Spain

R.F.E.F. Primera Division

Grupo 3

Sunday 16th February 2025

Kick Off 17.30 Actual 17.31

Villarreal C.F. ‘B’ 3 Club Deportivo Alcoyano 0, attendance 530

13’ 1-0

32’ 2-0 (pen)

88’ 3-0

@ Ciutat Esportiva Villarreal ‘Mini Estadi’

Carrer Miralcamp 128

12540 Vila-real

€15 Admission

No Programme.

It was a 50 mile drive back north from Torrent to Villarreal. Unfortunately, we stopped at a service station en route for food, during which time we had our bags stolen from the boot of the car, although it was only when we went to go in the boot after arriving in Villarreal that it came to our attention that it had happened. We decided it was best to still do the game and report the theft afterwards, rather than let it ruin the trip, but it did really take the shine off it.

Anyway, the B team of Villarreal play in the third level of Spanish football, playing home games at the ‘Mini Estadi’, the main pitch at their training complex, on the western fringes of the town. It has seats on all four sides, with the only cover being in the centre of the main stand. We just went to the ticket office and bought a ticket, which turned out to be in the away section. Not a problem, as there were only 54 others in with us and you could sit wherever you wanted.

It was hard to really concentrate on the game, which was a shame, as Villarreal were really good. Even though it was 12th versus 13th in the league table, the hosts had the upper hand throughout and coasted to an easy win. They opened the scoring after thirteen minutes, when an angled shot from the corner of the 18 yard box was saved by the ‘keeper, but easily tucked away after being followed in. Goal number two came just after the half hour mark, courtesy of a penalty and despite creating plenty more chances, it took them until two minutes from the end to get their third goal, cutting inside from the right before hitting an unstoppable shot into the far corner.

After the game we headed into Villarreal to report the theft of our bags. Unfortunately, the Police computer was down with a technical problem, so we were advised to return later “when it may be back up and running?”. We checked in at our hotel on the edge of town and they telephoned the police station for us, confirming the computer was now back in use, so we headed off to obtain a crime number for the insurance claim. My co traveller had lost his spare phone and coat, which annoyingly had his passport in. I’d got off lightly by comparison, losing just a few tee shirts, boxer shorts and socks, which had all been worn, but crucially they’d taken my medication to cover the following day and a spare amount in case of flight delays.

We were due to fly back at 1425 on Monday from Barcelona. It was a near 3 hour drive north, but we dropped off the hire car and then took a taxi to the British Consulate (absolutely superb service considering they say 2-3 working days to issue emergency passports) in the city, where we’d managed to book an appointment for 11.15. In a matter of minutes the temporary passport was issued and we were back in a taxi heading back to the airport. Our return flight with Vueling left just a few minutes late and it was certainly good to arrive back in Blighty without further incident.

Apart from the theft, which could have been far worse, especially if we were actually present when it occurred, it had been a successful trip. We managed to get in 5 games as we had hoped, covering just over 600 miles in the process and it now takes my Spanish grounds visited up to 62.

Spain

R.F.E.F. Segunda Division

Grupo 3

Sunday 16th February 2025

Kick Off 12.00 Actual 12.03

Torrent C.F. 1 Club Esportiu Europa 1, attendance 4,520

25’ 0-1

72’ 1-1

@ Estadi San Gregorio

Avinguda de Perez Galdos 15

46900 Torrent

€15 Admission

No Programme.

This morning started with a 30 minute drive to the town of Torrent, just south west of Valencia. Parking near the stadium was non existent, due to clashing with Sunday morning church services, but we eventually found an area of wasteland, which doubled as a car park, which was maybe ten minutes walk from the ground. We arrived at the stadium about 10.45 and the queue outside the ground was already starting to build. Tickets were available from a window next to the entrance and as it was a gorgeous day, reaching 23 degrees at the peak, we opted for general admission tickets, rather than the main 1,000 seat stand, which meant we’d be in the open, but without shade. Not something you normally have to worry about in February. The stand is on the entrance side of the ground, with the other three sides having four steps of concrete steps, where everybody sat down, with standing on the back row only, apart from a couple of ignorant supporters who seemed totally oblivious to the fact that standing on the front row wasn’t really the done thing.

The match was 4th versus 1st, in what is level 4 here, with Torrent just four points behind the leaders. I thought there might be a decent crowd here, but certainly didn’t expect it to be this big and it seemed to have caught out many locals, as it was a good twenty minutes into the game before the queue at the entrance finally disappeared. There were quite a few fans here supporting Europa too, despite it being a four hour drive from their base in Barcelona and it bucked the trend of the top levels in Spain where very few away fans bother travelling. The two teams were well matched and goal scoring chances were at a premium. Europa broke the deadlock after twenty minutes five minutes, cutting in from the left before beating the ‘keeper into the near top corner of the net. The equaliser came with eighteen minutes left, cutting in from the right side of the box before lobbing the ball over the ‘keeper, enabling an easy tap in at the far post. Europa will probably feel it was a game they should have won, but at least the point keeps them top, whilst Torrent drop a place to fifth. The game finished at 13.54, so ample time to head off to a second match.

Spain

Lliga Communitat Valencia

Primera Division

Grupo 2

Saturday 15th February 2025

Kick Off 17.15 Actual 17.17

Jupiter C.F. Massamagrell 0 Club Deportivo Turis 2, attendance 244

42’ 0-1

63’ 0-2

@ Campo Municipal de Massamagrell

Calle Jacinto Benavente 1

46130 Massamagrell

No Admission or Programme.

Anyone who’s been to Spain to watch football will know planning games is not easy, even in the top two levels, due to poor administration and a real lack of reliable websites, with confirmed kick off times often not released until a couple of days before the game! I’ve lost count of the number of games that were planned for this slot on our itinerary, with some games showing as different kick off times/days on as many as four different websites and some club websites that even had the wrong days/kick offs to what was actually the case. Anyway, late on Wednesday evening, Jupiter had posted on their Instagram page that this was a 17.15 kick off. Even better, when checking where it was, it was unbelievably just a seven minute drive from where we’d already booked our hotel, just north east of Valencia, believing we would be doing a game just south of here originally.

This was level 7 football in Spain, with this being 11th versus 13th in the league table. Typically for this level it is a 3G pitch, with spectator access limited to one side and up to the 18 yard box at one end. There are two covered stands, both with four rows of concrete steps, that were used to sit on, rather than stand. There is a small clubhouse behind here, where snacks and drinks were available at very reasonable prices, whilst the dugouts are on the far side.

Despite the low level, this was by far the best game so far this weekend, as far as open and attacking football went. It was a far higher standard than I’d been expecting (my first experience of this level here) with two teams trying to win the game, with non of the cheating and rolling about that blights the Spanish game in the higher echelons. Five minutes before halftime Jupiter hit the post, with the best chance of the half, then two minutes later they found themselves behind, when a quick break down the right was finished into the far corner from the angle of the 18 yard box. Just after the hour mark Turis made it 0-2, when they broke quickly from their own box and finished low into the bottom corner with a shot that gave the ‘keeper no chance. Following the goal there was a scuffle between the two ‘benches’, which ended with both managers receiving red cards. With four minutes left, Jupiter had a man sent off, having committed a ‘last man’ foul trying to prevent another quick breakaway. Even with ten men they still pushed forward and despite penning Turis deep in their own half, the nearest they came to pulling a goal back was when they hit the post five minutes into stoppage time.

Spain

Segunda Division

Saturday 15th February 2025

Kick Off 1400 On Time!

Club Deportivo Castellon 2 Sociedad Deportiva Eibar 0, attendance 10,075

17’ 1-0

57’ 2-0

@ Estadi SkyFi Castalia (Nou Estadi Castalia)

Calle d’Osca

12004 Castellon de La Plana

€20 Admission + €1.85 booking fee, Print at Home Ticket.

2 Different Programmes available, both free.

From our overnight stop in Girona it was a 230 mile drive back south, which took just under four hours, to the town of Castellon de la Plana, home to second division team Club Deportivo Castellon. Their home is the Estadi SkyFi Castalia, known as Nou Estadi Castalia before the days of sponsorship. It was built in 1987, on the same site as their previous stadium, but with the pitch turned 90 degrees from the former and has an all seated capacity of 14,485. It is a two tier ground, with the lower level much smaller than the top, with just the main stand being under cover. The only protection required today would have been from the sun, as it hit 20 degrees during the afternoon. We’d bought tickets online, but they were readily available on the day too. Our selected seats were in the upper tier, behind the goal, but the view of the action at the near end of the pitch would have been very restricted as only about the top half of the goal frame was visible. It was the same problem from all the seats directly behind the width of the 18 yard box, so we moved to the corner instead, where the view was very good and managed to drop lucky that the actual seat holders didn’t arrive! As with last night, the away following was poor. From our seats it looked as though there were only a dozen or so in the away seats in the corner, at the far end from us.

The match was 17th versus 14th in the league table and was a far more open game than last night’s. Castellon opened the scoring after seventeen minutes, when a corner from the right was smashed high into the roof of the net from the edge of the six yard box. Twelve minutes into the second half they scored their second, breaking quickly down the right from the halfway line, before cutting inside and finishing with a low angled shot into the far corner. Eibar did have a goal disallowed for offside late on, but never looked like getting anything from the game once they’d conceded the second goal.

Despite the game only finishing at 15.53, we were still in the car for just after 4 o’clock, having bagged a good parking spot in the road leading back towards the motorway, just the other side of the roundabout next to the ground. We were heading another 44 miles further south, hopefully in time to see a second game at 17.15.

Above photo : The marathon tower, which would have been behind the goal end of the original stadium.

Spain

La Liga

Friday 14th February 2025

Kick Off 21.00 Actual 21.01

Girona 1 Getafe C.F. 2, attendance 10,354

3’ 0-1

54’ 1-1

62’ 1-2

@ Estadi Montilivi

Avinguda de Montilivi 141

17003 Girona

€35 Admission, plus €2.50 booking fee, Print at Home Ticket

Programme available, free.

With flight prices being extortionate due to Valentines Day, it worked out far cheaper for us to travel out yesterday and stay in a hotel overnight, rather than come out today. We flew on Vueling Airlines 1455 flight from London Gatwick to Barcelona, which left 37 minutes late, before collecting our hire car and heading to our accommodation in nearby Castelldefels. This morning it was a 70 mile drive north east to Girona, which took around an hour and a quarter, leaving plenty of time to explore the town, before checking in at our hotel, which was only about 15 minutes walk from the Estadi Montilivi. The ground was opened in 1970 and has an all seated capacity of 14,624, made up of an original lower ring of seats and main stand, with three sides of temporary stands now added to give a second tier, following expansion work in 2017 and again in 2022, with the record attendance set in 2019, when a crowd of 14,158 were here for the visit of Real Madrid.

Girona had finished third in La Liga last season and headed the table at one point, eventually finishing fourteen points behind champions Real Madrid and four adrift of runners up Barcelona. It was good enough to get them into the group stages of this seasons Champions League, but having lost a few of their better players following that tremendous achievement, they have struggled this time round. Seven defeats from their eight games in the group stage saw them eliminated having finished fourth from bottom out of the 36 teams taking part. They came into tonight’s game 8th in the table, whilst Getafe were 14th. It wasn’t a great game from a neutral perspective. Far too much cheating and time wasting, with both teams equally as bad as each other and the constant rolling about feigning injury does get rather tiresome after the umpteenth time it occurs.

Getafe went ahead after just three minutes, courtesy of an easy finish into the far corner from just inside the 18 yard box. Girona levelled the scores nine minutes into the second half, when a corner on the left was headed down into the bottom corner of the net from six yards. It only took Getafe eight minutes to go back in front, when a long range shot was followed in from close range after an initial save by the ‘keeper. Any hopes of Girona getting back into it disappeared when they had a man sent off with seventeen minutes left, following a very quick review of the incident by the VAR team. Getafe thought they’d added a third goal just minutes later, but it was ruled out for an offside offence in the build up, but they easily hung on to the three points, which would certainly have made the trip seem worthwhile for the 6 fans in the away section of the ground.

East Sussex League

Premier Division

Saturday 8th February 2025

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 14.05

Jesters Town 2 The Junior Club Tackleway 3, attendance 23

6’ 1-0

49’ 1-1

62’ 2-1

64’ 2-2

72’ 2-3

@ Hailsham Community College, 3G Pitch

Battle Road

Hailsham

BN27 1DT

No Admission or Programme.

Yet another Saturday where the weather had a bearing on my destination. I had a choice of three matches. The one in Gloucestershire did take place (reply came too late to make it), but the other two (in Essex and West Sussex) were both off, although not showing as such when I left home. Anyway, I decided on playing safe with a 3G option and a ground that would be a ‘double tick’ for me. Apart from completing the East Sussex League Premier Division and with it the entire league, it is also a venue used by Crowhurst, in the top division of the Mid Sussex League, which would also see that division polished off. It’s just a basic cage and although there is no designated spectator area, it was no problem watching from inside the fence. The pitch is ridiculously narrow and barely 5 yards from the edge of the 18 yard box to the touchline. There were kids matches taking place beforehand, which was probably the reason for the mobile catering van being present and it closed up shortly after the kick off of our game. The main building, which also housed the changing rooms, was open for the use of the toilets.

The match was a mid table clash, as 7th (out of 10) hosted 6th. Jesters took an early lead, finishing into the top corner from the angle of the 18 yard box, but had their ‘keeper to thank for them still holding that lead at halftime, making a number of decent saves, as well as a bit of luck when another shot hit the crossbar. Tackleway equalised four minutes into the second half and despite looking the better side, fell behind again just after the hour mark, through a first time finish after a one two on the edge of the box. Two minutes later it was 2-2, courtesy of a tap in from six yards and having regained their momentum, Tackleway grabbed the winner with eighteen minutes left, flicking in a near post header, from a long throw, that found the far bottom corner, with the win seeing them climb to fourth in the table.

Bedfordshire County League

Division 2 North

Saturday 1st February 2025

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 13.58!

F.C. Haynes 4 Wixams Wanderers 4, attendance 8

6’ 0-1

12’ 0-2

31’ 1-2

35’ 1-3

43’ 2-3

55’ 3-3

57’ 3-4

74’ 4-4

@ Haynes Playing Field/Village Hall

Northwood End Road

Haynes

MK45 3QB

No Admission or Programme.

This hadn’t been on the radar for today, but with my first choice game being postponed at 11.15 (on Twitter) due to a waterlogged pitch, I had to find an alternative. I wanted a game on grass and preferably between two first teams, but I was obviously limited by time. A phone call to the Haynes manager confirmed the game was going ahead, but I was told it was 14.00 kick off, rather than the 14.30 shown on F.A. Full Time (still down as 14.30 on results page), which I would still make, but without too much leeway. I pulled into the car park at 13.52, with the teams doing their warm ups and a couple of minutes before the ‘new’ kick off time, we were underway. The ground here is as basic as it gets. It’s just two parallel pitches, running lengthways away from the car park, with todays game played on the one that backs on to the village hall/changing rooms.

The match was 3rd versus 7th in the league table, the two villages being just six miles apart, to the southeast of Bedford. Wixams were 0-2 up after just twelve minutes and it looked like this might be a comfortable away win. Haynes headed in a cross from close range to pull it back to 1-2 just after the half hour mark, but a misplaced back pass led to Wixams restoring their two goal lead minutes later, finishing from a tight angle. A couple of minutes before halftime Haynes made it 2-3, when another cross from the left was headed in from 6 yards.

Ten minutes into the second half we were level at 3-3, where the Wixams ‘keeper spilled a long range effort that was followed in from close range, but it only took the visitors two minutes to regain their lead, when a shot from the edge of the box took a deflection and totally wrong footed the ‘keeper. Wixams had a man sent off with eighteen minutes left, picking up a second yellow card for diving and it only took Haynes two minutes to take advantage of the extra man, when a long ball was flicked on and finished one on one against the ‘keeper.

Arthurian League

Premier Division

Saturday 1st February 2025

Kick Off 11.00 Actual 11.07

Old Cholmeleians 4 King’s College School Old Boys 2, attendance 6

35’ 0-1

37’ 1-1

39’ 2-1

44’ 3-1

57’ 4-1

67’ 4-2

@ Christ’s College Finchley, 3G Pitch

East End Road

Finchley

London

N2 0SE

No Admission or Programme.

Another week where numerous games fell victim to waterlogged pitches, despite a couple of dry days, but at least I got a ‘new’ ground visit out of it, with Old Cholmeleians switching their game from their own ground to the 3G pitch here at Christ’s College Finchley. It’s just a standard cage set up, with no designated spectator area, but there was no problem with watching from inside the fence. You could have watched from the raised grass banking behind the near goal if required, which as well as seeing the game, also gives a view of the Wembley Arch in the distance. Plenty of parking here too, even with the hoards of parents turning up to collect their kids from their training session on the pitch beforehand, which, as is normal, caused our game to kick off slightly later than scheduled.

This was 7th versus 4th in the league table and was certainly a slow burner. Nothing happened of note until KCS opened the scoring after thirty five minutes, with a finish from the edge of the box. It took just four minutes for Cholmeleians to turn it around though and just before halftime they made it 3-1, with a good finish into the top corner from the angle of the 18 yard box, lobbing the ‘keeper and going in off the far post and another edge of the box finish saw them go 4-1 up just before the hour mark. KCS did pull it back to 4-2 with just over twenty minutes left, with a 25 yarder that seemed to deceive the ‘keeper, but that was it as far as the goal scoring was concerned, although Cholmeleians did hit the bar in the last minute with a 30 yard lob.

Belgium

West Vlaanderen Provincial 2B

Sunday 26th January 2025

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.01

K.S.V. Moorsele 1 K.S.V. De Ruiter Roeselare 3, attendance 101

7’ 0-1

56’ 0-2

62’ 0-3

75’ 1-3

@ Secretaris Vanmarckelaan

8560 Moorsele

€6 Admission

Team Sheet, free.

I was offered a lift to this, which meant doing my first game in Belgium since March 2022! Since that last trip Eurotunnel prices have tripled, as far as day returns go, with this being just over £100 and that was at a discounted rate! With three of us travelling and the fact we were only going as far as West Vlaanderen, softened the blow somewhat. Arriving at the near deserted terminal meant our 0852 departure left on time.

Although the ground here at Moorsele has a synthetic pitch, it has replaced the former grass pitch, so much of the original character still remains. The main feature is the 250 seat stand, whilst opposite there is an area of cover, with three steps of concrete terracing, although the dugouts are plonked right in front of here, so much of the view of the pitch is restricted. You can view from the entire perimeter, bar the small area from the entrance corner up towards the stand, where the changing rooms and clubhouse are, although you can watch from the clubhouse itself, which quite a few did, as it was bitterly cold, so you couldn’t really blame them, whilst the local cemetery backs on to the far end goal.

The match was 2nd versus 16th (bottom) in the league table and certainly didn’t turn out as expected. A quick break down the right ended with a shot that beat the ‘keeper low to the near post to give the visitors an early lead, which turned out to be the only goal of the first half. Four minutes into the second half De Ruiter had the chance to double their lead, having been awarded a penalty, but it was easily saved by the ‘keeper. Seven minutes later they did get a second goal though, when a long ball over the top was finished with an angled shot that went in off the far post and six minutes later it was 0-3, when another ball over the top was chased down and poked past the on rushing ‘keeper from the edge of the box. Moorsele did pull one back with fifteen minutes left, firing high into the roof of the net after an over hit cross was played back into the box.

Despite the defeat Moorsele remain second in the table, three points behind leaders K.R.C Bissegem, with the win for De Ruiter seeing them climb off the bottom, with R. Dottignies Sport and S.K. Nieukerke now below them. Although it had rained at the game, it was far less than it did during our 75 miles return drive to Calais. Although we were booked on the 1952 crossing, we actually got on the 1925 instead.

Mid Sussex League

Division 5 North

Saturday 25th January 2025

Kick Off 14.00 On Time!

Royal Earlswood 0 Ifield Albion Reserves 4, attendance 13

21’ 0-1

65’ 0-2

84’ 0-3

88’ 0-4

@ Perrywood Sports & Social Club

Honeycrock Lane

Salfords

RH1 5JQ

No Admission or Programme.

Today I visited a ground just ten minutes drive from home, but one that has been on my to do list for a while, as it hosted Combined Counties League (Step 6 nowadays) football up until the end of the 2005/06 season. It’s just a pitch (probably had a rope round it in CCL days?), running widthways when looking from the clubhouse, parallel with the main London – Brighton railway line beyond the far touchline, with a small sized pitch nearer to the building. The changing rooms are solid brick, with no windows evident! I was surprised this was on, but apart from a very small area that cut up a bit, the pitch was fine. I did have a back up nearby, with Godstone (Premier Division) switching their home game to the Oakwood Sports Centre 3G, but thankfully, that can be saved for another day.

Royal Earlswood are still listed as the reserves in the fixtures/league tables, but with the first team having folded, they are now the only team they’re running, so therefore the new ‘first’ team. The game was 7th versus 2nd in the league table, with Ifield Albion Reserves being the only unbeaten team left in this division (W4 D4). The first half was very even, the only goal coming midway through the half, when a ball over the top was finished one on one to put the visitors in front. Royal Earlswood missed the chance to draw level four minutes into the second half, but missed a penalty, hitting the outside of a post, having sent the ‘keeper the wrong way. Ifield hit the bar with a 25 yarder, but soon made it 0-2 midway through the half, finishing from a tight angle, having taken the ball wide of the ‘keeper. They almost added another, when a defender hit his own post when trying to cut out a cross, but did add two more goals in the last six minutes, both close range efforts, giving them a well deserved 0-4 win. It saw them go top of the league too, leapfrogging this mornings leaders Horley A.F.C. who lost at home today.