Been there, done that, worn the slippers
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Panathinaikos 3 PAS Lamia 1
14th April 2024 – Super League – Stadio Apóstolos Nikolaidis, Athens, Greece In December, the Greek authorities ruled that all Super League games would be played behind closed doors, for the foreseeable future after escalating violence between clubs which culminated in a police officer being killed in a volleyball match between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos. Trouble…
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AEK 2 Aris Thessaloniki 0
14th April 2024 – Greek Super League – OPAP Arena, Athens, Greece Despite being only separated 4 miles, the stadiums of AEK and Panathinaikos might as well be in playing in different decades. For all the run down charm of the Stadio Apóstolos Nikolaidas, you can only imagine what the club could be possible of…
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NK Bravo 1 Olimpia Ljubljana 1
16th March 2024 – SNL PrvaLiga – Športni Park Šiška, Ljubljana, Slovenia Last week was the Eternal Derby, the meeting of the two giants in the Serbian capital as Red Star hosted Partizan Belgrade. Back in the day when Yugoslavia was one of the biggest countries in Europe, at least by size, there were massive…
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Vejle 2 Silkeborg 0
Sunday 25th February 2024 – Danish SuperLiga – Vejle Stadium, Vejle, Denmark There’s a myth that Denmark has no hills. Flat as a pancake goes the story, but don’t believe that. During my time living in Copenhagen, I once came across such a steep decline that someone was dry skiing down it. I found out…
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AGF 2 FC Midtjylland 3
Sunday 25th February 2024 – AGF 2 FC Midtjyllland 3 – Danish SuperLiga – Cere Park, Århus, Denmark Football is a game of two halves of 45 minutes, but recent changes to the laws of the game Often means that a match will end up lasting an extra 10 or 15 minutes. As Sunday’s SuperLiga’s…
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Ballymena United 0 Loughgall 1
Saturday 27th January 2024 – Sports Direct Premiership – The Showgrounds, Ballymena I know everyone has to be born somewhere but it always makes me chuckle when I see someone really famous born in provincial towns. Ballymena, sitting almost slap-bang in the middle of Northern Ireland has three notable people “sons”. The actor James Nesbitt, the former…
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Carrick Rangers 0 Cliftonville 1
Friday 26th January 2024 – Sports Direct Premiership – Taylors Avenue, Carrickfergus Friday night football is an established “thing” in Northern Ireland. A few of the Premiership teams, notably the champions Larne and Newry City favour a Friday night under the lights as their preferred game day, whilst every week BBC Northern Ireland show a…
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Celta Vigo 0 Real Sociedad 1
Saturday 20th January 2024 – La Liga – Estadio de Balaires, Vigo If Sky and the Premier League announced a 9pm Saturday night kick off, there would be outrage. It would be inconceivable that such a kick off slot would be chosen for a local derby or high profile game, with the police wanting to avoid…
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Iran 4 Palestine 1
Sunday 14th January 2024 – The Asian Cup – Education City, Doha It had been a whirlwind trip, with little chance to sit back and enjoy the games without thinking of the logistics of what was happening next. With my flight leaving at 1.30am, I still had one last dilemma left which related to collecting…
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United Arab Emirates 3 Hong Kong 1
Sunday 14th January 2024 – The Asian Cup – Khalifa International Stadium, Doha The taxi dropped me off at Sport City metro, providing a superb view of the Khalifa International Stadium and the Aspire Tower, a five-star hotel and the second tallest building in the country. There were certainly more fans milling around outside than…
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Japan 4 Vietnam 2
Sunday 14th January 2024 – The Asian Cup – Al Thumama Stadium, Doha With the first game of the day not until 2.30pm, I took the opportunity to enjoy some time in the sunshine at the hotel. One noticeable difference in Doha from Abu-Dhabi and Dubai was things here were “just finished”. Sitting on the…
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Syria 0 Uzbekistan 0
Saturday 13th January 2024 – Jassim Bin Hamed Stadium – Doha Thankfully, with a metro station close by, it seemed like the journey to the third and final match of the day between Syria and Uzbekistan would be easy. If only. I was beginning to realise that there was nothing easy about the logistics for fans during…
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China 0 Tajikistan 0
Saturday 13th January 2024 – The Asian Cup – Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha It was a simple journey from west to north via metro and bus before the organisation committees ridiculous exit routes for fans added a needless 20 minutes to the walk from the stadium to the metro. I fully understand the need…
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Australia 2 India 0
Saturday 13th January 2024 – The Asian Cup – Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, Doha There’s few fans of Australian football who could have walked away from the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium after seeing their side struggle to overcome a spirited and excitable Indian side with any confidence this was to be their tournament. They are fortune…
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Qatar 3 Lebanon 0
Friday 12th January 2024 – The Asian Cup – Lusail Stadium, Doha Escapism: noun – the tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities, especially by seeking entertainment or engaging in fantasy. I wouldn’t necessarily call a 50-odd hour, 7 game whirlwind trip to the Asian Cup in Qatar, escapism but here I was…
The Ball is Round 