My football adventures all over the world
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
Bank Holiday Monday, that curious old chestnut that used to be the first Monday of August in Scotland, but was moved in line with the rest of the UK. My colleagues who had kids used to moan, as essentially all schools are back by the time this day off comes around. A day without your … Continue reading 1,2,3 No.4 – Darlington
Something was rumbling over the summer in the Highland Capital of Scotland. By the time league football returned, the name Thistle was attached to two Inverness club names. In the run-up to the 1994/95 bid to join the Scottish League, an acrimonious merger was happening between Caledonian FC and Inverness Thistle. It was the right … Continue reading A Tale of Two Thistles
In early June 2016, doubtlessly in a pique of boredom I decided to go and have a look at New Central Park, home at that particular time to Junior side Kelty Hearts. I used to work beside a Fife chap, Gordy, who, if he wasn’t at the San Starko, would frequent the Junior grounds in … Continue reading 1, 2, 3 – No.3- Kelty
The fickle Scot and our perception of distance. Especially top-flight central belt fans, trips to Aberdeen were bad enough, but the introduction of Highland sides to their cosy club was a trek too far for some. From my own perspective, having friends from “big” countries, these journeys are nothing. Try Jujuy to Bahia Blanca in … Continue reading 1,2,3 – No.2- Stranraer
An idea came to me on Saturday driving back from Stranraer. Why not, when visiting a well known venue on a Saturday, write a short blog piece with tales from my three favourite games there. I will make that happen, with Stair Park getting the first outing, when I head that way again, a week … Continue reading 1,2,3 – No.1-(ICT v Celtic)
There was a time when the last whistle of the last game of the season would signal at least a 6 - or 8-week hiatus action. That gap would every two years get filled by a World Cup or European Championship, but those days are gone. The “International” calendar is a never ending 12 month … Continue reading Blurred Lines
The conclusion of my skip around my favourite European moments from 1976 to date. As we have discovered, it was a pretty slow burner, with the first three games listed in part one, all forming the first three games I ever saw. They span more than a decade. By the mid nineties, things were picking … Continue reading In Europe (part two)
Football Adventures with James Rendall 
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