Football Adventures with James Rendall
My football adventures all over the world
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
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
As Silkeborg and Greenland stepped out for a friendly at the impress JSVK stadium in Silkeborg, it might have largely flown under the radar, but this was a poignant brothers in arms moment. It was also one of the best stadiums the visitors had ever played in. It was about to inspire. My goodness, other … Continue reading Brothers in Arms
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 annual Scottish Groundhop, always an early signal of spring, and the downward slope to the season’s conclusion. The weather at these gigs hasn’t always been warm sunshine and fine sunsets though. Indeed, togging down at Glenrothes one giddy Saturday morning due the temperature rising was a rare climate high for these occasions, where waterlogged … Continue reading Hop to it ’25
