My football adventures all over the world
Scottish football is much maligned around the world for being desperately predictable these days. That is certainly something that can be rightfully sighted against the top flight, but the cup competitions and the lower leagues are far from such tedium. The Scottish Cup in particular can sometimes throw up lesser names progressing far, or even … Continue reading Swifts and hard to swallows
I am sure we all have a favourite novel. Perhaps elements of the narrative resonate with you, and normally it is something personal within the text that adds to why we are drawn to any given book. My favourite novel, The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles has one element that ticks that box for me, … Continue reading Dulce Lecce
I love Italy, and I love its Calcio (football), but dear goodness it can sometimes be like the most strained relationship. Perhaps similar to a football daft fan bored in the summer without his/her team, they find themselves home too much for his/her partners liking. It is like that in those June to September months … Continue reading II Lupi di Cosenza
I am celebrating 40 years of closely following Calcio this season, where back in the day, come round 6 of the 1983/84 season I had found a regular source of getting my hands on Guerin Sportivo magazine (the Italian bible on football). It used to be a weekly magazine back then, now monthly, and despite … Continue reading Catanzaro on High, literally!
Just sixty nine days after watching my boys Inverness Caledonian Thistle put on a brave show in the 2023 Scottish Cup Final, the next edition of the competition was off and running. As the number of licensed clubs grows, those who have won certain leagues and cups, even if non-licensed, can enter. The need for … Continue reading North Caledonian Away
Think of football in the Catalan capital Barcelona, and the self named giant of the game will instantly spring to mind, even if the roundball game isn’t your interest. Everyone knows FC Barcelona, its reach is global, its commercialisation of the brand is colossal. Being an alternative option to such a club isn’t easy, and … Continue reading Viva Europa
Just three days after the last ball of 2022/23 was kicked in anger (almost literally, over the bar by Kvaradona) at soggy Hampden amid a tropical storm and a rain delayed fiasco, I found myself heading across the River Forth en route to an opening joust of the new season! Okay it was just a … Continue reading Summer Par-ty
Let me start by saying, Spanish football isn’t my world. Somehow if you are a Calcio fan and love Italy, Spain sits as the direct rival, and indeed you will often hear mutterings of discontent in an International or European game if the ref happens to be from Espana. That isn’t to say that in … Continue reading Lifting Levante
I have been lucky in life, and getting to watch any football abroad is considered a privilege. As the Copa Libertadores starts up now for the 2023 diet, I thought I would research some recollections of the 26 games I have had the opportunity to watch, thus far in a 2002 to 2015 period in … Continue reading Copa Libertadores Recollections
Anyone familiar with the Isle of Man flag will know it has a three legged symbol in the centre, and while not exactly identical, the angles are all different, Lake Como has three legs too, the Larian triangle as it is known . It was on the shores of this magnificent lake that I first … Continue reading Lecco Land
You must be logged in to post a comment.