Australia

A-League

Saturday 23rd December 2017

Kick Off 19.50 Actual 19.57

Melbourne City 0 Melbourne Victory 1,  attendance 20,727

90’ + 6 M. Milligan (pen)

@ AAMI Park

Olympic Boulevard

Melbourne

VIC 3000

AUD $35 Admission + AUD $5.85 fees, Will Call.

Programme, free, 16 pages.

Melbourne City were formed in 2009 as Melbourne Heart, playing their first season in the A-League in the 2010/11 season. They were rebranded in 2014 following a takeover by City Football Group, who also own Manchester City.

AAMI Park was opened in 2010, and had been known as Melbourne Rectangular Stadium whilst under construction, but an 8 year deal was signed with insurance firm AAMI in March 2010, which meant it took on the sponsors name. The stadium has a capacity of 30,050 and as well as City, it also hosts the majority of Melbourne Victory matches (bigger games are at the 56,000 capacity Etihad Stadium, which I visited on 3rd November 2006, 3-3 versus Central Coast Mariners, attendance 28,118) and Melbourne Storm of the National Rugby League.

With tonight’s match being the Melbourne derby, we played safe, booking the tickets on-line, before leaving England, then collecting them at the stadium on the night. Despite the media claiming on the morning of the match that in excess of 25,000 tickets had already been sold, this was clearly not the case, unless five thousand people didn’t bother coming, despite paying for tickets.

The same Tram, No.70, which we took to the basketball at Hisense Arena last night, could be used, as it is only a couple of hundred yards further along the road for the soccer. As it was only around 25 minutes walk from the city, we took that option instead for this one.

City are managed by Warren Joyce (played for Bolton Wanderers, Preston North End, Plymouth Argyle, Burnley and Hull City) who started his managerial career as player-manager at Hull City, before moving to Royal Antwerp, then Manchester United Reserves, then a short stint at Wigan Athletic, taking charge at Melbourne in June this year. By far the best known of their players, is Ross McCormack, on loan from Aston Villa, who has been transferred for combined fees of £25 million plus, over a number of moves from Cardiff City, Leeds United and Fulham, before joining Villa. He came off the bench tonight, but his shirt number, 44, could possibly describe his waistline, as he looked well overweight.

There was a really good atmosphere for this one, with the visiting fans probably outnumbering the hosts by two to one. It looked all set to end scoreless, especially after Victory had a shot that smashed off the crossbar and bounced down just short of the goal line, but deep into stoppage time the City ‘keeper needlessly tripped a forward running away from goal, on the edge of the box, and the penalty was convincingly struck into the net at the end where the main away support were situated.

Australia

A-League

Sunday 17th December 2017

Kick Off 18.00 Actual 18.09

Brisbane Roar 1 Melbourne Victory 2,  attendance 10,225

12’ 0-1 R. Williams

19’ 0-2 K. Barbarouses

56’ 1-2 M. Maccarone

@ Suncorp Stadium

40 Castlemaine Street

Milton

Brisbane

QLD 4064

AUD $30 Admission

AUD $2 Programme, 28 pages.

These days, it is a case of double checking all intended ground visits, as stadiums constantly change their name to suit the sponsor at the time and any reference to the original name is lost. Having been to Australia twice before, in 2001 (visited Wollongong Wolves, Marconi Stallions and Parramatta Power) when the top level was known as the National Soccer League, then again in 2006, when the A-League was now in operation ( visited Melbourne Victory, Adelaide United, Sydney, Newcastle United Jets and Perth Glory) it was quite a while since being ‘down under’, but at least I was safe with this one, as it was a first ever visit to the city of Brisbane.

Suncorp Stadium was opened in 1914, when it was known as Lang Park Stadium, up until 1994, when it changed to the current name. From 2009 to 2012, it reverted to Lang Park, before once again taking on the current name. The stadium was renovated between 2001 and 2003 and now has an all seated capacity of 52,500, a figure that is unlikely to be tested for a Roar home game. The much more famous team playing here though, is Brisbane Broncos, of the National Rugby League, who do get the big crowds, as do the Rugby League ‘State of Origin’ matches between Queensland and New South Wales. Rugby Union is also played here, hosting Queensland Reds Super Rugby as well as the National team, having also hosted numerous World Cup matches in both codes. It was also host to the Manny Pacquiao versus Jeff Horn fight for the W.B.O. welterweight Championship, which drew 51,052 fans.

Tonight, it was a case of turn up at the gate and buy a ticket. It also meant avoiding any add on fees as well. When crowds are never going to test capacity, it is always worth a gamble of buying the cheapest available ticket, then moving to an area of the stadium that is sparsely populated. This is much easier when you can walk freely around the concourse, plus it helps when the stewards are not even checking tickets as you enter each section of seats. They seemed more bothered worrying  about the 100 or so very noisy away fans congregated in one corner of the ground.

Tonight’s match programme was a double issue (along with next Thursdays home game versus Perth Glory) with each match being covered in their own half, printed opposite way up to each other, but the game tonight isn’t even mentioned on the cover. The match ticket was also a ‘double header’, as it gained you admittance to the women’s match that preceded the men’s match. Like us, the majority didn’t bother with the first game.

A quick look at the league table showed it was 6th versus 7th (out of 10) and a look at the line ups offered no ‘names’ of note, (checking later, it turns out that Maccarone, who scored for Brisbane, is the player who had four seasons at Middlesbrough in the mid 2,000’s) although I had heard of both Managers, who were former Australian Internationals, John Aloisi ( ex Coventry City and Portsmouth) for Brisbane and Kevin Muscat ( ex Millwall, Rangers, Wolves, Crystal Palace) for the visitors.

Before the match, it showed on the big screens that the Video Assistance  Referee (V.A.R.) would be in use tonight, which was certainly a first for me at a live match. Victory were superb in the first half and could easily have gone into the break leading by five or six goals. Roar never even managed a shot until the last minute of the half. Even when they pulled a goal back, they never looked likely to level the match. Melbourne added a third goal, or at least thought they did, with a cracking finish in the last minute, but the V.A.R. chalked it off following a hand ball during the build up. The decision was made very quickly, and was certainly correct, which was clear for all to see on the replay, although the ‘scorer’ still managed to get himself a yellow card when continuing to argue about it. It was a little while before the scoreboard changed back from 1-3 to 1-2, though.

This result now sees Brisbane drop to second bottom in the league table, with Melbourne now up to sixth, some 15 points behind leaders Sydney after eleven rounds of matches.

Belgium

National League

Division 2 Amateurs V.F.V. A

Sunday 10th December 2017

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.03

K.S.K. Ronse 1 K.V.K. Westhoek 1,  attendance 143

44’ 1-0

57’ 1-1

@ Orphale Cruckestadion 

Oude Leuzesesteenweg 183A

9600 Ronse

€10 Admission

Team Sheet, free.

After the trip to Belgium last Sunday, where the overnight snow meant it was touch and go as to whether our chosen matches went ahead or not, I had decided to call it a day for trips over here until the new year. However, I was then offered this trip, where I wouldn’t have to drive, so thought, why not ?

I was the only one of us who had visited J.V. De Pinte, in Oost Vlaanderen Provincial 1, which was where the driver was heading as first choice match. No problem, as I could be dropped at a Provincial 3 match at V.C. Zevergem Sportief, which was just a couple of miles away. On arriving into Calais, to white fields and icy roads, it meant that today might not go completely to plan.

There had already been a couple of provinces that had called off this weekends fixtures en masse, then whilst en route to Gent, we lost firstly, West, then crucially, Oost Vlaanderen fixtures as well. By the time we had lunch, every non league match in the country was now off. This now meant if we were to see a match today, it would have to be in the Belgian League.Unfortunately, this meant there would be no new ground visit for the driver, or one of the passengers, but there was a chance for the other two of us, although, for me, it was K.S.K. Ronse, or bust. The Belgian F.A. were still showing this match as ‘not being off’, so as it was hardly off route back to The Tunnel, it was decided we would head off here and take our chances…………..

We arrived around 40 minutes before kick off and spirits were lifted when we could see people in the clubhouse and main stand, then thankfully, both teams on the pitch, warming up. Apparently, at one o’clock, there was an inch of snow covering the pitch, but, with it now raining, this had virtually gone.

This was really entertaining and had plenty of goal mouth action, aided by a very strong wind that must have been a nightmare for the goalkeepers. Ronse opened the scoring with a 25 yarder that the ‘keeper should have saved, with the equaliser being somewhat controversial, as the Linesman flagged for offside, but the Referee waved play on and the cross was converted from close range.

We had altered our return crossing by half an hour on Eurotunnel, but it wouldn’t have made a lot of difference, as once again it was a shambles when we got back there. We actually left at 19.53, which wasn’t as bad as first feared, but we later found out that delays had increased to two and a half hours for those behind us. As there is no competition, apart from the very much slower alternative of the ferry, then the service provided will continue to be run to an appalling standard. Mind you, they did have toilets on the train that were in working order, which is seldom the case these days !

Having looked at the results from yesterday, our match was one of just six that survived the weather, barring the top division match at Club Brugge. There were two later scheduled top level matches that took place, at Anderlecht and Sint-Truiden.

Surrey F.A. Intermediate Cup 3rd Round

Saturday 9th December 2017

Kick Off 13.30 Actual 13.32

Lyne 4 Horsley 4 (3-4 pens),  attendance 23

12’ 0-1

17’ 1-1

23’ 2-1

36’ 2-2

42’ 2-3

48’ 2-4

54’ 3-4

90’ 4-4

@ Jubilee High School

School Lane

Addlestone

KT15 1TE

No Admission or Programme.

With my first choice matches today, down in Sussex, both falling victim to frozen pitches, then my next 2 choices, both in Kent, having Twitter accounts that had not been updated. I decided on this match, as they had tweeted around 12 o’clock that the match was on, even though it was between two clubs that play in the same league, the Surrey County Intermediate League (Western), Premier Division and with this being 4th v 2nd in the league table, it looked like a decent match up. It certainly was, being in the balance throughout and contained some goals that were of very high quality for this level.

Lyne equalised in the last minute, to make it 4-4, but we then had five minutes of added time. We were expecting extra time, especially as the match had kicked off half an hour earlier than if it had been a league fixture, but it was straight to penalties. Lyne went first, scoring their first three kicks, to lead 3-1 in the shootout, but missed their next two. Having missed their second penalty, Horsley converted their next three to go through to the next round.

British Universities & Colleges Sports

South Eastern 3B

Wednesday 6th December 2017

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 14.08

Middlesex University 0 Canterbury Christ Church University 2,  attendance 3

4’ 0-1

71’ 0-2 (pen)

@ Barnet Copthall Playing Fields

Greenlands Lane

London

NW4 1RL

No Admission or Programme.

This was bottom v 2nd bottom in the league table and easy to see why they occupy these positions. Canterbury were marginally better and just about deserved the win. As the game kicked off late, the Referee decided to play 2 x 40 minute halves, which helped with still getting away on schedule for the battle against the rush hour traffic going home.

Welsh League

Division 3

Tuesday 5th December 2017

Kick Off 20.00 Actual 20.04

Swansea University 1 Ynysygerwn 0,  attendance 124

75’ 1-0

@ Swansea University Sports Centre Stadium

Sketty Lane

Swansea

SA2 8QB

£2 Admission, including Programme, 8 pages.

When you first read the match programme, it soon becomes apparent that English Language is not one of the courses on offer at the University. The punctuation is dreadful and as for the sentence including “every time you cross onto the pitch YOUR not just representing the team”……… Obviously needs a proof reader.

Anyway, as for the match, Swansea made really hard work of this one, but finally nicked it late on, to cement their second place in the league table. They have now won nine and drawn one, of their first eleven matches. The visitors had only lost twice before tonight, but the fact that they have drawn their other five matches, means they sit one off the bottom of the league. They were quite well organised at the back, but just never looked capable of scoring.

Belgium

Oost Vlaanderen Provincial 1

Sunday 3rd December 2017

Kick Off 18.00 Actual 18.04

K.S.V. Sottegem 2 K.F.C. Eendracht Zele 1,  attendance 204

35’ 1-0

44’ 2-0

54’ 2-1

@ Stedelijk Sportstadion Jules Matthijs 

Kastanjelaan 85

9620 Zottegem

€7 Admission

Team Sheet, free.

It had taken 23 minutes to drive south east to Zottegem (spelled with a ‘Z’, unlike the club, who spell their name with an ‘S’) and with each mile, the snow looked to have fallen heavier. We were quite surprised how little snow was on the pitch when we arrived, although the pitch markings had been swept clear. There seemed to be some doubt over whether the match would be going ahead. The three match officials seemed rather laid back, finally finishing their coffee and biscuits, before heading out to do their pitch inspection at 17.20. It was given the go ahead, but the pitch markings would have to be re-done, as they claimed they weren’t visible, although they could clearly be seen by everyone else !

The Stadium here has a capacity in the region of 8,000, illustrative of their former status as a Belgian League club, playing as high as level two.

Sottegem were thirteenth in the league table, whilst the visitors arrived in third place. Zele were well on top in the first half, but somehow trailed by two goals at the break, which were totally against the run of play. Having conceded early in the second half, it was pretty much backs to the wall for Sottegem and with resolute defending and some ridiculous time wasting, they hung on for the 3 points.

Having rained for most of the first half, the snow had pretty much disappeared by the end of the match, but at least it stopped before our mad dash back to The Tunnel. The match had dragged on, which meant it was 19.58 when we left the car park at the ground. It wouldn’t normally be a problem, but according to Eurotunnel, we were on the last crossing of the night, at 22.21, so had to make the check-in by 21.51. If we missed this, it would mean waiting until 01.42 for the next shuttle. An excellent run back meant we were checked in at 21.42 and for once, the U.K. Passport Control were working at a good pace, meaning we actually made it onto the earlier 22.06 train by the skin of our teeth.

Belgium

National League

Division 3 Amateurs V.F.V. A

Sunday 3rd December 2017

Kick Off 14.30 Actual 14.32

K.F.C. Merelbeke 1 K.V.K. Ninove 1,  attendance 247

42’ 0-1

90’ 1-1

@ Kloosterstraat

9820 Merelbeke

€10 Admission

Team Sheet, free.

I had previously visited Merelbeke, back on 24th August 2014 (2-1 versus K.V.V. Vlaamse Ardennen, Oost Vlaanderen Provincial Cup) which was my third match that day (having been to Bon Air Sport and K.V.C. Itna Itterbeek earlier that afternoon, for Brabant Provincial Cup matches). However, on that occasion, the match was played at their ‘B’ ground, Sportcomplex Ter Wallen.

The fixtures had fallen perfectly today, as there were two 6 o’clock kick offs scheduled in the Oost Vlaanderen Provincial 1, both of which I needed, and both less than half an hours drive from Merelbeke. The weather forecast for the Gent area was for a cloudy 8 degrees. Unfortunately, forecasts can be totally wrong and today was certainly the case. As the SatNav was showing we were just 13 minutes from our destination, we noticed the fields had suddenly turned white, with a good covering of snow ! Despite it being dry and 6 degrees, this might cause us a problem.

We decided to have lunch, as we would need food, regardless of whether the match was going to be on or not. We also had plenty of time to head back in to West Vlaanderen, as we knew the weather there was fine, so we would be guaranteed of getting a match in today, even if it wasn’t our intended one. We arrived at the ground around 13.50, to be told by the gateman, that the game was on, despite the pitch being covered in snow, although a group of volunteers were putting in a superb effort, having already cleared the lines, they were now starting to remove the snow from a vast majority of the goal areas as well ! If this had been in England, there is no way the match would have taken place, as our clubs look at every possibility of calling a match off if they can, rather than the attitude taken here, that it is the same for both teams and not dangerous in any way. The snow around the terrace and walkways would have had the health and safety brigade up in arms back home, but thankfully, here, common sense prevailed.

Despite the snow, this was a decent contest. Ninove, backed by a good following, deserved their halftime lead, but were unable to add to it. Merelbeke, who were tenth in the league table, two places above the visitors, came on strong towards the end of the match and bagged a deserved last minute equaliser. As Ninove re-started the match, the clock above the changing rooms clicked to 90.00 minutes played and the Referee blew his whistle for full time. The decision did not go down well with the hosts, as there was no time added for any of the substitutions, or an injury that had taken place in the last few minutes. Despite getting the last gasp point, they still felt they had a winning goal in them !

Well done to everyone who made sure that the game went ahead today. Now on to the action………