Football Adventures with James Rendall
My football adventures all over the world
Emilia-Romagna is a vast, prosperous region of Italy, famed for its farm produce, fast cars and artisanal cooking oils. Edging closer to the Eastern seaboard, but not actually on the coast, you’ll find one of its jewels, Ravenna. With a population of 156,000, Ravenna is no quiet, out of the way city. Its history includes … Continue reading Mosaic sure it’s Ravenna
It might have taken a while, 1987 to 2026, but the Coppa Eccelenza Finale in Teramo on 9th May will be my 100th Stadio in Italia. Given I have only visited 412 anywhere in the world (mostly Scotland), nearly 25% is a remarkable stat perhaps. Blame it on Football Weekends and my craving to discover … Continue reading Centenarian
If you ask any visitor to Italy, where is on their “must do list”, the big three, Roma, Firenze and Venezia will immediately trot out. A sub-section might offer Verona, the Amalfi Coast or Pisa as well. That latter name, as quaint as it is, really has only become famous courtesy of a terrible habit … Continue reading Lively Livorno
Heading back across the Straits of Messina onto the island of Sicily by train is always entertaining. Yes, it’s time consuming as they shuffle the engine and carriages on and off the boat, but once all are inside the bowels of the vessel, you can stretch your legs and get a blast of sea air … Continue reading The Elephant in the Stadio
How far back does your love of Calcio go? It seeped into my psyche in Como, July 1982, when Italy dismantled West Germany. That Marco Tardelli celebration still gives me goosebumps. Lago di Como, along with pretty much every corner of Italy, took to the streets in wild celebration. It all left an indelible mark, … Continue reading ….And Green Means Go!
Those clever architects of yesteryear knew what they were doing. Build a Bell Tower with more than a lean, and the world shall forever know the city of Pisa. Allegedly it was unintentional, but inadvertently it has become one of the great icons of Italy. The tower with a tilt isn’t unique to this Tuscan … Continue reading Toscana Inclination
My opening tale from Italy in this 2025/26 season was from a match between Sambenedettese and Carpi. It was the first time I had seen the visiting team from Emilia-Romagna, and seeing a game at their stadium suddenly appeared in lights as the last of the “big” grounds missing off my viewing roster from that … Continue reading Carpi Diem
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
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
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
Football Adventures with James Rendall 
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