues of Italy, like me. There is an astonishing multitude of leagues, where the lower you go, the numbers become mind-boggling. If Casarano as club has passed you by, fret yee not, it is after all, 27 years … Continue reading Casarano Fiesta
I love bringing the lesser lights of football to life, and I thought I would endeavour to describe how I organise my trips, and share some of the frustrations that come part and parcel with my passion for Calcio in this article. You might have an inclination as to when you would like to head … Continue reading Planning to C
The northern reaches of Italy have long had a checkered past. These are areas that have been nudged into the Italian realm, and where, especially under Mussolini, the right to utilise the native language wasn’t just frowned upon, it was banned. Yet, up in these pastures of Fruilia, Veneto and Trentino/Alto-Adige, Italian isn’t always the … Continue reading Fantastic Mr B and his Tyrolean Neighbours
There was a time when Rimini was one of the hotbeds of British seaside holidays overseas. Certainly in the '80's that was the case, as I for one enjoyed a number of trips to satellite resorts on either side of Rimini; Riccione, and Cattolica to the south, and Igea Marina to the north. On occasion, … Continue reading La Dolce Vita
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