Spain

R.F.E.F. Segunda Division

Grupo 1

Sunday 26th November 2023

Kick Off 12.00 Actual 12.03

Ourense C.F. 1 Club Deportivo Guijuelo 0, attendance 466

44’ 1-0

@ Estadio Municipal de Oira

Rua de San Silvestre

32001 Ourense

€15 Admission

No Programme.

Having stayed overnight in Portugal, it was a two and a quarter hours drive (plus lose 1 hr due to time difference) north into Spain and the region of Galicia, for what we hoped would be the first of three games for us today. It wasn’t as warm as yesterday, and was rather dull, as the sun struggled to break through, but at least it was dry. We were starting off with a match in the fourth tier of Spanish football, where top of the league table were hosting eighth.

Ourense play at the Estadio Municipal de Oira, situated to the north east of the town, on the north side of the Minho River. It has a 3G pitch and has spectator access on all four sides, dominated by the large seated stand on the halfway line. Parking was easily available in the road outside.

It was a decent game, with the teams evenly matched. Both had chances, but defences were on top. Just before halftime Guijuelo had a man sent off, for a foul near to the corner flag. The free kick was played into the six yard box, but was headed clear to the edge of the D, where Alex Gil controlled it with his left foot before firing a right footed shot into the bottom corner. Despite having a man advantage, Ourense failed to add to their tally in the second half, but comfortably held on to take the three points.

Portugal

Taça de Portugal 4th Round

Saturday 25th November 2023

Kick Off 17.00 Actual 17.01

F.C. Penafiel 3 Vitoria F.C. Setubal 2 (A.E.T.), attendance 675

1’ 0-1

27’ 1-1

60’ 2-1 (pen)

77’ 2-2

96’ 3-2

@ Estadio Municipal 25 de Abril

Rua de Abílio Miranda

4564 Penafiel

€7 Admission

No Programme.

It was a 40 minute drive east to Penafiel for the second game of the day, again in the Portuguese Cup. Arriving so early meant we were able to grab a space in the car park right next to the stadium, at the foot of some steps that led up to the corner of the ground, but on the right side for the ticket office. Again, no problem obtaining tickets and no need for identification either. We chose the main stand, but could also have gone in with the away fans behind the goal if we’d wanted to. Both sections were priced the same.

The game was another with a possibly of producing an upset. Penafiel are 16th in Liga 2, whilst visitors Vitoria Setubal are two levels lower, currently sitting in second place in Campeonato de Portugal Prio 4D. I had only visited Setubal in December 2019, when I saw them host Vitoria S.C. Guimaraes in a Primeira Liga game, so they’ve plummeted very quickly, although perhaps they’re now on the way back up?

The two level gap between the teams certainly wasn’t evident. They seemed very evenly matched and it produced a good end to end contest from start to finish. The visitors got off to a perfect start, scoring with their first attack, after a break down the left saw a cross to the far post put into his own net by a defending player trying to clear, much to the delight of the 162 away fans behind that goal. They thought they’d scored again after twelve minutes, with an exact build up to the first goal, but it was ruled out for offside. Penafiel levelled just before the half hour mark, scoring with an angled shot across the ‘keeper into the far corner.

On the hour mark Penafiel went 2-1 up, scoring with a penalty, but Vitoria deservedly equalised with thirteen minutes left, breaking down the right before putting a striker clear and his shot was deflected over the ‘keeper, which was credited as another own goal. Neither side tried to win it from here and both seemed happy to take it to extra time. Just six minutes into the first period, Penafiel got what turned out to be the winner, when a cross in from the left was volleyed in side footed from 12 yards.

The stadium here has a 6,500 all seated capacity. The main stand runs the full length of one side, made up of 14 rows and has a section of VIP seats at the back. The visitors end is to the left, whilst the opposite goal end is just fenced off and displaying adverts. The opposite side has an old section in the centre, with newer looking blocks on either side.

Portugal

Taca de Portugal 4th Round

Saturday 25th November 2023

Kick Off 11.00 Actual 11.05

C.F. Canelas 2010 1 Club Sport Maritimo 3, attendance 525

6’ 0-1

45’ + 3, 0-2

75’ 0-3

90’ + 4, 1-3

@ Estadio de Canelas

Largo dos Fundadores

4410 Canelas

€5 Admission

No Programme.

This morning saw a 25 minute drive to Canelas, a few miles south of Porto, on the southern side of the Douro River from the city itself. The stadium is a real throw back, having been opened in 1966. It has a listed capacity of 10,800 although that figure would be way off the mark nowadays, especially with far tighter health and safety restrictions now in place, but impressive, nonetheless. The pitch is inside a cycle track, which you don’t seem too often either.

As with last night, this was a Portuguese Cup match, this time with the potential for a ‘giant killing’, as 4th in Liga 3A hosted 5th in Liga 2, with the morning kick off presumably to aid in the visitors scheduling their travel arrangements to/from Funchal, on the island of Madeira, although I believe the game was also being shown on live television, but whatever the reason, it certainly suited us!

We arrived around an hour before kick off, parking less than 50 yards from the ground entrance. The ticket windows were still not open, but were soon ready for business. Tickets were only €5 and we didn’t have to show any identification to buy them. The option was to go on the side of the main stand, which we did, or on the covered terrace opposite, where the visitors (83 of them) occupied one half and a handful of locals, the other. Both goal ends were out of bounds. There were refreshments (very limited choice) available in a room underneath the back of the stand, where the walls displayed numerous old photographs of past team lineups, back to 1966, when the club were formed, then known as Canelas Gaia F.C. Financial problems saw the club cease in 2006, but four years later they were reformed, following that up with a debut in the national cup competition in 2019.

It only look Maritimo six minutes to go in front, heading in at the far post, in a first half that saw both teams create plenty of chances. Maritimo hit the post, having gone round the ‘keeper and Canelas saw their best effort well saved, but it took until three minutes into stoppage time at the end of the half before the second goal came and again it went the way of the visitors, scoring with a free kick from the edge of the D that went in off the inside of the post. When they added a third, fifteen minutes from the end, curling in a free kick, it was game over. Six minutes from the end, Maritimo had a man red carded, but it was too late to affect the outcome, although Canelas did round off the scoring four minutes into stoppage time, finishing with an angled shot into the far corner.

The game finished just after one o’clock, so plenty of time to reach our second game of the day. It was only 31 miles east of here and certainly wasn’t going to be a problem, as we’d got four hours to do it!

Portugal

Taca de Portugal 4th Round

Friday 24th November 2023

Kick Off 19.30 Actual 19.32

F.C. Vizela 2 C.F. Estrela Amadora 1 (AET) attendance 1,315

19’ 0-1

80’ 1-1

114’ 2-1

@ Estadio F.C. Vizela

Rua do Aidrin 497

4815 Caldas de Vizela

€10 Admission

No Programme.

We were on the 0940 EasyJet flight (which left 20 mins late) from London Gatwick to Porto, which arrived at midday and having collected our hire car, we drove east to Gandra (20 mins), checking in at our hotel before heading off to Vizela. It was 20 miles north east and we arrived at the ticket office about 15 minutes prior to it opening. We weren’t sure how serious Portuguese clubs, or more precisely supporters, take the national cup competition, so were pleased to obtain tickets easily, not even having to produce any identification details. The ground here is only two sided, with an all seated capacity of 6,100. As non-members, we could only buy tickets for the Bancada Nascente stand, the smaller of the two, but no problem. It was a decent view and you could sit pretty much in any part of the stand. Only around a sixth of the seats were occupied, such was the low turnout of locals. The visitors section (opposite us, in the top right hand corner of the main stand as we looked across) was also sparsely populated. It was easy to count the 62 away fans that had made the 220 mile trip north from Amadora (down near Lisbon) to Vizela.

The match was an all top division clash, as 14th hosted 12th, as far as league positions go. It was Estrela Amadora who opened the scoring, when a quick breakaway down the right was crossed in and finished from 12 yards after fifteen minutes. The best chance of the first half for Vizela came a minute before halftime, when they hit the crossbar with an effort from just outside the box. Estrela thought they’d doubled their lead midway through the second half, but had the goal ruled out for offside. Vizela equalised with ten minutes left, finishing into the bottom corner from 20 yards, after a cross was pulled back from the right. Five minutes later Estrela had a man sent off, having picked up a second yellow card, but they managed to hold out, taking the game into extra time. I can’t remember either side doing anything of note in the first period, but the hosts managed to grab a winner late in the second half, finishing a left wing cross off at the far post. Estrela then went down to nine men, ending any chance of them getting back level, losing a player to injury, having already used up their allocated substitutions.

F.A. Sunday Cup 2nd Round

Sunday 19th November 2023

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 14.04

F.C. Bapco 2 East Christchurch Sports & Social 0, attendance 128

60’ 1-0

84’ 2-0

@ The Royals Academy Training Complex, 3G Pitch

Adjacent to Reading F.C.

Boot End

Reading

RG2 0FL

No Admission

Programme, free. 7 x A4 single side printed pages stapled together

This was Reading & District Sunday League versus Bournemouth Sunday League. The game was originally due to be played at Marlow F.C. but having been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch last week, it was re-arranged to take place on the 3G pitch here at Royals Academy, which is adjacent to the Reading F.C. stadium, located behind the indoor training dome at the far end of the car park. Quite why the F.A. allow a national competition to be played in a 3G cage that has no spectator access is beyond me. It meant there was no admission charge and despite there being no designated spectator area, there was no problem with watching from inside the fence…..well, until halftime that is. With the linesman on the entrance side constantly having to tell kids who were playing with a football to get off the pitch during the game (the parents did nothing to stop them), it came as no surprise that everyone was told to watch from outside for the second half. Far easier to punish 120 spectators, than removing the handful of ‘problem kids’!

The game itself saw two evenly matched teams, with very little between them. There were few real clear cut chances. Bapco broke the deadlock on the hour mark, when a cross was controlled and finished into the far corner by Liam Ferdinand. Six minutes from the end he made the game safe, when he scored again, when another cross from the right was finished with a first time shot at the near post.

Central Midlands Alliance League

Premier Division South

Saturday 18th November 2023

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 14.01

Melbourne Dynamo 1 Cromford & Wirksworth Town 0, attendance 55

50’ 1-0

@ Melbourne Sports Park

Cockshut Lane

Melbourne

DE73 8DG

No Admission

£2 Programme, 20 pages.

I had been offered a lift to this game, so asked the club late last night, via Twitter, as to the likelihood of the game going ahead okay, mindful of the dreadful Met Office weather forecast for the area overnight and during the hours leading up to kick off. I had already received a reply when I got up this morning and it was good news. Game on! A trouble free journey north saw us arrive about ninety minutes before kick off. The playing surface looked excellent, although the walk across from the changing rooms to the pitch was very soft underfoot. Melbourne Sports Park is home to the local rugby (also at home today), cricket and tennis clubs, as well as the football. The rugby pitch runs lengthways away from the two storey clubhouse/changing room building, with a football pitch running parallel, at a slight angle to the left, then the main football pitch further to the left, at right angles to the other two. It is enclosed with a white plastic rail, with a pair of dugouts on the far touchline, sandwiching an electronic scoreboard, although it was not in use.

The match was 6th versus 12th in the league table and although it was fiercely contested throughout, never really produced much in the way of goalmouth action. In fact, we were probably lucky to actually see a goal at all. The visitors did have one effort disallowed for offside half an hour in, but there were very few other real chances of note in the remainder of the half. Melbourne broke the deadlock five minutes into the second half, breaking down the right before playing a ball across the box which was finished from 10 yards out.

As it turned out, the forecast heavy rain obviously never fell and apart from a brief period of drizzle, it remained dry throughout. This completed the Premier Division South for me today and just leaves St. Josephs Rockware Worksop to finish off Premier Division North.

Gloucestershire F.A. Trophy

1st Round

Wednesday 15th November 2023

Kick Off 19.45 On Time!

Avonmouth 2 Mangotsfield United 3, attendance 258

39’ 1-0 (pen)

55’ 1-1

60’ 1-2

89’ 1-3 (pen)

90’ 2-3

@ North Bristol Park

Avonmouth Road

Avonmouth

BS11 9ND

No Admission

£1 Programme, 32 pages.

Tonight’s game was a first round county cup game, where 1st in Gloucestershire County League (Step 7) hosted 11th in Hellenic League Premier Division (Step 5). There was little between the two sides in a very even first half, with the opening goal going the way of the hosts, scoring with a penalty, awarded for a handball, six minutes before halftime. Mangotsfield levelled ten minutes into the second half and were in front five minutes later, coolly lobbing the ‘keeper at the near post after being played through on the right side of the 18 yard box. When they made it 1-3 with a minute left, converting a penalty, awarded following a foul by the ‘keeper, it looked all over, but Avonmouth hit back immediately, setting up a tense finish. There were five minutes of stoppage time, spent mainly in the Mangotsfield half of the pitch, but although they hit the crossbar during this time, Avonmouth were unable to get an equaliser.

The ground here is entered via an alleyway adjacent to Number 31 Avonmouth Road, right underneath the flyover of the M5 motorway. A little further along there is vehicular access, but no car park as such, just about room for half a dozen cars. The ground is developing nicely and the clubhouse, which was up and running well over a hour before kick off, was doing a good trade in the usual bar snacks, with filled rolls also available. The club are regular programme issuers, available on-line, as well as a limited number of printed copies too. The club coped well with a very impressive crowd of over 250. The pitch was in good condition too, considering the amount of rain recently. The club were updating their social media over the days leading up to the game and confirmed to me within minutes, via a reply on Twitter, that the game was on okay. Nice to see, as so many clubs never bother!

Their ambition is to progress to Step 6. They look capable of achieving their aim this season (P11 W10 L1), but if not, it is surely only a matter of time before they do make the step up. They certainly have the feel of a club heading in the right direction.

Trouble free journey in both directions, via the M25, M4 and M5. That’s the Gloucestershire County League ground visits complete once again.

Above : Avonmouth open the scoring from the penalty spot.

Spain

Segunda Division

Monday 13th November 2023

Kick Off 21.00 On Time!

Real Oviedo 1 F.C Cartagena 1, attendance 12,203

2’ 0-1

90’ + 8, 1-1

@ Estadio Municipal Carlos Tartiere

Calle Isidro Langara

33013 Oviedo

€30 Admission + €2 Booking Fee, Print at Home Ticket.

It was a 3 hour drive west to Oviedo, in the region of Asturias, for tonight’s game, where 14th in the league table were hosting bottom. The stadium here has a 30,500 capacity, all seated, set out with two tiers in each stand. It was opened in 2000, replacing their former ground of the same name. Tickets were obtained online, although there would have been no problem buying on the night. Parking was once again available in the surrounding streets, although it meant a walk of around 15 minutes, which was almost double on the return, as the ground is at the foot of a very steep hill and the steps back up afterwards seemed never ending. Once back in the car, it was no more than two minutes before being on the ring road and heading back east towards Bilbao.

Cartagena got off to the perfect start, when a cross was volleyed in from the edge of the 18 yard box with just 1 minute 26 seconds on the clock. They seemed happy to try and hold out from here, rarely venturing near the Oviedo goal, a tactic that so nearly paid off. Oviedo quickly ran out of ideas and really struggled to break down the 10 man defence. They did think they’d levelled the scores just before the hour mark, but VAR said otherwise. Eight minutes into stoppage time they were awarded a penalty, this time the VAR intervening in their favour and with the last kick of the game they got an equaliser. It was 23.02 by this time. A ridiculously late finish for a midweek match. Their lacklustre display hardly warranted a point, but then again, Cartagena didn’t do too much after opening the scoring to have got anything more than a point either.

The atmosphere was pretty decent and they were whipped into quite a frenzy late on as they felt the match officials were not giving them any favourable decisions. There were repeated warnings on the big screens warning them about abusive chanting directed towards them, but it only resulted in whipping them up even more. I should imagine the atmosphere here would be great with a decent away following in place.I never noticed a single away supporter anywhere and even their goal was celebrated in complete silence. Not unexpected though, as Cartagena is 560 miles away, down in the southeast of the country.

So, this brought down the curtain on the trip to Spain. Five matches, only one 0-0 and covering just over 700 miles once picking up the hire car, having done Athletic Club Bilbao on public transport on the first night. The Tuesday lunchtime flight back to London Gatwick left a few minutes early, arriving back in Blighty around 20 minutes ahead of schedule.

Above : Oviedo score their stoppage time penalty equaliser.

Spain

Segunda Division

Sunday 12th November 2023

Kick Off 21.00 Actual 21.01

Sociedad Deportiva Eibar1 Albacete Balompie 1, attendance 4,543

10’ 1-0

67’ 1-1

@ Estadio Municipal de Ipurua

Ipurua Kalea 2

20600 Eibar

€25 Admission + €2 Booking Fee, Print at Home Ticket

No Programme.

Having had lunch in Tarazona, it was a two and a half hour drive north west, via Pamplona, to Eibar for the second game of the day. It would have been possible to squeeze a game in between the two matches, but would have left little time for eating or checking in at our hotel. In hindsight, it was the correct call to do just two games. Even arriving in Eibar well before kick off, finding any sort of parking was horrendous. It was on the third loop round the one way system that I managed to grab a place in the street. From here it was uphill all the way to the ground. Luckily, there is a system of escalators to do the work. The steep rise from town to stadium would certainly give you a good workout…..would have took it in my stride a few years ago…but, sadly, not these days!

The ground just suddenly appears in front of you, hidden from sight until you’re literally on top of it. Even the four corner floodlights don’t offer any help in locating it. Booking tickets online was not a problem. The bottom row on all four sides was more or less 100% available, with only the odd few seats elsewhere. We managed to get a couple of the furthest seats back from the pitch and even then it was only on the third row. It was a little baffling that the ground holds 8,164 all seated, but was only just over half full. There must be a lot of season ticket holders that don’t bother turning up for games? The ground is very compact and not really that great as far as getting a proper view of the action goes. The near touchline was totally obscured and looking down towards the far near corner was not helped by everyone leaning forward or standing up whenever the ball went that way as they strained for a better view. The ground was opened in 1947 and has gradually been re-developed over the years, with renovation carried out in 1989 and again in 2016, before finally reaching it’s current layout in 2019.

As for the match, it was 4th versus 17th in the league table. Eibar took an early lead, when a break down the right was played into the box first time and finished at the near post. They were well on top, but lacked any real cutting edge up front. They had the chance to double their lead a couple of minutes before halftime, but they saw a penalty saved by the visiting ‘keeper, diving towards the corner, but saving with his trailing leg. Albacete were much better in the second half and it came as no surprise when they equalised with just over twenty minutes left, finishing with a 25 yard angled shot into the far top corner, which the ‘keeper got a hand to, but couldn’t keep out. At least the 75-80 away fans will have felt the effort of making the 400 mile journey north was worth it, despite the game not finishing until 22.57!

Tonight’s match brought up the half century of grounds I’ve now seen a game at in Spain.

Spain

R.F.E.F. Primera Division

Grupo 1

Sunday 12th November 2023

Kick Off 12.00 Actual 12.03

Sociedad Deportiva Tarazona 0 Club Deportivo Teruel 0, attendance 800

@ Estadio Municipal de Tarazona

Avenida de la Paz

50500 Tarazona

€20 Admission

No Programme.

It was a 1 hour 20 minute drive south from Pamplona to Tarazona, in the region of Aragon, for this game in the third level of Spanish football. Once again no problem with parking in the surrounding streets. The ground is floodlit and has a 702 seat stand on one side, with cover stretching from one 18 yard box to the other on the opposite side, although standing is at one level for the entirety. There is access behind each goal too, one with a couple of steps of terracing and viewing from the top of the bank at the same end. There was a small refreshment bar, but it was located at the rear of the stand, so not really of use whilst the game was in progress.

The game was a real relegation battle, as fourth bottom hosted bottom of the table. Tarazona had only managed one win and four draws from their opening eleven games, whilst Teruel hadn’t won at all, but had managed to draw six of their eleven played so far. I didn’t expect much of a game, but didn’t expect it to be as bad as this. I would expect both these sides to struggle to survive at Step 6 in England. They were absolutely dire. I don’t recall anything like a goal opportunity being produced by either side. It felt more like an endurance test than a football match. At least Teruel will have been happy picking up a point though, as it got them off the foot of the table, climbing up two places!

Above : The match poster obtained from a shop doorway after the match.