There won’t be many that get to see domestic football in North Korea in their lifetimes, but luckily guest writer Tim Hartley went to a match in Pyongyang under the shadow of the bomb, and shares his fascinating experience…

Pyongyang 2 v 1Amrokgang (14.04.2013)

You’ll not hear Jeff Stelling saying, “There’ll be dancing on the streets of Pyongyang tonight,” anytime soon. Or anyone else for that matter. Because the North Koreans take their footie as seriously as their politics. And that is very seriously. But this was the country’s match of the day – Pyongyang, from the capital, versus Amrokgang, the crack army outfit.

The game was a sell-out though you’d never guess it. As we entered the 50,000 seater Kim Il-Sung Stadium below the watchful eye of the Eternal President and Great Leader, not forgetting his son Kim Jong-Il, there was no-one to be seen. There were no queues, no turnstiles…