They might be a couple of games away from Wembley but Bath football are still the city’s ugly ducklings.
The swish rugby ground in the stunning centre, and even the nearby cricket ground, are in good nick.
A Cunnington plan – Ebbsfleet 2 Braintree 0
Primped up, plans for huge redevelopment and maybe on their way to Wembley?
Ebbsfleet brushed aside Braintree to secure a winnable tie against North Ferriby United on Saturday.
Continue reading A Cunnington plan – Ebbsfleet 2 Braintree 0
50 Shades of Grays – Grays 1 Lewes 3
Existential angst at Grays is so intense that maybe frustrations all come out on the pitch.
This was pure edge for the last 30 minutes: an orgy of moaning minnies, harrying of officials, jostling and whining, it left you wondering why refs get out of bed in the mornings.
Moose mayhem – Cambridge United 2 Luton Town 1
Abundant evidence, not that it’s ever needed, that you can’t beat the FA Cup. Ever.
Continue reading Moose mayhem – Cambridge United 2 Luton Town 1
Return to Planet Football – Belgium 0 Wales 0
The cosmic buzz is back.
Last spotted in the ether leaving the Millennium Stadium after the 2003 play-off fiasco in Cardiff, en route to Planet Zog. Through your pain, tears and soul-sucking misery you probably didn’t see it. But I did.
Reappearance dated November 16, 2014. Brussels. We all saw it, smelt it, cherished it, revelled in it, ran our fingers nostalgically through its luxuriant locks and remembered the lost passion we thought we’d never encounter again.
Continue reading Return to Planet Football – Belgium 0 Wales 0
Colombia 2 United States 1
Best friendly I’ve ever seen. Nothing even comes close, absolutely blinkin’ fantastic fun.
Amazing atmosphere, a snorting, cavorting cacophony of Colombians hijacking a ‘home’ game for the Yanks.
Of the 24,235 crowd, probably three-quarters were South American and it made for an ambience even better than some of the World Cup matches I was lucky to see in Brazil.
Who knew so many Colombians were in the UK?
A bridge too far – Braintree 0 Chesterfield 6
The FA Cup. Doncha just bloody love it? I do. I bloody do.
Capable of being the best fun ever or dead boring waste of an afternoon.
Continue reading A bridge too far – Braintree 0 Chesterfield 6
Wales 0 Bosnia 0
Let’s hope that in a year’s time we don’t all think: “If only Ashley WIlliams had scored.”
No quibbles with the outcome, a fair reflection of a strangely entertaining game. Not many 0-0s are so engrossing.
But it would be nice to have an unfair reflection of the game in the scoreline someday, unfair in our favour.
Will Wales qualify?
It’s now or never, isn’t it?
If we can’t qualify when the gates gape as wide as Euro2016’s do, it isn’t going to happen.
Twenty-three teams go through and, after sifting out the no-hopers, that means about 36 countries are vying for those slots.
Rio: mural and Maracana
On a wall at the end of the Copacabana, the other end from the Fanfest on the beach, a street artist created a tribute artwork stretching a good 40 metres.
The David Luiz free-kick probably epitomised Brazil’s best moment. Even aside from anything Neymar did, this goal was celebrated like nothing else – probably as the hosts realised that maybe they could win the World Cup.
**Click on the pics to enlarge
Flamengo 1 Atletico Paranaense 2
Well I think I’ve seen just about everything at a football game now – a woman breastfeeding her child on the terrace. Maybe over here, kids are born at the match.
Rio, weaning itself off the World Cup, was suffering from football-glut – and not hosting games immediately after the Germany-Argentina final. Presumably the police needed a rest.
FC Romania 2 Sutton Utd 3
If you want to a taste of Eastern Europe football you need to head to northern London.
FC Romania’s radar is permanently askew.
Several thousand miles from home this Essex Senior League outfit respect no boundary – their home is in Hertfordshire (or as one website catering for Romains in the UK had it “Herdfordshire’).
And they’re not short of ambition.
Miles from Nowhere 