Groundhopping24

Being back in the Czech Republic means having access to Czech football again, which you can see as a positive or a negative, depending on your stance on Czech football. I was quite excited at the prospect of seeing new places (and old), and attempting to write blogs on all of them (if possible), as well as those I see in other countries. I'll probably attend fewer Zbrojovka games, both in terms of the A and B teams, and those that I do cover probably won't be written about. I feel I've covered the club to death since getting to the Czech Republic. I will of course cover any away trips to new grounds, wherever they may be. The first game back would be a local one in the regional fifth tier (Jihomoravsky Prebor) between Bosonohy and Cezava, who I believe are newly promoted to the fifth tier. Not much info exists on them, apart from an article about the Cezava region, which has auto-translated a few place names within to great amusement. Names include, but aren't limited t...

Following a summer in the North East, I still had a couple of days in Stevenage before flying back to Prague from Luton, then taking the onward journey back home to Brno. The choice was either Stevenage v Crystal Palace U23s or Biggleswade United v Baldock Town, and if I'm being honest, it was an easy decision. This is not a slight on Stevenage by any means, who've been fantastic over the last few years. If anything, I'm kind of frustrated that the only possible chance of seeing them this side of Christmas is up against a B-Team in an ultimately meaningless fixture. Give me a ninth tier fixture featuring my adopted non-league side any day.  Both Stevenage and Biggleswade United were reeling to different extents following disappointing results at the weekend, Stevenage perhaps less so given that it was away to a strong Huddersfield side expected to be right up there come the end of the season. Biggleswade United, however, gave up two late goals to crash out of the FA Cup at ...

For most people, the summer is drawing to a close, and while that is also the case for me, it's also onlyjust beginning. Having spent the last seven weeks teaching in Newcastle, as well as in Brno for the previous four months, I was finally getting something resembling a break. Okay, so there is a move involved in that break, but even so, I'll take it. With all that in mind, however, I wanted to make the last groundhop in the North East (at least for the foreseeable future) a memorable one. Enter; Newcastle Blue Star, who would host North Ferriby in the FA Cup Second Preliminary Round - the final round before the First Qualifying Round, which is actually more of a Third Qualifying Round when you think about it. In any case, it was a battle between two sides who went under and reformed quite recently (more on that later), and it promised to be an interesting affair, with the two sides having never met under their current guises. At this stage of the competition, the remaining si...

The last game I watched in Scotland was very much unbeknownst to me given that it happened before the pandemic, and before I made plans to leave Glasgow for good back in 2020. That game was a 4-1 win for Pollok at Neilston on 29th February in the snow - a leap year and a leap into the unknown once COVID hit. As Futbology ominously tells me: nobody else was there. I mean, others were there, but still... It seems strange writing about my return well over four years on given my unwavering love for Scotland and Glasgow in particular, but life happens in mysterious ways, and it often passes in the blink of an eye. Now I find myself in the final week of a summer job in Newcastle, which has allowed for at least one trip back over the border.  The game in question would of course be East Fife v Edinburgh City - from what I've heard, one of the league's favourites against some relegations candidates who could only amass 8 points last season. The plan was to meet up with Tom for the firs...

This weekend, I came down with a fever. I went to the doctors and everything, but they couldn't do anything about it. It turned out to be a case of FA Cup fever, which only Consett v Redcar Athletic in the Extra Preliminary Round of this season's FA Cup could solve. At the early stage of the FA Cup, teams from Levels 8 to 10 of the English system enter, meaning I was spoiled for choice in terms of groundhopping opportunities. I opted for Consett on this particular occasion, and chances were it would be my only taste of FA Cup football this season unless Stevenage get a massive away tie like Villa again.  I'd always liked the idea of following the FA Cup from its starting point and taking in a game from every round following the team that gets through each time, which if I'd done so in 2020-21 would have led me from Cockfosters to Wembley via Hampton & Richmond, Bournemouth and Burnley. I'll be sure to follow my prospective journey this season too, and if possibl...