Been A While

It has been far too long since I've updated this...

I have been ticking countries off the list, but the blog was completely neglected last year. I ticked off three countries in 2018, either end of the year visiting Austria and Switzerland respectively, while last summer Russia was ticked off for the small matter of seeing a World Cup game.

The first trip of 2019 has been done too, visiting Warsaw for last Sunday's Euro 2020 qualifier between Poland and Latvia.

Let's talk about Russia first. Despite the pre-tournament fears the World Cup passed off without major incident. I flew to Moscow for a two-night stay, taking in Poland v Senegal on the first Tuesday. The Fan ID cut out a lot of the bureaucracy normally associated with travelling to Russia, acting as a visa, as well as a public transport ticket on matchday (not that the Moscow Metro is ridiculously cheap anyway, with a journey costing about 60p).

Moscow was a perfectly welcoming place, although the security was a perhaps a bit too much - not sure I've had to pass through that many metal detectors in that many places in that short a space of time, but it showed they were leaving nothing to chance. The Spartak Stadium was the venue for our game, a modern venue, although I was annoyed they didn't have the early kickoff on a screen somewhere. I also met a couple of Russians who travelled up from Nizhny Novgorod, who wanted a photo with me, while you couldn't move for South American fans. As for the match, it wasn't the best, but there were three goals as Senegal ran out 2-1 winners.

Two months earlier I was at the much smaller Waldstadion in Pasching as Linz beat Red Bull Salzburg 1-0, the corporate lackies in between Europa League quarter-final legs at the time. Linz were playing in the neighbouring town while they were sorting out a new ground, which made travel there from Vienna awkward - the train to Linz was fine but then buses onward were far and few between. At least the weather was lovely, and the vibe around the match was similar to what you would have in Germany.

In December I then went to Zurich, where Grasshoppers beat St Gallen 2-1 at the Letzigrund, where the home club have had to play in recent years. There were a lot of flares from a group of ultras in boiler suits but they failed to get further than the running track. While in Zurich I did the FIFA World Football Museum, where I heard one guide tip-toe around the subject of Sepp Blatter, who was often "in the news" (her quote!)

And finally, I went to the Stadion Narodowy on Sunday, with 50,000 Poles as they beat Latvia via goals from Robert Lewandowski and Kamil Glik. It took a while, but they did get there. The ground, built for Euro 2012, is stunning, viewable across the river from the beautiful Old Town. Getting in was a touch chaotic, with everyone going through a small amount of gates before a search which is still a good few minutes walk from the stadium entrances. But it's a fine venue, with beer and zapiekanka (sort of like a pizza slice thing) available amongst other things.

So that's what I've been up to. That's 23 countries done now.

Greece: Panathinaikos v AEK

Panathinaikos 1-1 AEK, Greek Superleague, Sunday 19 November 2017

Finally, I can get this written up!

For a final trip of 2017, I decided to tick Greece off the list. I’d picked this weekend as Bolton had been given a Friday game by our Sky overlords, combined with a long weekend off work it gave me some time to get away somewhere. So Athens was picked and booked. Given the number of local teams in the top flight, I was fairly confident of blindly picking the weekend and getting to see a game, it worked out even better when it turned out there was a local derby on Sunday night – Panathinaikos v AEK.

Tickets were a bit awkward to book in advance for a foreigner. In the end, I probably would have been able to buy in person on matchday, but preferring to be organised, I stumbled through viva.gr, a Greek Ticketmaster seemingly, and was able to get a seat in the corner for 30 euros, near the loudest fans in Gate 13. If you don’t fancy the rigmarole of translating from Greek, for the vast majority of domestic games you can by from the ground in the days leading up to the game, or even on the day.

After some of the usual tourist stuff on a rainy day (the views of the city from the Acropolis are incredible) and discovering beertime, which has a remarkable range of drinking options. The Apostolos Nikolidis Stadium is pretty accessible from the centre of town, Ambelokipi the nearest Metro stop, just a few stops from the central square.

As you walk from the metro to the ground, you’ll pass lots of stalls selling merchandise and food. The Greek sales pitch is pretty straightforward, they loudly tell you to buy their stuff (or something like that). There are a few bars just outside the ground too, so if you need a pre-match drink or bit to eat you’re well catered for.

The ground is a proper continental throwback, most of the stands are uncovered, with Perspex glass at the front of the stands. If the Pana fans were annoyed with something, some would run forward to bang on it. The concourse in my section was very basic, cramped and just about enough to fit in a concession stall staffed by one person, it wasn’t big enough to have more staff!

Working in TV, one thing I found interesting too was a flash interview position (basically where players and managers do their pre and post-match TV stuff in front of those advertising boards) outside the ground, which was a new one on me. Do they actually conduct interviews there?

Anyway, the match. Going off that, both teams would need to practice their finishing, but two goals were scored. A wonderfully delivered free kick early in the game, pretty much taken right in front of me, was met by the head of Moledo, who gave Pana the lead. Both teams had chances to score, but deep into injury time, and with the fans thinking ‘job done,’ Marko Livaja fired from the edge of the area, into the bottom corner, and the atmosphere went from loud, to be being able to hear a pin drop, in one strike of a ball.

One very sad observation was the lettering on the back of the shirts. Greek players would have their names in Greek, while foreign players would have the Latin alphabet on the back instead of a transliteration (unlike Russia and Israel amongst others)

No, it’s you that needs to get a life.

I will put a photo or two up at some point.

Summer doubleheader: Estonia and Finland

Nomme Kalju 8-0 Sillamae Kalev
Premium Liiga, 16 June 2017

HIFK 0-2 PS Kemi
Veikkausliga, 17 June 2017

One of the real upsides of this challenge, hobby, project, whatever you want to call it, is you go to countries you probably would never otherwise go to. And with all due respect to the people of Estonia, that country would be one of them,

Indeed, first and foremost, Finland was the 'main' destination for this trip. With the whole withdrawal from the European Union (I have some sort of irrational dislike for the word Brexit) I've decided to do as many of those countries while it remains as simple as possible. With a summer league as well that was the more obvious trips to make at this time of year. Tallinn, the Estonian capital, can be reached by ferry from Helsinki in two and a half hours, so those two countries could be done in one weekend.

Estonia would be the destination for the first game of the weekend. After getting into Helsinki on Friday lunchtime, it was then a ferry journey (which is a decent way to travel, with a few bars and cheap beer and food available) over to Tallinn, an argument with a reckless tuk-tuk driver in Tallinn which nearly could ended up with punches thrown, the picking-up of my keys for an apartment to have overnight, then onto Nomme Kalju v Sillamae Kalev.

Nomme play in the Hiiu area of town, from the city centre you can get a train straight to Hiiu then walk about 10 minutes to a very suburban, but charming little ground. As I was staying closer to the port, I picked up the tram and then changed at Tondi for the train, which took about 40 minutes.

I was slightly late, but got in after handing a young lady at a table 10 euros and went into the ground.

Only the 'main' stand was open, which was series of benches rather than actual seats, A  Le Coq, the national beer was available at 3 euros for about a pint, as well as some burgers and other food which I didn't try. There is a similar stand behind one goal, the other end had some activities for kids and families and the other side had no stand. There were also some optimistic 'advertising' boards with soundbites in English, like "WELCOME TO HELL"

Having said that, visiting side Sillamae Kalev probably thought it was hell. The home side were 5-0 up at half time, completely in control and at times walking the ball into the net. Three more second half goals made it the most one-sided professional game I have ever watched, and I've seen San Marino live.

Hungry, but having seen loads of goals, I headed back into town. The Old Town and the area near Viru are both quite good for places to eat and drink. I settled on Scotland Yard, a police themed bar that had live music while I could stuff a burger down me.

If you want to see highlights of the game, they're here

Back to Helsinki

I travelled back to Finland early on Saturday afternoon, for what was originally slated to be a teatime kickoff between HIFK and Kemi, from the north of Finland. HIFK are one of Helsinki's two top-flight teams, lesser known than city rivals HJK. They do have on their books however Mikael Forssell, formerly of Chelsea and Birmingham, and Mika Vayrynen, once of Leeds. Neither would play for the struggling side in this game though.

Annoyingly, kickoff was moved to an earlier time of 3pm, which meant a rush across the city to the Telia 5G Areena, which is in what I suppose would be Helsinki's Olympic park, with the Olympic stadium and an indoor arena both a stone's throw away. It's a 10,000 or so capacity stadium, shared with HJK. Tickets ranged from 10 euros for the 'fan stand' behind the goal, which contained a small group of noisy, colourful fans, to the 25 euros I splashed out on the main stand, I actually thought I had blagged my way into hospitality, the main stand has a nice open concourse where you can get food and drink, with some tables with a view from the half way line. It is however the Nordic countries, so a Carlsberg set me back EUR7.50.

As mentioned, HIFK are struggling, and half way through the season are in danger of dropping out of the top flight. They would lose 2-0, as Filip Valencic bagged a brace, the second a lovely effort lifted over the keeper after he was drawn to the edge of his box. One thing which I've never experienced before was adverts being played over the tannoy during the match. Admittedly that's one thing from abroad English football would do well not to import.

I've always had a soft spot for the Nordic countries and enjoyed my visits there, despite the cost of everything. Helsinki was no exception with friendly people and a relaxed  vibe around the city.

Germany: Hertha Berlin v Augsburg

Hertha Berlin 2-0 Augsburg
Bundesliga, April 9 2017

Nearly three months later, I finally summon the effort to write about my trip to the German capital. A game in Germany is often spoken of as a great way to experience a football match, so this was one of the trips I was keener to tick off sooner or later.

I decided on an April date, initially the plan was to see either Borussia Dortmund or Cologne in the preceding midweek set of fixtures, but before I could sort out any plans, a rearranged Bolton game was moved to that date, and with us in the promotion race I didn't want to miss any of our games where I didn't have to.

So I looked at the following Sunday, saw Hertha at home at 3.30pm and thought that was a perfect opportunity to fly to Berlin in the morning, watch the match, have a few more beers in the evening and then some sightseeing on Monday before going home. Perfect.

Lots of positive things are said about the German matchday 'experience' (a horrible phrase, I do apologise) but the set-up is so fan-friendly.

Firstly, with a match ticket, you can get around the city for the entire day using public transport for free. I paid 22 euros for my ticket, so that's the same price for Bundesliga action as I paid for an average League One away game last season. This was for an upper tier ticket at the Olympiastadion. Tickets were 15 euros for the standing section below me but I seemed unable to buy those online, maybe they aren't generally available.

On getting off the S-Bahn at the stadium, there are lots of little vans and stalls selling reasonably priced beer and sausages, very German, but again a great area and a great idea for fans to enjoy themselves pre-match. There were also stalls with an impressive range of football merchandise, including badges and scarves from a number of British clubs, right down the leagues. Wigan. Yep. Grimsby. Yep. Newport? Oh yes of course.

Once I went through the turnstiles the design of the stadium meant there was more open areas, where food was plentiful, and beer was available by the litre at reasonable prices. You can also take it into the stand.

As for the match, Hertha were in the European reckoning while Augsburg were struggling down the other end, which showed. John Brooks scored the opener before Valetin Stocker doubled the lead before half time after decent work from Salomon Kalou in the build-up. The standing fans below me jumped up and down from 15 minutes before kickoff until the final whistle, aided by some guy with a megaphone, and despite the running track still managed to create a decent noise that didn't get lost in an open ground.

Getting away after the game was easy, and I did some of the usual tourist stuff for the rest of my time there, including a look at the GDR Museum, Checkpoint Charlie and the Brandenburg Gate. 

Spain: Barcelona v Gladbach

Barcelona 4-0 Borussia Moenchengladbach - 6^th December 2016

It’s nearly two months since I went to Barcelona, but finally I’ll get around to posting that blog post. Actually, it was written weeks ago, then my laptop quite literally died. So, I had to start again. Not like people actually read this, it’s more a chronicle for myself.

Anyway, I was off to Catalunya, to tick Spain off the list. After a delayed flight, I got into Barcelona the afternoon of the match, and it was not only a chance to tick off a great club, but also my first live taste of Champions League football.

Luis Enrique’s men had already won their group, and as such rested players. But it was still a team packed with talent, with Lionel Messi starting, so I can say I’ve seen both Messi and Ronaldo live.

As you may or may not know, Barca ran out 4-0 winners with Arda Turan bagging a hat trick. The Camp Nou is one of those places you get that feeling when you go in it. Before going there, I stopped off a small bar on the walk from Collblanc metro station to the stadium, and had a few reasonably priced beers.

Gates seem to open just over an hour before kick-off, and after a body search at the gates, well away from the ground, you can take the walk up to the ground. I had great seats, in the lowest tier of the Gol Nord (if you watch a game on TV, it’s the goal to the left) and was behind the ultras, who sang songs mocking Espanyol, probably, and definitely sung chants of Catalonian independence. I imagine if not for them, it would be a flat atmosphere, with too many tourists like myself, but they were great and didn’t stop.

After the game, I stayed around the grounds of the Camp Nou. There is an outdoor café type establishment serving beer and hot snacks, that the locals largely stay away from, so it was a reasonably empty space to get another Estrella and let the metro get less crammed. They also have Barca TV on screens so you can watch back the match highlights. After about an hour, I went back to the city centre, where the metro wasn’t too crammed.

Other highlights of the trip included having a look at the Sagrada Familia and the expensive La Rambla, which like Nicky Wire, I have now walked. If you’re fit enough, have a walk from town up the Estadi Olimpic too. The views looking down on town from Montjuic are well worth the pain of the steep walk up. The former home of Espanyol and the main venue for the 1992 Summer Games is now a community facility. It’s free to walk around the concourses and take photos, while there is a sports museum, and for a small fee there are activities locals can take part in on the pitch and track, which seems a nicer legacy than handing it over to some mate’s football club on the cheap because they have the same political affiliation (hi London).

(NB, I’ll put some photos up at a later date!)

France: Euro 2016

England 1-1 Russia
Euro 2016 Group B, Stade Velodrome, June 11 2016

My first visit to a major tournament (not counting the Olympic football here, hipsters), and one that at first glance of the fixture looking back, you may say an "eventful" one.

Let's get the formalities out of the way first. On a Saturday night in the South of France, England were the better side but struggled to break the Russians down. Eventually, Eric Dier smashed home a free-kick to put England ahead. But just when we thought we could reach out and touch the win, some haphazard defending made sure Alexei Berezutski managed to get a late equaliser.

OK. On the pitch stuff over. Time for the stuff you probably want to know more about. You had to live under a rock to not know about the violence preceeding and following the game, and also the scenes in the ground at full time.

In my case, the truth is I actually saw little of it at first hand. Like many I arrived in Marseille early on Thursday morning. The Old Port seemed like a good place to go down to at some point, but my hotel was elsewhere, not for from the Velodrome in fact. After finding an Irish bar nearby to drink in (and finding a Bolton Wanderers scarf, being the massive club we are) while waiting for my hotel room to be ready, I went off and fell asleep, being up since 4am.

I woke up and saw reports of what had gone on, and after hearing more stuff on Friday, I made the decision that I just couldn't be bothered going up to the Port, even if any violence was in short sharp bursts. I've never tasted tear gas, but it doesn't sound like a good experience. So **** that.

In any case, when the nearby Avenue du Prado had a number of brasseries with beer on tap and the other games on, why the need to go down there? I understand those who had hotels there and probably didn't know where else to go, but those who kept going back, well it just seemed like a very unwise decision.

Most of the England fans, the vast majority in fact, were great. The atmopshere where we was fantastic, a few locals with drums came down and helped turn it into a carnival atmpshere. But all the time you could hear police siren after police siren, making the quick journey to the Port, where as we know it was a different story. At the same time, some of our fans don't help themselves. The IRA stuff is just out of date and irrelevant now for starters. Not that should legitimise Russian thuggery.

After the game, the charge of the Russian fans happened down the other end. As we weren't heading in that direction, we just got out of there knowing if we didn't hang around, it would be fine. But it was a tense few minutes and the sight of armed riot police was anything but reassuring.

The matchday experience obviously didn't feel particularly French. UEFA's continuing McDonaldisation of their competitions ensured we had the same pre-match music and 'entertainment' as every other game at the tournament, any noise the fans making having to drown out Jump Around by House of Pain which we were all asked to dance to. No. Just no. And of course, the vast majority of fans were English.

The entrance procedures to the ground left a lot to be desired. Fans went through one gate, then a security check, then finally got to the turnstile. It was very crammed outside the first set of gates, with no queueing and people still desperate to hold onto their booze. While people remained calm and there were no problems, it could have been easy to cause chaos out on that street.

The rebuilt Velodrome is a stunning stadium though. Up in our top tier, you could see just over the beautiful roof and into the scenery behind.

Easter in Ireland

Republic of Ireland 1-0 Switzerland,
Aviva Stadium,
Friendly, March 25 2016

It was a short flight across the Irish Sea to Dublin for the first of two games in two days on the island. I've always followed the Boys In Green due to some Irish ancestry on my dad's side of the family, so I was actually fairly excited to see them live.

What I wasn't aware of was the fact that one or two of my plans were to go right out of the window. While not a big drinker, I still like a visit to a pub. But this was Ireland, and this was Good Friday, where bars and restaurants can't actually serve you. Even though churches offer you free wine every Sunday.  But there are exemptions, and one notable one is sports venues, so the Aviva Stadium had my back on that one. As did Ryanair, even though their flight attendant asked if I wanted ice with my Heineken. I managed not to laugh.

The view from the back of the South Stand ten minutes
before kick-off

The Aviva is a great stadium too. Going through an underpass to get to my end of the ground, the large stand at one end, the tunnel is decorated with commentary lines from Irish football and rugby union's most famous moments, and a predictable line about Roy Keane going in with a big tackle. The atmosphere was fairly good, especially compared with the England friendlies I have been to. Not difficult though, I suppose.

Anyway, as for the match, it was pretty poor. Ciaran Clark scored a header in the second minute in what proved to be the only goal of the game. Switzerland pressed and pressured the hosts, but that was about it. Kevin Doyle picked up a nasty looking gash, and that was the sum total of what happened.

It was however a hugely significant weekend to be in the country. 2016 marks a century since the Easter Rising, which was a pivotal event in the eventual establishment of an independent Republic of Ireland. This was marked before the match with a reading of part of the original proclamation and guests from the Irish forces.

I also had a bit of spare time on Saturday morning, so I went down to O'Connell Street and saw the General Post Office, which was the base of the Irish rebels during the Rising. Access was fairly difficult though, as preparations were being made for official events taking place on Easter Sunday.

Crusaders 2-0 Dungannon Swifts,
Seaview,
Irish Premiership, March 26 2016

The following day I travelled north of the border to tick off Northern Ireland. My choice of game was table-topping Crusaders at home to Dungannon Swifts in the semi-professional domestic top flight. Crues would go five points clear with a victory and take another step in defending their title.

First, was the walk from Belfast city centre to the ground. This proved a reminder of Northern Ireland's schizophrenic identity as I went up Shore Road. I walked through a neighbourhood full of Irish flags and the odd mural, then crossed a junction where the kerbs were painted red, white and blue. On the walk back a giant sign told me this was 'LOYALIST TIGER'S BAY' with the red hand of Ulster to boot. Fair enough.

Seaview, with no view of the sea

Anyway, I paid my £10 on the door after finding an Asda with a cash machine and got in a fairly tidy Seaview. I'm not sure what the attendance was, but gathering from the number of fans wearing merchandise from English Premier League clubs (and also a Rangers and a Wolfsburg jacket) the international break may have brought about a few extra fans on the gate.

The weather was absolutely awful. Despite being in a small, but covered stand, I was drenched twice, then at half time was almost blown away by a gale and a very brief hailstorm. All the day before we were meant to put our clocks forward for summer.

The football was dominated by Crues. They had several chances to win it in the first half but couldn't break the deadlock. There was some frustration as the afternoon went on, but eventually man of the match Paul Heatley managed to score a brace, the second being a decent curling effort
to send the Crues fans home happy.

Belfast is a decent city though, and that night I watched England's win in Germany in a great pub called Lavery's. It has an off licence and a pool room which becomes a club night on Saturdays. And the beer isn't too pricey either.