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.

Northern League

Division 2

Saturday 18th January 2025

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 14.59!

Grangetown Boys Club 0 Yarm & Eaglesclffe 4, attendance 271

49’ 0-1

53’ 0-2

62’ 0-3

90’ 0-4

@ B & W Lifting Stadium

Grange Farm Road

Grangetown

Middlesbrough

TS6 7HP

£5 Admission

£3 Programme available, didn’t bother buying.

Until arriving at my morning game, this hadn’t been my intended destination this afternoon, although it was always a backup as it was kicking off an hour later than my other choices. However, with my first game kicking off an hour later than advertised, this became my only available option, if I was still to do a double. The home club had tweeted early on that there were no pitch problems and the temperature was set to be between 4 and 5 degrees during the afternoon according to the Met Office forecast.

Grangetown Boys Club are new into Northern League Division 2 this season, having finished second in the North Riding League Premier Division last season. The ground is very much a work in progress. It’s already floodlit and has a seated kit stand on one side and a covered standing area on the other. Hard standing is not yet complete, which means the far goal end from the entrance is out of bounds and you can only go along the right hand side as far as the section of cover at present, although the pathway beyond here is ready to have the concrete poured. There was a snack bar behind the entrance goal end that had a constant queue throughout the game, which did the usual hot and cold drinks, burgers, chips, etc.

Grangetown have found it hard going at Step 6, coming into this second bottom in the league table, having won just five of their 28 games played so far, whilst today’s visitors were second, in what looks like a three way fight for the title with current leaders Horden C.W. and third placed Jarrow, with just three points separating them, although Y&E have played two games more than the other two.

Grangetown didn’t get off to the best of starts, losing their ‘keeper to injury after just ten minutes, hurting himself when rushing out to challenge a Y&E player just outside the box. Despite an outfield player taking over in goal, he was never really tested and the game remained goalless at halftime. It only took the visitors four minutes of the second half to break the deadlock, when a deflected shot looped over the ‘keeper from the edge of the box. Four minutes later it was 0-2 and just after the hour it was 0-3, when a corner wasn’t properly cleared and was smashed in from the edge of the box. They could have added more, hitting the crossbar and post with two other efforts. Grangetown had a chance to pull one back with four minutes left, when they saw a penalty saved, before Y&E added a fourth goal in the final minute.

After today, I’m left with just Darlington Town to complete the Northern League now, which is also the only ground at Step 6 that I’ve yet to visit.

Football League Youth Alliance

North Division

Saturday 18th January 2025

Kick Off 12.00 Actual 12.02

Hartlepool United U18 3 Burton Albion U18 4, attendance 39

34’ 0-1

37’ 0-2

41’ 0-3 (pen)

42’ 1-3

47’ 2-3

61’ 3-3

90’ + 4, 3-4

@ Blackhall Welfare Park

Eleventh Street

Blackhall Colliery

TS27 4LX

No Admission or Programme.

Having had to scrape ice off the windscreen at my hotel, I was pleased to see that on arrival in Blackhall Colliery, some 35 or so miles down the coast, it was hovering between 2.5 and 3 degrees and despite evidence of an overnight frost, the pitch was in full sunshine and the cones were being placed ready for the warm ups. Unfortunately though, the match was not kicking off until noon, rather than the 11 o’clock kick off advertised on the Football League newsletter. Apparently, it had been changed some time yesterday. It meant my intended double was no longer possible, but I did have a 3 o’clock kick off to go with the morning game and at 11.15 the home club had tweeted there were no problems with the pitch, so it was all good after all, although a little disappointing to use up a floodlit ground visit on a Saturday.

Ordinarily, I’d have given the youth game a miss and headed off for a non floodlit ground elsewhere, but Blackhall Welfare Park is a ground well worth doing. It is railed on three sides, with just the goal end backing onto Eleventh Street lacking a barrier. There’s a pair of proper dugouts too, whilst the teams get changed in the cricket pavilion, just the other side of the fence, where there’s also a kids playground. Grass banking along one side of the ground offers a raised view, although it was much colder that side, as it remained almost entirely in the shade.

It was a bit of a slow burner, but once Burton opened the scoring just after the half hour mark, it burst into life. Two more goals in the next five minutes, the third of which was a penalty, saw it become 0-3 and the game looked to be over as a contest. However, Hartlepool hit back immediately, to go in 1-3 down at the break and within two minutes of the restart it was 2-3, finishing from just inside the box after Burton failed to clear a cross. It was 3-3 just after the hour mark, when the ‘keeper saved a shot from a striker cutting inside, but it fell perfectly for a player following in and he finished from a tight angle. It looked like ending in a draw, but Burton won it four minutes into stoppage time, when a player wriggled past three defenders before pulling the ball back across the 6 yard box and the ball fell perfectly for an easy side footed finish from five yards.

Northern Alliance League

Premier Division

Friday 17th January 2025

Kick Off 19.30 On Time!

A.F.C. Newbiggin 3 Wallington 2, attendance 170

55’ 1-0

61’ 2-0

62’ 2-1

64’ 2-2

90’ + 5, 3-2

@Newbiggin Sports & Community Hub

Woodhorn Road

Newbiggin-By-the-Sea

NE64 6HG

£3 Admission

£1 Programme, 12 pages.

It was a six hour drive up to the North East, for what was hopefully going to be the first of a four game weekend. The weather forecast was favourable for once and a phone call to the home club secretary just before 14.30 (leaving me time for a re-visit to Harrogate Town if the news wasn’t good) confirmed the game was going ahead okay. According to the Met Office, we would only just hit freezing tonight and that wasn’t until the game would be finished anyway. I certainly got a shock as I turned off the main road to head into Newbiggin, around an hour before kick off, where I met a gritting lorry salting the road…it was 8 degrees on the car temperature gauge! Good news though, as the floodlights were on and players were arriving and soon began their warm ups.

Newbiggin have aspirations to make the step up to the Northern League, with the ground currently being brought up to meet Step 6 grading. It obviously already has floodlights and a couple of seated kit stands are situated on the opposite side from the dugouts. At the moment there is minimal hard standing, but that is probably the easiest of jobs to complete. The changing rooms are set back behind the entrance goal end, inside the hub building, with admission money taken from a pay box that doubles as a tea/snack bar, where match day programmes are also available.

The match was 3rd versus 2nd (Wallington are the reigning champions), both clubs trailing unbeaten league leaders Burradon & New Fordley by seven points, with Wallington having two games in hand on the other two, so still all to play for, although It was a game that Newbiggin really needed to win if they were to remain in with a real shout of the title. It was a dull first half, with both defences on top. Wallington did get the ball in the net after seventeen minutes, but it was ruled out for offside and it remained goalless at halftime. The second half was the complete opposite of the first. End to end stuff, with both teams creating chances at will. Newbiggin broke the deadlock ten minutes after the break, firing low into the bottom corner. It sparked a mad ten minutes, where Newbiggin had a goal disallowed, then made it 2-0, poking in a corner at the near post, before two goals in three minutes saw Wallington level it up at 2-2. Neither side were settling for the draw and it was good to see none of the usual time wasting tactics that can often blight games. We finally got a winner five minutes into stoppage time, when a cross from the right was headed back across the six yard box and nodded in from close range to give Newbiggin all three points. Excellent start to the weekend and it looks like I dodged a bullet with the weather, as fellow top division side Cramlington United, just 8 miles south of Newbiggin, was postponed due to a frozen pitch.