Go East- Part 2, Makedonija

MAKEDONIJA V SCOTLAND, World Cup Qualifier, Skopje 10th September 2013 In continuation of part one in Srbija.(See next article below) Post Burek nibbling, the border formalities were next up as the journey continued into the mostly southerly state of what was once Yugoslavia, bound for the capital, Skopje as we were. Remarkably in the ‘90’s … Continue reading Go East- Part 2, Makedonija →

Go East- Part 1, Srbija

The first of three tales and reflections on games/trips that all happened within a matter of weeks of each other in the autumn of 2013, where all three matches were World Cup Qualifiers, so move over Go West, we are heading East. Part One SRBIJA V HRVATSKA, World Cup Qualifier, Beograd, 6th September 2013 My … Continue reading Go East- Part 1, Srbija →

Foroyar Forever

With my 40th article in Football Weekends this month on Pistoiese, it brought to mind the notion that my very first article, published in September 2016 in the 6th edition of the magazine (we forgive the tiny wee editorial error in the original headline), has never been put on my blog. Football Weekends is now … Continue reading Foroyar Forever →

Tiddly Tales

Three tales of curious games, with accidental, hilarious and distraught moments mixed in. They all involve relatively tiddly teams from Latvia, Liechtenstein and San Marino, and it seems one such occasion comes along every decade or so! 1/ LATVIA V ISRAEL, 4th June 2011 The king of all the random games I have ever attended … Continue reading Tiddly Tales →

i Neroverdi di Sassuolo

If you played football at primary school, do you recall the first colours you donned to play? My first colours were green and black taken from the school crest. We used to play in a striped shirt with this combination, but we went radical one season when the coach/teacher ordered us the Borussia Monchengladbach shirt … Continue reading i Neroverdi di Sassuolo →

Padova & Calcio

The continuation of tales of yesteryear football takes us all all the way back to June 1988, not just the game itself, but the entire entertaining day out for two relative novices going to games abroad at that time, my longstanding chum Grant and I. This was only my second game in Italy, following Cesena … Continue reading Padova & Calcio →

Cesena Spareggio

This week's Covid recollection goes right back to the start, my first ever game abroad at Cesena. In the photo above we were right in the back row, top left of the high curva at the opposite end. "Picture the scene, the final league matches of Italy’s Serie B at the end of the 1986/87 … Continue reading Cesena Spareggio →

Vicenza Salvezza

I recently discovered some of my early writing, and given this COVID period where football is scarce, I thought I would lift some of these tales from typed paper into the modern world of my blog! We start with one of my earliest games abroad, a remarkable pivotal moment in the history of Vicenza Calcio … Continue reading Vicenza Salvezza →

My Ancona, Part 4 (2003 to the present day)

If Ancona’s first nibble at the Serie A top table had been too short, while then manager Vincenzo Guerini brought in some “stranieri” (foreign players), he did largely stay loyal to the squad that took the club to that historic promotion. Weeks on from the invasion of the pitch at Livorno by 8,000 excited Anconetani … Continue reading My Ancona, Part 4 (2003 to the present day) →

My Ancona, part 3 (2000-2003)

You might think that after four promotions, a Coppa Italia Cup Final, an Anglo Italian Cup and Coppa Italia C Semi Final, as well as the huge play out relegation dodge avoiding the drop into the fourth tier, things might start to settle down for Ancona. After all, despite three relegations thrown into the mix, … Continue reading My Ancona, part 3 (2000-2003) →