Arbroath
Gayfield Park Saturday 3 March 2012 Scottish League Division 2 Arbroath 2 East Fife 2 Pretty Arbroath: birthplace of the smokie, Dominik Diamond and a 36-0 win for the local football club against Bon Accord in an 1885 Scottish Cup tie. Bon Accord had travelled the eighteen miles or so down the coast from Aberdeen, … Read more
ASV ASKÖ Salzburg
Toni-Kronreif-Sportzentrum Itzling Saturday 24 March 2012 Austrian 2. Landesliga – Nord ASV ASKÖ Salzburg 2 USK Hof 0 Two days in Vienna followed by an early morning train to Salzburg: what could go wrong? Every beer was “my last one” until I eventually left the bar in a taxi. The drinks had been plentiful since I … Read more
Aberdeen
Pittodrie Stadium Saturday 3 March 2012 Scottish Premier Division Aberdeen 1 Celtic 1 Northumbrian countryside disappeared as the early morning train continued over the border towards Edinburgh. Thirty minutes passed as I waited for the connecting train that would take me further north, towards Aberdeen, for what would be the first game of a Scottish … Read more
FC Viktoria Plzeň
Stadion města Plzně Sunday 23 October 2011 Czech 1. liga FC Viktoria Plzeň 4 FK Viktoria Žižkov 1 Spurred on by a seven goal early morning thriller at Admira Praha, we, this large groups of ours, waltzed from Metro to train platform. Apart from the Belgians who rolled into Burger King – “We don’t have them … Read more
On the road with Hebburn Town
Focus Scaffolding Sports Complex Saturday 10 March 2012 Northern League Division 2 Whitehaven 2 Hebburn Town 3 Onwards to Whitehaven… The bus pulls into the Hebburn Sports and Social Ground to be met by the committee team of chairman Billy Laffy; secretary Tom Derrick; treasurer John Bolam, who is off to the Sunderland game later … Read more
Northallerton Town
Regency Stadium Saturday 21 January 2012 Northern League Division 2 Northallerton Town 2 Birtley Town 3 A Northern League game can mean only one thing: mates and beers. OK, that’s technically two things or, if you wish to continue being pedantic, many more things as pies, chips, lager, spirits and wedding parties can also be … Read more
Gillford Park
Gillford Park Stadium Saturday 7 January 2012 Northern League Division 2 Gillford Park 4 Birtley Town 4 Steve Skinner makes and receives around fifty phone calls a day in the name of Gillford Park while sending out an additional 100 letters a week, looking for new sponsors, new funding, for the football club he helped … Read more
Dumbarton
Strathclyde Homes Stadium Monday 2 January 2012 Scottish League Division 2 Dumbarton 3 Arbroath 2 The opening game of 2012 for me and it had to be special. Fixture lists were scoured and suggestions were binned: Stalybridge Celtic was too far to travel on New Year’s Day with the expected hangover (though as it turned … Read more
Boldon C.A.
Boldon Colliery Welfare Saturday 3 December 2011 Wearside League Boldon C.A 2 Coxhoe Athletic 0 The South Tyne Alliance Cup Final played on Good Friday 1934 shouldn’t really be known as being significant, yet for Charlton Athletic the match between Boldon Villa and Pyman’s was the start of a goalkeeping career that would see a … Read more
Billingham Synthonia
Central Avenue Monday 26 December 2011 Northern League Division 1 Billingham Synthonia 3 Billingham Town 1 The only club in England to be named after an agricultural fertiliser, Billingham Synthonia shared close links with ICI, who manufactured the contraction of ‘synthetic ammonia’ that gives the club it’s name, for a number of years due to … Read more
