Grounds For Divorce

Saturday 12th December 2009 - Angers SCO

2009-12-17T04:02:00.000-08:00

-2pm

-Coupe de France 8eme Tour

-at Stade Jean Bouin, Boulevard Pierre de Coubertin, Angers, France

Angers SCO (3)5

J. Grondin (o.g. 3)

Charbonnier (6, 14, 83)

Deble (63)

AS Excelsior (0)0

Admission: 5 euros

Programme: team sheet

Attendance: 1,325

Waking hours before dawn cracked, on Saturday morning I fell into a state of despair about my predicament. What pig-headed idiocy had I been going through when I planned this itinery? What in God's name made me think that a quick trip down to Paris and beyond before returning to Belgium would be a doddle? I had seen the fixtures and liked the look of both Westerlo and Le Mans but as I couldn't choose between the two, I devised some hairbrained scheme to include both. The cheap first class rail tickets on offer helped too. Now, at 5.30 am in a freezing north Belgian ghost town I wasn't so sure I had made the right choices and I desperately wanted another hour of sleep and the warmth of the Corbie Geel bed after a late night drinking with a Scottish expat in the hotel bar.

Still, taking the first train of the day gave me the opportuniny to sleep through Antwerp and Mechelen before changing in Brussels onto a TVR. Much travelling later and I pulled into Angers St. Laud where I was to spend the afternoon at one of the more peculiar matches I have seen. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect having only seen a handful of Coupe de France games before, all of which involved sides from the mainland. Today however, Angers SCO from Ligue 2 welcomed AS Excelsior Saint-Joseph from the island of Reunion, a French overseas territory some 300 kilometres east of Madagascar in the Indian ocean. Would they have a following? You bet! Would they be any good? No!

Half of the main stand was given over to the Excelsior supporters who seemed to be made up of a few who had travelled the distance, a lot of expats now living in France, more than a few day supporters of varying nationalities and a large group of dreadlocked dope fiends who smoked and played bongos and shuffle boards throughout. Everyone one of them wore the tangerine colours of Excelsior. I have never watched football on the African continent but I have seen carnivals in places like Antigua and this is exactly what the crowd was like. All singing and dancing throughout. In stark contrast, the few Angers supporters who bothered to turn up isolated themselves with a handful of flags and banners in little pockets around the barely 10% full Stade Jean Bouin.

The Coupe de France is such a special competition with thousands of clubs from all sorts of places and cultures competing in the early rounds and guaranteed big upsets as the tournament progresses. In a way it's like the FA Cup on a much larger scale so why the French public continue to relatively ignore it's existence and romance is a mystery to me. I guess it comes down to fact they we love the underdogs whereas in France, they don't. No programmes for this match either despite an obvious small niche for souvenirs of Excelsior's historic day. I did pick up one from the previous weekend's game however and was kindly given a team sheet from the press box. Still, having visited some of the undeveloped grounds in other French overseas territories Martinique and Guadeloupe, it must have been a great feeling for the Excelsior players to walk out into such a big stadium this afternoon, surrounded by television crews from France and Reunion.

Having handed each of the Angers players a souvenir handmade hemp bag (Angers made do with the lousy by comparison club pennant) Excelsior started brightly. For two minutes. Then, left-back Grondin inexplicably sliced the ball into his own net from three yards when under no pressure whasoever. It was soon three and the game was effectively over after a quarter of an hour. Excelsior captain Gangate was then sent off for an over the top challenge followed by shoulder barge in the referee's direction and one worried that the day may become a complete disaster for the islanders. Credit where credits due however, as they battled tirelessly against a vastly superior Angers. At the final whistle, they looked absolutely exhausted not to mention disappointed. Everyone in the ground stood to give them an ovasion which felt in no way patronizing.
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A really enjoyable afternoon for everyone who made the effort to come down to Stade Jean Bouin and walking back through the quiet narrow streets of the city, I could still hear the Excelsior fans songs ringing out from the stadium some twenty minutes after the final whistle. Excelsior were the final overseas club to fall in this season's competition but as always, upsets were to be had most notably at Versailles and Colmar who disposed of Ligue 2 opponets Dijon and Metz respectively. Next stop for the Coupe de France on January 9th sees the Ligue 1 sides enter the competion. All being well, I shall be making another trip across the channel for another dose of this excellent competition.

Finally, the goals from the game including that wonderful own goal, can be seen here: http://www.angers-sco.fr/medias-angers-sco-as-excelsior-5-0-369.html

Friday 11th December 2009 - KVC Westerlo

2009-12-15T08:20:00.000-08:00

-8.30pm

-Eerste Klasse

-at 't Kuipke, De Merodedreef, Westerlo, Belgium

KVC Westerlo (0)0

RSC Anderlecht (1)2

Lukaku (34)

Frutos (82)

Admission: 15 euros

Programme: Free

Attendance: 10,000
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This time last year Nicola and I took a short Christmas break to Salzburg where Noah, then just a year and a half old fell ill with a nasty virus followed by a bout of dehydration which took hold so rapidly I will never forget it. A truly frightening twenty four hours in a local children's hospital put an end to our plans of Christmas markets and Austrian league football and we were just relieved to arrive home in one piece.
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Noah recovered quickly as is generally the way with little ones but it was considered foolish and perhaps a touch superstitious to attempt another such venture this year. Instead I opted for a somewhat lonelier solo trip over to Brussels for a weekend of football without the markets and children's wards. I arrived in Brussels via Eurostar on Friday afternoon where I found my scheduled domestic train to Geel via Lier cancelled. For all our whinging about the state of the UK's rail network, it has to be said that we are not alone in the railways frustrating failures; for such a small country Belgium is as bad as any western European country and I now half expect such cancellations when I am over here. Fortunately I was able to jump on the next train to Lier one hour later and still find a bus from the small city of Geel (which interestingly translates as 'yellow') to Westerlo, some ten kilometres south.

Westerlo is the only town with a top-flight team but without a train station in Belgium making this one of the more awkward places to get to.

There are many 'lo's' is this part of northern Belgium with Tongerlo and Westerlo being the largest of a conurbation of seven towns which form municipality of Westerlo. It is these towns which provide the Jupiler league club with it's modest fanbase. I was surprised to be able to buy a ticket for this match online against Belgian football's biggest draw Anderlecht and even more so when I discovered there was not an empty seat in 't Kuipke stadion. In fact, I would suggest that the compact, modern little stadium was over capacity and hundreds crammed in around the touchlines between stand and hoardings – a proper old fashioned scene in a 21st century setting. Het Kuipke actually translates as 'The Little Tank' which is believed to be a reference to it's much larger brother at Feyenoord, De Kuip ('The Tank'). A good atmosphere was therefore guaranteed and although Jan Ceulemans' Westerlo side have been struggling for goals in recent weeks, they started brightly warming the crowd up on an otherwise freezing evening.

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It's been many years since Anderlecht were a force in European game and whilst they remain one the country's big three, their failings in European club competitions has only added to sense that Belgium is a nation whose past footballing glories are now but a a distant memory. Last time I saw Anderlecht, they put eight past Beveren with a few of those players still in the side three years later, I was excited about seeing another attack-minded performance. Not so. Mbark Boussafa, all five foot of him was outstanding as usual but his partners up front, Suarez and Lukaku were clunky and lightweight. However, it was Lukaku who got on the end of Boussafa's mishit to put Anderlecht one up at the interval much to the delight of their large travelling army who packed up one end of the stadium.
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The beer flowed freely in the canteen at half-time whilst blokes used the outdoor pisspots dotted around at random in full view of women and children, I appreciate it's only a bodily function but you just can't see mass public pissing taking place at Old Trafford or the Emirates can you? Westerlo started the second half in much the same fashion as the first but with Ceesay alone up front, they have one of Europe's true donkeys and never looked like getting back on terms. Nicolas Frutos came off the bench and scored within minutes to seal the points for Anderlecht. His celebration involved pulling a babies dummy from up his sleeve and running up to the visiting supporters with said dummy in mouth. It begged the question whether such celebratory props are actually allowed on the pitch and if so, where do you draw the line? Yo-yos? Trilby hats? I can just see Wayne Rooney scoring the winner in the cup final and whipping out a pogo stick like the big daft kid that he is. The mind boggles.

As far as I could tell, it was impossible to get back to Geel after the match and after trying to muster up the courage to hitch for the first time since the 1991 Reading Festival by having a few pints in the pub opposite the ground, I eventually succumbed to forking out for a taxi which cost around twenty euros. I stayed in the Corbie Geel hotel on the Grote Markt, all clinical black and grey decor like a Patrick Bateman appartment in 1980's New York.

Saturday 5th December 2009 - North Greenford United

2009-12-15T07:35:00.000-08:00

-3pm
-Combined Counties League Premier Division
-at Berkeley Fields, Berkeley Avenue, Greenford, Middlesex

North Greenford United (0)0

Camberley Town (1)2
Paris (23)
Green (61)

Admission: £6
Programme: £1
Attendance: 96

Anyone familiar with my weekly babblings (two of you at the time of writing this) will be aware that most begin with details of what my wife's plans for the day were. It used to be so much easier with no one but myself to please. In recent years however, carefully disguised suggestions on what to do on a dull autumnal Saturday afternoon is what the missus has come to expect from me. We only had a child because it gave me more scope for new grounds near themeparks and urban fun farms. Only joking. Today however, her luck was to change. I had booked a couple of tickets for the Fever Ray gig in Kentish Town, arranged for the littl'un to go to his nan and granddad's for the night and booked a night at the ever-so-luxurious Comfort Inn, West Finchley (at £40 a night there was no denying the romantic in me). I forgot to mention I'd be buggering off and leaving her shopping in Covent Garden in the afternoon.
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And so the chance to tick off one of north-west London's more featureless grounds became a possibility. I was looking at either Rayners Lane or North Greenford but the choice was made easy thanks to the useless cretins at London transport, in particular those on the Piccadilly line.
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With all due respect to North Greenford United whose ground is perfectly functional and indeed comfortable, I would not normally lash out my hard earned cash to spend an afternoon at this type of ground at least not until I have nowhere else left to tick. I will watch my football at much larger and much smaller grounds than this but my criteria for visiting is normally based on location (any good record shops, pubs, sights nearby), ground (history, character, how long it's got left to live) and of course the match prospects. The district of Greenford and in particular Berkeley Fields ticked neither of the first two categories but the match up between the top two in the Combined Counties league looked promising so off I went, even though I have always struggled to find any love for this particular league.
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Berkeley Fields is a fifteen minute walk from Greenford station, past industrial units, 1930's housing and a Glaxosmithkline plant. It boasts an unusually positioned kit-stand behind the near goal plus a similar looking cover without seats along one side. Hemmed in by gardens, it has the look of so many other suburban grounds in Greater London and similarly, the crowds here are just as pitiful. I headcounted 62 ('official' attendance 96) for this six-pointer and was left wondering why those whose games at Wealdstone etc were postponed didn't come down for a look. It's easy to blame apathy in these situations but I wonder if clubs like Greenford suffer more from a lack of awareness on the part of local residents. The public of towns with one club will generally be aware of the highs and lows and their local team but in an area such as Greenford, clubs tend to get lost in the newspaper coverage of the area's larger clubs leaving local residents perhaps unaware that a decent standard of football is being played on their doorstep.
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That said, this game was not actually very good. Greenford clearly suffered without their top scorer Dave Lawrence who was out through suspension and lacked any cutting edge up top. Camberley tried hard to shift the ball around on the deck but were thwarted by the wet and heavy pitch and the game became lost for long periods to dreary midfield hoofery. It took a majestic strike from Joe Paris to open the scoring for Camberley and a scrambled goal from Ronnie Green to clinch it in the second half.

Camberley were worthy winners in the end and open up a gap at the top of the table although looking at recent results, Badshot Lea look to be the team to watch. I won't be rushing to visit another Combined Counties club for a while but these places are perfect if doubling up with a day or weekend in the capital.

Saturday 28th November 2009 - Faversham Town

2009-11-29T09:49:00.000-08:00

-3pm
-Kent League Premier Division
-at Salters Lane, Faversham, Kent

Faversham Town (0)0

Sporting Bengal United (0)0

Admission: £6
Programme: £1
Attendance: 104

Saturday 21st November 2009 - Godalming Town

2009-11-22T07:15:00.000-08:00

-3pm

-FA Trophy Third Qualifying Round

-at Weycourt, Meadrow, Godalming, Surrey

Godalming Town (0)0

Arlesey Town (2)3

Brown (2)

Abbey (22, 62)

Admission: £8

Programme: £1.50

Attendance: 154

A trip to Weycourt had been jostling for attention in my mind for a few weeks now. Don't ask me why but sometimes I get a bee in my bonnet about a particular club and when the bee buzzes, off I go. This weekend was a 'free' weekend in that I had no games planned on my calendar so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to head down to leafy Surrey although this time of year that should be leafless Surrey I guess.

From Farncombe railway station (the club are actually based in Godalming's equally prosperous smaller neighbour), an interesting route to Weycourt is offered up by the club's website. Straight out the station, across the road to the church and from there, through a network of dingy alleyways which bring you out at the entrance to the ground. Safe to say it's probably a first time I have arrived at a ground having walked exclusively through alleyways. The air was full of the scent of bonfires and an autumnal dampness pervaded all around. Christmas is coming and the nights are drawing in...I love this time of year: it speaks of football, winter ales and inside places such as Weycourt, an indescribable cosiness probably linked with past memories of watching Bury Town at Ram Meadow on cold winter afternoons when I was a kid.

The first impression is that Weycourt is one of the smaller stadiums at this level. Indeed from the small car park it reminds one of a typical private sports club, the kind these London commuter belt towns are full of. A plaque built into the exterior wall of the clubhouse bears the name Farncombe FC, a reminder that this place once belonged to Godalming's long lost Surrey Senior League neighbours.

In fact Weycourt is made up of a patchwork of other clubs facilities. The turnstiles were brought in from Millwall's old Den ground and it's a curious thought to think of the more genteel patrons that pass through it nowadays compared with the altogether different breed that used it back in the 1980's. The grandstand had a previous life at now defunct Addlestone & Weybridge and a number of makeovers over the years cannot hide the fact that this is a crumbling relic of a stand.

Behind the stand and on a lower level (the pitch is perched on a plateau some six feet higher than the club buildings) a modern changing rooms block has been added and alongside this, 'The Oven Door' which is really just a simple tea bar with a fancy name. Behind the near goal, a Heath-Robinson special provides shelter for perhaps fifteen spectators. So, bits and pieces from Farncombe, Millwall and Addlestone couple with some quirky newer elements are all knitted together to create Godalming Town's humble little home. Sandwiched between the rolling greens of Broadwater golf club and Farncombe's quiet residential streets, this is a great little place to spend an afternoon.

Visiting today were Arlesey Town whose cup pedigree over the past twenty years has to be one of the best around. Years of Vase successes including a famous Wembley win in 1995 has in recent seasons been replaced by FA Trophy adventures including an appearance in the last sixteen a few years back. The Arlesey side that beat the likes of Dagenham & Redbridge during that campaign included Craig Mackail-Smith, Shane Blackett and Dave Kitson all of whom are now playing in the top two divisions of English football.

Whether or not they have any talent of a similar calibre this season was hard to tell as Godalming rolled over like a soppy two week old puppy this afternoon. I was both surprised and disappointed as they currently sit in third place in the Isthmian South Division whilst Arlesey are eighth with a bunch of games in hand in the Southern League Midlands division. In addition, a win today and it could be a trip to Luton or Oxford in the next round. Only a few years ago I saw Zema Abbey turn out for Norwich City but now, still only 32, he's back at hist first club having taken on the managerial role at Arlesey. And it was Abbey who ran the show this afternoon scoring twice and creating a host of chances, mainly for Nathan Frater who, luckily for Godalming, appeared to have forgotten his shooting boots otherwise it would have been seven or eight.

As the forecast rain hammered down in the second half I took up a position in the packed stand, next to a woman who complained to me throughout about her son not getting on (he was one of a couple of lads on the Godalming bench on loan from Woking). When boss Chuck Martini made his final substitution (which wasn't the son) the woman promptly got up, turned to face us in the stand and bellowed 'what a waste of eight-fucking-quid'. With that she walked out and was not seen again. Despite loanee mum's outburst, Godalming is a friendly club and I enjoyed a few pints in the small, cosy clubhouse after the game with the locals.

Saturday 10th October 2009 - Stowupland Falcons

2009-11-15T06:59:00.000-08:00

2.15pm
Suffolk Senior Cup First Round
at Churchfields, Church Road, Stowupland, Suffolk

Stowupland Falcons (1)1
Marsh (4)

Team Bury (1)3
Nurse (29)
Bannister (68, 71)

Admission: Free
Programme: By donation
Attendance: 30

With Nicola taking young Noah to the Suffolk owl sanctuary at nearby Stonham Aspal this afternoon, a long overdue trip to the only Suffolk & Ipswich League Senior Division club I had yet to visit became a possibility. Add to that the fact I was skint having tied up much of my spare football cash in next weekend's Spanish jolly, it really was a no-brainer. Travelling up and down the country and often over onto the continent week in week out can be an exhausting affair and it's nice to occasionally get home in time for Final Score and not have to sit on a train tearing my hair out at the rail network's incompetence for a change.
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Stowupland is a small village some two miles east of mid-Suffolk's market town Stowmarket. It's a village full of small mechanics businesses and motorcycle specialists, something the young people of Suffolk have always been fond of. I should know: as a kid growing up in Bury St. Edmunds, the choices on offer to a teenager on a Saturday afternoon were motorbikes, Ipswich Town or an alternative culture involving cheap cider drinking in the local parks. I chose Portman Road and bottles of White Lightning. Other than that, Stowupland is a rather bland place, lacking the timber-framed charm of nearby Cotton or Finborough although the backdrop of the Holy Trinity church behind one goal gives Churchfields a little more character than many other Suffolk and Ipswich league grounds.
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The football club have had a rough time of it recently having lost the majority of last season's squad to Stowmarket Town and other SIL clubs. A scratch side was prepared for the new season and promptly lost all of it's first six games, all by heavy scorelines. So the prospect of hosting an Eastern Counties League side in the senior cup must have been a daunting one for the young Falcons.
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Under the guidance of ex-Crewe goalkeeper Dean Greygoose, Team Bury have made great strides in the past few years. From humble beginnings as West Suffolk College playing at Hardwick Heath in Bury St. Edmunds, the club have formed ties with the town's premier club which should see the development of young players for generations to come. In their first season as an Eastern Counties league club, Team Bury had surpassed expectations and were nicely positioned in mid-table at the start of play. It would not have been unfair therefore to have predicted, as I did, that Stowupland would be on the wrong end of a cricket score this afternoon.
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How off the mark I would be however became clear after just four minutes of the game when Tarquin Marsh cracked in a goal from twenty yards for Stowupland. This followed a start of such intensity from the home side that Bury were clearly bewildered. Admittedly, the away side were without a number of first teamers who were away on county duty this afternoon but the supposed chasm between the two clubs was non-existent on the field of play. Falcons dominated for long spells as Bury failed to get a foothold in the game and only the craftsmanship of the talented Craig Nurse in attack saved them from humiliation as they put three soft goals past Stowupland. A 3-1 defeat was a bitter pill for the Stowupland boys to swallow but if they can play to a similar standard in future weeks they will soon start picking up points and themselves off the bottom of the table.
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Lastly, a simple photocopied programme was produced and proudly notes on the cover that this is the tenth successive season that the club have issued. A fine little set-up all in all and one I would urge anyone interested in football at this level to visit.

Saturday 17th October 2009 - CD Castellón

2009-11-15T06:55:00.001-08:00

-4pm
-Segunda División
-at Nou Castalia, Calle de Huesca, Castellón de la Plana, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain

CD Castellón (0)1
Gari Uranga (76)

Real Betis Balompié (0)0

Admission: 20 euros
Programme: Free
Attendance: 4,907

Having arrived in Valencia on Friday night, I woke early on Saturday morning and headed out into the city for a whistle-stop tour of the sights plus a few independent record stores. I also made my way to the bus station (metro Turia) where I purchased a ticket for tomorrow's trip to Alicante and made a visit to Levante's Nou Estadi where I was told to 'come back tomorrow' for my ticket.

After a quick tapas lunch of chorizo, jamon and local queso, I boarded a train to Castellon de la Plana, a small city with a population of around 150,000 one hour north of Valencia and to the east of the Iberian peninsula. As is often the case when I am in Spain, I found myself walking the streets during siesta time and and was filled with that rather eerie sensation of being in a ghost town. Still, it gave me a good opportunity to have a look around before the place came back to life.

Nou Castalia stadium, built in 1987, is situated north of the old town, a twenty minute walk from the station. Surrounded by palm trees and huge, leaning floodlights looking down into the bowl, it looks rather small from the outside. Once inside however, we see the pitch has been sunk some 10 metres below street level allowing for two tiers of seating all around - it's an impressive sight with alternating blocks of black and white seating. A stones throw behind the main stand is a church bell tower which looks down into the stadium, as does the apartment buildings on Calle de Huesca behind the goal. Castellon had begun the season dreadfully losing six of their opening seven games. Only 5000 were inside the stadium which can hold 16,000 for the visit of one of the big second division draws this season. However, I would suggest Castellon's geographical location between Barcelona and Valencia and with Villareal just a few miles away has as much to do with paltry crowds as their current form. Indeed, when I boarded the train back to Valencia after the game, there were almost as many Valencia shirts on the train as there were Castellon shirts in the stadium.

Betis' travelling army, who sung their hearts out when I saw them at Espanyol last season, were again here in force although noticeably quieter since their club's relegation. Spain is large country and for 1000 or more fans to travel the distances they do each week - a 900 mile return trip today - is hugely impressive. Their commitment was not rewarded this afternoon however as the green and whites of Seville surrendered meekly to a very average Castellon side. The only goal came on 76 minutes when Gari Uranga bundled the ball over the line although from where I was sitting, it looked distinctly like an Emana own goal. This was a perfect starter before tonight's main course back in Valencia. Well worth a visit, especially of you can double-up with Valencia or Villareal.

Saturday 17th October 2009 - Valencia CF

2009-11-15T06:49:00.000-08:00

- 10pm
- Primera División
- at Estadio Mestalla, Avenida de Suecia, Valencia, Spain

Valencia CF (0)0

FC Barcelona (0)0

Admission: 65 euros
Programme: Free Media Punta
Attendance: 50,000

The Estadio Mestalla is without doubt, the finest football stadium I have ever been to. There, I've said it. My all time favourite was always likely to come from Spain, a country chock full of beautiful, crumbling coliseums. Whilst I have adored my trips to Barca's near perfect Nou Camp, Real's glamorous Bernabeu and Sevilla's baking dustbowl in previous years, the Mestalla, with it's almost brutalist concrete facade, skyscraping stands and mind-bogglingly huge roof hanging unsupported over the main stand is something else entirely. This is the old lady's final season with us as Valencia will move to brand spanking new stadium next season. I would urge anyone who has not yet been to to jump on a plane to Valencia quick smart and get a game in there as I can guarantee you won't regret it.

The ticket for the match against Barcelona was actually my birthday present from my wife. It was possibly the best birthday present since getting the Millenium Falcon from my folks back in 84. Not only did it allow me to see the mighty Barcelona in a stadium which had been at the top of list for years, but it gave me the opportunity to plan a weekend of football in and around Spain's third city.

Before kick-off I wandered into the club boutique looking for a gift for my two year old son Noah. With a couple of pints inside me, I somehow spent almost 50 euros on a replica away kit (which is already been relegated to the back of the wardrobe by the wife) then left my little folder containing passport and match ticket on a bookshelf in the shop. When the realisation of what I had done hit me as I reached the turnstiles, I legged it back to the shop scattering passers by on my way and working up a sweat in the process. It was still a hot Valencian night and I could have done without this near disaster. Luckily it had been found and handed to the girl behind the counter. Phew.

I entered the Mestalla via one of the huge cylindrical towers situated at each corner of the stadium. It's possible to take a lift up to the various sections but I chose to walk the circling ramp up to the top tier where my seat was. When I reached the top and looked down upon the stadium for the first time, I almost fell over the edge. Breathtaking only begins to describe the enormity of the place and those frighteningly precipitous stands.

The stadium was packed, a sell-out - the atmosphere was electric. The Spaniards know how to behave themselves whilst still singing, shouting and partying at the match and I always find Spanish crowds to be warm and friendly. Tonight's visit of Barca was for Valencia, the biggest game of the season and for Barca, probably the toughest based on encounters over the past few seasons between the two. Last season, the week after I saw Barcelona demolish Sevilla 4-0 at the Nou Camp, they travelled to Valencia and were held to a 2-2 draw. Barca were tonight without Ibrahimovic whilst Valencia had lost David Villa to injury so it was always going to be a tight game.

The game began at a furious pace with Valencia going close through Silva in the opening seconds. The game slowly settled into a pattern where both sides were happy to pass the ball around but chances were few and far between. A few minutes into the second half Pablo Hernandez went for goal from inside his own half and it took a decent save from Valdes to prevent one of the greatest goals of all time. Leo Messi looked subdued following his midweek exploits in Argentina whilst Valencia's Mata will need to work on his finishing after missing a host of good chances.

Overall it was a decent game but one always hope for more when watching Barcelona. For me however, the game played second fiddle to the backdrop of the Mestalla where every few minutes I found myself gawping idiotically at all around me...

Sunday 18th October 2009 - Hércules CF

2009-11-15T06:42:00.001-08:00

-12 noon
-Segunda División
-at Estadio José Rico Pérez, Alicante, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain

Hércules CF (1)1
Tiago Gomes (43)

Real Murcia CF (0)1
Natalio (46)

Admission: 15 euros
Programme: Free
Attendance: 11,000

Waking at 5.30am whilst the Valencian revellers were still partying in the streets was not something I had in mind when I chose Hercules for my Sunday match. But for whatever reason Renfe do not operate trains out of Valencia to Alicante until one o'clock in the afternoon so my only option was to take the early morning ALSA International bus at a cost of 17 euros. The bus station was full of dozing homeless, bleary eyed party goers and those with suitcases beginning epic journeys across the country. As far as I could tell, there were no other groundhoppers but then how would I know? Do Spanish hoppers, if such a breed exist, have little shoulder bags full of chorizo sandwiches rather than corned beef ones? I just don't know.

The repeated playing of Beyonce Knowles by the driver quickly sent me to sleep and when I woke, rather surreally, I found we had arrived in Benidorm where a couple of English families the colour of lobsters boarded. After two hours the bus pulled into the Calle de Portugal bus station, Alicante and off I went to find a cafe. Nothing was open however so I decided to walk up Avenida del Doctor Rico towards the stadium where I found a Sunday morning match in progress at a little ground opposite. No idea who was playing but it was excellent fare with four players sent off and lots of goals, partly due to the fact their were no linesmen to spoil things with their flag waving.

By the time this match had finished, the crowds were starting to gather around the entrance to Esatdio Rico Perez. Designed by Francisco Llorens in 1974 and then modernised for the 1982 World Cup, it's fair to say that this stadium is just too damn big for the town. It's a vast crumbling mass of bare concrete pillars and struts on the outside and huge two-tiered open stands decked out in the blue and white of Hercules inside. Capable of holding 30,000, I would hazard a guess that it's been a long time since a crowd that size gathered here - Alicante is a town of 300,000 but Hercules, owners of the stadium and the better supported of the town's two clubs (Alicante CF being the other) average around just 10,000 for home games. The top tier of the enormous east stand is closed for games allowing the crowd to congregate in the lower tiers which makes for a surprisingly good atmosphere.

Admission was 15 euros, the cheapest of the three Segunda Division matches I saw this weekend, and entry by ticket only. A free programme was handed out but I would guess only a few hundred were produced and they were all gone within minutes. I took up position behind the goal, eventually finding a seat that wasn't caked in dirt, and let the sun wash over me - it was 30 degrees by kick-off and after weeks of plummeting temperatures back home, it felt delicious.

In addition to being the cheapest, this was by far the noisiest game over the weekend as the flag-waving Hercules fans sung and cheered throughout, pronouncing Hercules 'Her-coo-lay'. This is the second club I have been to with the same name, the other being Heracles in the Dutch Eredivisie (that version is pronounced 'Here-ah-clesh'). A few seats in front of me sat an obese shirtless bloke who mercilessly abused the Murcia goalkeeper Elia throughout the entire first half. "Elia is a boutar!" he chanted over and over again until the crowd around him became fed up after initially finding it hilarious. Not sure what a 'boutar' is but I have a pretty good idea.

The game, a derby, was excellent with Hercules dominating the first half with only a single goal from Tiago Gomes to show for it. Murcia came out in the second half a transformed side and levelled almost immediately as Natalio raced clear of a dozy defence and slotted in. And that was that, no further goals but excellent entertainment right up until the final whistle.

Sunday 18th October 2009 - Levante UD

2009-11-15T06:32:00.000-08:00

-5pm
-Segunda División
-at Estadi Ciutat de València, Calle San Vicente de Paul, Valencia, Spain

Levante UD (0)1
Igor (pen. 50)

Real Sociedad (0)0

Admission: 20 euros
Programme: Fanzine 1 euro
Attendance: 4,980

The train back from Alicante to Valencia passed through some beautiful towns I made a mental note to return to one day. Xativa in particular looked like a splendid place, the town topped by a grand castle with Olimpic Xativa's cosy little stadium just visible down in the valley. Anyway, I was back in Valencia with forty minutes until kick-off at the city's second and more humble club. A quick metro ride from the main station out to Machado and I was at the Estadi Ciutat de Valencia where four or five coachloads from San Sebastian were just pulling up.

Like Hercules Rico Perez stadium, Levante's home also resembles a hastily erected car park from the outside with exposed concrete pillars and girders giving it a rather forlorn appearance. And similar to Castellon, the pitch is sunk well below street level allowing for two tiers of seating all around. Alongside the main entrance, for this season at least, are two giant posters celebrating one hundred years of Levante Union Deportiva and inside the little club shop, a wealth of club books ranging from the history to famous players.

As is often the case with a city's smaller club, they advertise themselves to potential new supporters as a club with a proud history and tradition, one whose ethics is all about looking after their extended family unlike the their big corporate neighbours down the road. More often than not in these situations, the smaller club was first on the scene and this is true of Levante who were formed down by the docks some ten years before Valencia in 1909 making them the true working class club. In 1941, following a merger with local side Gimastico, Levante adopted their rivals azulgrana colours which they still wear today although this is perhaps the only thing have in common with Barcelona.

The stadium inside is wonderful, even if the great sea of blue and red seats have faded in the Valencian sunshine over the years. A bowl design like so many Spanish stadiums, it offers pretty much perfect viewing from any angle. The giant roof over the main stand echoes the one at the Mestalla albeit on a smaller scale and just like at the Mestalla, it seems to defy logic and indeed gravity.

Levante have been something of a yo-yo club over the years, yo-yoing more between the Segunda and the Segunda B divisions than the Primera. However, they are looking good for a return to the top flight this season and on today's evidence, they'll be there or there abouts come June next year. Real Sociedad were not really in this game and although they had a few decent half chances early on, Levante were always the likely winners. The only goal came five minutes into the second half, a penalty from Portugese striker Igor Sousa who looked decent throughout. Writing this a few weeks after the event I see that big Igor has moved on to play his football in Guatamala with CD Zacapa. However, with strikers Xisco Nadal and Ruben Suarez Levante should have enough attacking prowess to keep them going.

So, another wonderful footballing weekend in Spain came to an end and although I only managed to see three goals in four games, the excellent stadia, great football and fanatical fans more than made up for it. Roll on Athletico et al in January...

Saturday 24th October 2009 - Poringland Wanderers

2009-11-14T16:32:00.000-08:00

-2pm
-Anglian Combination Division One
-at The Footpath, Poringland, Norfolk

Poringland Wanderers (3)5
Shearer (22, 33)
Farrow (33)
Buckland (53)
Ault (90)

Caister United (0)2
Snowling (68)
Crawley (77)

Admission: Free
Programme: £1
Attendance: 28

Whenever my wife Nicola and I drive through Poringland en route to Norwich, we always refer to it as, wait for it....Boringland. Ha! Oh yes, we really are that funny and I often wonder to myself whether I should have pursued that career in stand up. Ahem. Poringland isn't really boring. It's a nice enough village some five miles south-east of Norwich, rapidly growing as more and more folks are priced out of the city. In recent years it has grown to become one of Norfolk's largest villages, in fact in the last fifty years, the population has increased from just 500 to nearly 4000. The name Poringland is believed to derive from 'Poor spring land' because of poor soil conditions in the area - not something you would generally associate with fertile Norfolk.

The village football club has had a chequered last twenty years or so. If my memory serves me correctly, back in 1985 Wanderers, a very successful Sunday side at the time with a saturday side in the Combination, were lured away from the village to the old Gothic club in Norwich. Supporters where naturally furious at the loss of village football but even more so when the committee decided to rebrand the themselves Norwich United thus erasing all history of their club. Norwich United went on to play in the Eastern Counties league of course whilst the Gothic club on Heartsease Lane was built over in the early 90's. Poringland started again from scratch at their village ground and twenty years on, find themselves back in senior football following last season's promotion from the junior ranks. A few old boys who have been watching football down here for years still refuse to acknowledge Norwich United's existence such is the bitterness still felt.

Speaking with club chairman John Overton at half-time, he has big plans for the future of club. In recent years John has almost single-handedly raised funds to build the superb new community centre in the village and is now hoping to fulfill his dreams of relocating the football club to an Eastern League standard stadium next door. With top sponsorship arrangements in place at the club and plans for another of Poringland's now legendary 'super fetes' which has proved to be a great fundraiser in recent years, things are looking good for Poringland thanks to John and his tireless efforts.

The current team are not too shabby either, sweeping visiting Caister aside with ease this afternoon in front of a poor attendance of just 28. Earlier in the season during the warmer months and crucially when Norwich City were away from home, Wanderers drew a couple of crowds of close to 200 proving that a higher level of football could be sustained and supported in the village. Big and talented entre forward Alex Shearer bagged a couple this afternoon but the hat-trick eluded him as he went close on many occasions in the second half. Goal of the game came in the final minute when winger Ault cut in and hammered the ball in off the right angle of post and bar from twenty yards. Michael Buckland ran the show in the centre of the park whilst youngster Josh Fallow looks a real talent.

It's still early days this season but with a talented team playing football which belies their relatively lowly Combination status, my money would be on them to reach the Premier Division next season. After that, with the enterprising Mr. Overton behind the scenes, the future is bright for Poringland. For first team matches this season a superb programme is available for just £1 which includes raffle ticket whilst the primary school car park is given over to matchday parking making this a very easy place to visit. I cannot recommend a visit to Poringland highly enough and I would urge anyone who enjoys football at this level to pay them a visit soon.

Wed 28th October 2009 - Bowers & Pitsea

2009-11-14T09:02:00.000-08:00

-7.45pm
-Essex Senior Cup Third Round
-at The Len Salmon Stadium, Crown Avenue, Pitsea, Essex

Bowers & Pitsea (0)1
Carr (76)

Southend United (0)0

Admission: £7
Programme: £1
Attendance: 385

Arriving at Pitsea station some fifty minutes before kick-off, I struck out in search of The Len Salmon Stadium armed only with a tatty old Essex A-Z. Perhaps I misread the scale of the map because this really was a hike and one I would not wish to repeat in a hurry. Before Basildon new town began to mutate and swallow up it's neighbours Vange and Pitsea back in the 40's, this place was by all accounts a rather handsome little village with quintessentially English village green and church. Now I'm not one to judge on first impressions but passing beneath the monstrous A13 flyover littered by fly-tippers, through greasy KFC and McDonalds car parks and on up the High Street where the Essex massive roared up and down the streets in souped up Ford Fiestas, it was clear this just wasn't the Pitsea of old. Still, the residential areas which I passed through seemed pleasant enough and I eventually reached Crown Avenue with fifteen minutes to go before kick-off.

A decent crowd was building up inside the Len Salmon Stadium which is named after one of the club's founders back in the 1940's. The chap on the PA was doing a great job of keeping the crowd entertained although whether intentional or not was debatable. Yes, Southend United were here tonight and yes, current Southend manager Steve Tilson was lining up against his former club Bowers. But Mr. PA seemingly could not quite believe this was happening at his lowly Bowers, and his excitement with each reading of the line-ups was evident.

Southend won here comfortably a few years back in the same competition and were tonight fielding a strong side containing youth team players and first teamers returning from injury plus the aforementioned Tilson. A large portion of the crowd tonight were under ten, many of whom were clad in Southend shirts as they looked forward to seeing their heroes from just down the coast on their own doorstep. In fact there was a general air of expectancy around the old ground, it's assortment of Heath-Robinson stands and cover looking decided spruce for the big occasion. Yellow lines had been freshly painted onto an open terracing section earlier in the day and this caught out a few unfortunate souls.

So the fact that Southend mentally didn't turn up tonight was a major disappointment for all. Bowers went at them from the off but it was clear as the game developed that the Southend players did not want to be here, playing to just a few hundred in such an unglamourous setting. They should be ashamed of such an abject performance and an attitude which reeked of arrogance. Bowers deserved won the game when the Southend keeper's goal kick ricocheted off Paul Carr and into the net on 76 minutes. They played some smart, pacy football throughout and look to have some talented youngsters on their books.

Over the years I have been to the majority of the grounds in the Essex Senior League and this is certainly one of my favourites. Crowds in this league are notoriously poor, grounds relatively undeveloped, the football not of a particularly high standard and more often than not, shocking language and behaviour on the pitch. None of those criticisms can be levelled at Bowers and Pitsea who I wish all the very best in their quest to reach the Isthmian League in the future.

Sunday 8th November 2009 - Burton Albion

2009-11-14T07:00:00.000-08:00

-3pm
-FA Cup First Round
-at The Pirelli Stadium, Burton-upon Trent, Staffordshire

Burton Albion (2)3

Harrad (pen. 14)

Maghoma (45)

Austin (90+5)

Oxford City (1)2

Alexis (6)

Brooks (55)

Admission: £10

Programme: £2.50

Attendance: 2,207

Traditionally, Burton-upon-Trent is one of the UK's biggest brewing towns being home to over half a dozen breweries in it's heyday. Nowadays the big corporate breweries like Coors, formerly Bass, and Marstons dominate the East Staffordshire skyline whilst Burtonian chavs roam the streets of what is a rather run-down town centre. That said, I like visiting Burton with the majestic River Trent snaking under Bridge Street and dividing the town from it's easterly neighbour Stapenhill.

In particular however, I enjoy coming here because Burton is a proper old English football town with a fine non-league history. In fact Burton have had some of finest Southern League teams over the years following their formation in 1950, teams which have included the likes of Mark Robins, Andy Sinton and of course Nigel Clough. When Burton won the Conference in earlier this year and with it, a place in the football league, almost a hundred years had passed since their league predecessors Burton Swifts, United and Wanderers. It was no surprise then to see the attendances up above 3000 for many games at the start of this season as the town embraced their return to a competition which most believe they belong in.

The new Pirelli Stadium, opened in 2005, reflects the Burtonians needs perfectly in that the design is delightfully similar to the sorely missed (by me at least) Eton Park. Sure, the four stands which could have been purchased direct from Ikea, are a world away from the old stands at Eton Park but just like their old home, three are terraces with just one, the main stand, being seated. For this the people of Burton should be applauded for giving the fans exactly what they want and what they have always known - decent banks of terracing where the faithfuls can gather, sing, hang their banners and support their heroes.

FA Cup giant-killers themselves in recent years (they held Manchester United to a draw here in 2006), today Albion welcomed one of the few real minnows who had made it through to the first round this season. I last saw Oxford City play a South Midlands League cup tie in front of 27 people at Padbury United but since then, their rise up the leagues and back to their former status has been remarkable. Standing in the away end this afternoon, I was one of almost 300 City supporters who oh so nearly carried their side to a famous victory, out-singing the home fans throughout.

It would not be an overstatement to say that City, three divisions beneath Albion in the Southern League Premier Division, played their hosts off the park, especially in the second half when Burton rarely ventured forward towards their opponents goal. The game started with a City goal on 6 minutes through Alexis, exactly what the cup romantics listening and watching across the country would have hoped for. By half-time, Albion were fortunately 2-1 to the good, their second goal on the stroke of half-time a beautifully worked move finished off by Congolese striker Jacques Maghoma. At that point, one could have been forgiven then for thinking City had offered their best and that Albion would go on to win comfortably.

At half-time, the much maligned Midlands delicacy of faggot and peas was on sale and was actually rather tasty although the beer was particularly poor given the history of the area. Back to the action and City started at a furious pace, erasing the hopes of an easy second 45 for home fans. When they scored through Jamie Brooks well placed header on 55 minutes, the away section went wild. Supporting the non-league cause as I was, I couldn't help but get caught up in it, hugging the odd stranger or two and spilling half a cup of tea down my leg. The boys in blue and white followed this up with a sensational last half an hour in which it seemed only a matter of time before they scored. As is so often the way however, five minutes into injury time, Ballard was red carded and from the resulting free-kick, Ryan Austin rose to head home Burton's winner and break the hearts of the travelling supporters.

Although the FA Cup has lost a little of it's magic for me over the years, games and indeed performances like those seen today restores my faith in the old tin pot and is why it is and always will be such a special competition.

Sunday 1st November 2009 - Bohemians 1905

2009-11-13T16:46:00.000-08:00

-5pm
-Gambrinus Liga
-at Ďolíček Stadion, Vršovická, Vršovice, Praha 10

Bohemians 1905 (0)0

FC Slovan Liberec (0)1
Blažek (69)

Admission: 200 Kc

Programme: 35 Kc

Attendance: 5,847

So, back in Prague for my final game of the weekend and the one I had perhaps been looking forward to most. Depending on who you believe, this was the 'Real Bohemians', not the 'fakes' from Strizkov or the 'new' Bohemians currently down in the regionals although all three are currently locked in battle fighting tooth and nail for the name and the iconic kangaroo logo. It would take a much more knowledgeable man than myself to try and explain the exact situation behind the three Bohemians clubs.

Here at Dolicek however, the small museum beneath the stand has all the information and artefacts from the club's proud club history and for nostalgia hunter like myself it was a dream. Photos from of the stadium, packed to the gunwales decades ago adorn the walls as do concise lists of all Bohemians European adventures over the years, complete with attendances both home and away (13,000 here for the visit of Ipswich in the 80's). Don't miss it if your ever here as it's a splendid little place.

As for the fans tonight, they surpassed my expectations and were the noisiest, most colourful and passionate of the entire weekend. Even though their team had gone the season serving up defensive 0-0's and 1-0 defeats, they never stopped singing throughout, even when Blazek scored a wonderful goal to win it for Liberec.

I had visited the stadium on Friday to pick up my ticket and was allowed in to watch the first team training. A single covered stand decked out with green seats runs the length of the pitch whilst the rest is open with Vrsovice apartment buildings towering above and looking down into the ground. The ultras stand behind the left hand goal where there is a bank of seats whilst the 100 or so from Liberec were housed in a more open stand opposite. I loved this place as apart from the stand, it looks barely changed from those old photos of the glory days in the museum.

A visit to Prague's third club is a must if you are here for a football weekend.

So, seven games of varying quality over three days played in some atmospheric old stadiums, the kind which have long gone from the English game, this was a weekend that will live long in the memory. I spent around £300 which included flight, cheap accommodation, a travel pass for 5 days (500 Kc) and all that football. Prague is not as inexpensive as people may lead you to believe, in fact it's rapidly catching up with other European cities, but if it's football you want, it has to be one of the cheaper countries in Europe in which to watch.

Sunday 1st November 2009 - SK Benešov

2009-11-13T14:51:00.000-08:00

-2pm
-Divize Skupina A
-at Městský Stadion, Ke Stadionu, Benešov, Central Bohemia

SK Benešov (1)1

Čáp (44)

SK Strakonice 1908 (0)2
Zelenka (56)

Hanzlík (90+4)

Admission: 30 Kc

Programme: None

Attendance: 133

With a few thousand Krowns burning a hole in my pocket and only a day left in the city, I decided to throw caution to the wind and booked a taxi to take me to the town of Benesov, situated directly south of Prague in the beautiful forests of Central Bohemia. Trains do travel to Benesov but not at the time I needed one although on returning, I picked one up at 15.55 and this dropped me off at Vrsovice station in Prague at 16.35, a few hundred metres from my final game at Bohemians 1905.

Mestsky Stadion, situated on Ke Stadionu in the south western end of town is another splendid old ground which has seen better days and is all the better for having seen better days, if you see what I mean! A wonderful old stand with wooden bench seating and wooden fascia sits above the dressing rooms and club offices and is decked out in the club colours of blue and yellow. The pitch is surrounded by a high blue fence/cage and sits in the middle of a large oval, itself surrounded by lichen covered, crumbling terracing. Opposite the stand is a bank of open seating with runs the length of the pitch and affords great views of the action. Benesov reached the dizzy heights of the first division back in the mid-90's and I would guess that this seating was put up during that time to accommodate the larger crowds.

A great setting then for the game which saw Strakonice 1908 pinch the points in the fourth minute of injury time following the sending off of Benesov's captain. Although this is the same division as the Meteor game I saw earlier, the football was noticeably not as good and I would guess that both sides, currently in the wrong half of the table, will struggle this season. For the record this was the only game I failed to get a programme at although Iain was here a few weeks back and got one. Team sheets were handed out beneath the stand however.

One final word about Benesov; this really did feel like it was a million miles away from the cosmopolitan capital I had left behind. The spectators were noticeably a little more rough round the edges, a few adopting that stereotypical east European 80's mullet-with headband look, although their passion and and support for their team never wavered throughout. When the teams came out to Europe's 'The Final Countdown', that song never seemed more apt. The referee and linesmen suffered a torrid time at the hands of a few old boys sat in the open seating section who hollered and screamed throughout.

Sunday 1st November 2009 - FK Meteor Praha VIII

2009-11-13T14:06:00.000-08:00

-10.15pm
-Divize Skupina B
-at Stadion Kopané, U Meteoru, Libeň, Praha 8

FK Meteor Praha VIII (0)1
Fiček (62)

FK Tábor (0)0

Admission: 30 Kc
Programme: 10 Kc
Attendance: 125

On Sunday morning I stepped out of my hotel, straight onto a number 24 tram and some 20-odd stops later, I was dropped off a hundred yards from the entrance to Stadion Kopane. I think that sums up just how good the Prague transport system can be – the tram network in particular is by far and away the best I have ever used.

Now Meteor Prague really is a very special place indeed. The fourth oldest club in the Czech Republic having formed in 1896, this place just oozes history. Tucked away in behind the beautiful Svataho Vojtecha church in the historic Liben district on the banks of the Vltava, this is one of the most well-preserved grounds I have been to in a long time.

The astonishing low-slung wooden stand, decked out in British racing green and white, is in remarkable nick considering it was put up in the twenties. The wavy-warped roof carries the club name right across the fascia from left to right whilst to the right of the stand, another great Czech scoreboard/clock system. Opposite the stand, mature tress stand atop a bank from where the majority stood this morning – from him splendid views can be had of the Liben industrial chimneys behind one goal and the leafy parks of Strizkov beyond the other.

Inside the fragrant clubhouse before the match, teams sheets were readily available as was delicious rum and the ubiquitous sausage, bread, mustard and horseradish which was sold at all the matches I attended this weekend.

The game was excellent and one of the best of the weekend. End to end from the off and with chances galore as both sides shook off any hangovers with a 100% committed performance. Ficek scored for Meteor on 62 minutes and it proved the only goal as Meteor moved closer to the top of the table. One thing that did surprise me this weekend was the number of other groundhoppers at the games. Not only did I meet up with Iain here and another ex-pat, David, originally from Doncaster, but there were a group of other young guys, possibly German, who made it the 60 kilometres or so to my next game in Benesov.

Saturday 31st October 2009 - AC Sparta Praha

2009-11-13T12:00:00.000-08:00

-6.15pm
-Gambrinus Liga
-at The Generali Arena, Milady Horákové, Letná, Praha 7

AC Sparta Praha (0)1
Žofčák (pen. 56)

FC Baník Ostrava (0)1
Tchuř (54)

Admission: 180 Kc
Programme: 35 Kc
Attendance: 9,715

Waiting for the bus back in Jirny village centre following my afternoon match, I met a Scottish ex-pat groundhopper who proved to be a great source of information on all things Ceske fotbal. We travelled back to Sparta together and then met up at the following morning's game at Meteor where incidentally a few other ex-pat hoppers were present. Cheers Iain for giving me some valuable transport tips not to mention pronunciation pointers! We split at the Sparta stadium where Iain, a Banik Ostrava supporter, went into the rocking away end whilst I went into the rather quieter Sparta end having bought my ticket from the stadium on Friday.

The Generali Arena, formerly Letna of course, has been modernised beyond all recognition in recent years and whilst it offers up excellent sight lines and smart colour contrast in the seats, it is, in my opinion just another typically bland modern European stadium. Tonight it was just under half full (47%) but still noisy and those inside were treated to an excellent game of football between two decent sides.

Both goals came within a minute of each other, Banik scoring with a tremendous scissor-kick volley from Tchur then Zofcak scoring with his first touch from a penalty a minute later. My thoughts were that Banik were slightly the better side but it could have gone either way. Thomas Repka was outstanding in defence for Sparta whilst their 17 year old wonder kid Vaclav Kadlec looks an fantastic prospect.

After the match I made my way back into the old town where I took in a film at the wonderfully grandiose Lucerna cinema – a must for anyone interested in film.

Saturday 31st October 2009 - SK Viktorie Jirny

2009-11-13T11:18:00.001-08:00

-2pm
-Divize Skupina B
-at Pražská, Jirny, Praha-východ

SK Viktorie Jirny (3)5
Janoušek (11, 46)
Procházka (21, 29, 74)

Přední Kopanina (2)2
Gerstner (36, 39)

Admission: 30 Kc
Programme: Free
Attendance: 97

From Krc I huffed my way up the hill to Kacerov metro station and then back into the city centre. A metro out to Cerny Most, the last stop on line B and from here a Sadska bound 398 bus to Jirny. I used the excellent idos.cz website to plan my journey but failed to notice a Jirny bus a little later which stopped in the village centre – my bus stopped at the 'Logisticky Park' a good mile and a half away and left me to find my way back to civilisation through ploughed fields, industrial units and roads that would be better described as tracks.

Viktorie Jirny play in the fourth level – the 'Divize' which is again split into groups, Jirny playing in Group B. Although essentially just a small village side, Jirny have made a name for themselves at this level in recent years, winning the division two years ago but not taking promotion as their tiny little stadium was not up to scratch. Fast forward to this season and nothing much has changed with Jirny miles ahead at the top of the table and the ground still not much more than a field with just a small bank of temporary seating now installed. However, the rural setting makes up for the lack of facilities as indeed did the replica shirt-clad fans today who beat drums throughout and carried their side to a comprehensive win over Predni Kopanina. Admission was again just 30 Kc and a smart programme was thrown in.

With a few players on loan from top-flight Bohemians Praha (the 'fake' Bohemians), plus the current Bohemians coach and former pro Jaromir Jindracek playing up front for them today, it was perhaps no surprise that they were so far ahead of their visitors, going three up inside the first half hour and playing some outstandingly creative football. Then Kopanina hit back with two long distance wonder goals from five-foot nothing left back Gerstner and it was game on again. Jirny scored early in the second half and the game was effectively ended when the visitors number 8 was dismissed with half an hour still to play. A really decent game with good flowing football from both sides and some cracking goals.

Well worth the effort and highly recommended to anyone looking for that sometimes elusive Saturday afternoon game in Prague.

Saturday 31st October 2009 - SK Sparta Krč

2009-11-13T10:34:00.001-08:00

-10.15am
-Krajské Přebory Praha
-at Stadion Sparty Krč, Pálkařská, Krč, Praha 4

SK Sparta Krč (0)1
Holub (87)

FSC Libuš (1)2
Pavlů (39, 90)

Admission: 30 Kc
Programme: 10 Kc
Attendance: 51

My second day in Prague and it was obvious it was getting colder by the day. A tram from outside my hotel in Vysehrad to Vrsovice station followed by a Cercany bound train to the southern high rise district of Krc and I was on my way to the first of my two Czech triple-headers.

Sparta Krc played as high as the second tier of Czech football only a few seasons ago although back then, like so many Prague clubs with insufficient stadiums who suddenly find themselves up in the higher echelons of the league, they hosted their games at the Evzena Rosickeho national stadium. Since then, financial difficulties has seen them tumble down into the regional leagues and luckily for me, back to their original home in Krc. This place is just wonderful and had all the ingredients I was looking for on my quest to seek out a couple of the more traditional Czech football homes.

From the main Branicka road, a leafy track (Palkarska) leads you down to the ground and on to Prague's baseball stadium. Stadion Sparty Krc is at first a simple affair: no cover and just a cluster of dilapidated buildings tucked away in one corner. On closer inspection however, steep banks of crumbling terracing run both lengths of the pitch whilst partly obscured by trees behind the far goal, the most fantastic scoreboard I have ever seen in the form of a giant football. I was frankly shocked when an old boy clambered up the steps and into this rusting edifice to crank the thing up and set it in motion.

From the tea bar, grog glorious grog was on sale at just a few crowns per mug and a couple of those warmed me up nicely as the temperature struggled to get up above a few degrees. Also being handed out were team sheets whilst a simple programme sold for 10 Kc.

Krc had lost all eleven of their matches thus far and managed to persuade just one substitute to get himself out of bed for the visit of second placed Libus. This is the fifth division of the Czech football system which is split into regional groups, this being the Prazsky Prebor or Prague group. The standard was similar to step 5 in England - both sides tried to pass it around and build from the defence but sometimes it just seemed easier to hoof it in the general direction on the centre forwards. This worked for Libus who scored through Pavlu just before half time. The visitors had dominated from the off spending nigh on the entire match inside Krc's half. So when Holub scored for Krc with a rare breakaway goal just three minutes from time, a major surprise seemed on the cards. However, deep into stoppage time, Libus scored through Pavlu again to save their blushes and break Krc hearts.

Friday 30th October 2009 - Dukla Praha

2009-11-13T08:18:00.000-08:00

-5pm
-Druhá Liga
-at Stadion Juliska, Na Julisce, Dejvice, Praha 6

FK Dukla Praha (0)0

FC Hradec Králové (0)0

Admission: 50 Kc
Programme: 10 Kc
Attendance: 532

Arriving in the Mother Of Cities on Thursday evening, by Friday afternoon I was ready get away into the outer districts as the sheer number of people milling around the old town had begun to induce a sense of claustrophobia in me. Lucky then that I had my first game of the weekend lined up in Dejvice in Praha 6, the largest of all Prague's numerical districts.

Before this I took a brief trip up Petrin Hill on the funicular railway for a look at the monstrous Strahov stadium. When built in the thirties, it was the largest stadium in the world capable of seating 220,000. Now nature is reclaiming the vast terraces and it's looking pretty shabby. That said, three of the eight pitches or so squeezed into the arena were in use for youth matches and training this afternoon and it remains an important part of the Prague sporting landscape. However, the chances of U2 or Pink Floyd returning any time soon are remote I would suggest.

From here it was a bus trip back down to Dejvicka then a tram #20 up to Podbaba from where Stadion Julisca is just a short walk away. A friend who recently visited mentioned the incredulous scale of Julisca's only stand but nothing can truly prepare you until you see it in all it's glory. Over 100 steps take you up to the top seats and from here, the views down the Vltava towards the zoo, Liben and beyond are simply breathtaking, especially with the sun setting over Prague on what was becoming an increasing cold evening.

Admission was just 50 Kc (£2) and a nice square-shaped programme just 10 Kc complete with back page piece on former Dukla great Josef Masopust. Whilst the links between the current Dukla and their legendary predecessors are tenuous at best, it's great to see the history being woven into the current Dukla set-up with so much pride. That famous club badge which seemed so exotic to me when I was a kid adorns the entrance to the old club buildings and again on the face of an old clock next to the giant modern scoreboard. And the gold and maroon theme is continued in extraordinary fashion with the giant DUKLA spelled out on the benches in the stand. Opposite are areas of newish terracing plus the club offices from where I picked up a team sheet.

The 100 or so visitors from high-flying Hradec stood on a section of terracing here and were vocal throughout and although a few seemed a little tanked-up, the only trouble I witnessed was handbags at dawn moment between two of their own fans.

As for the game itself, it was truly woeful and was without a shadow of doubt, the worst I have seen this season. A ex-pat I was speaking to on Sunday was at the previous Dukla home game and said that game was even worse than Friday's. Yikes. Maybe this explains why just 532 turned up for this second division game against second in the table Hradec Kralove. The only chance of any any note fell to Hradec near the death when their centre forward hammered the ball high over the bar and into the Prague night from six yards. Great stadium, great old club...just a shame about the football tonight.