Groundhopping24

Aywaille - a lovely little piece of Belgium  First of all, if you've not managed to read my Standard Liège blog yet, what are you doing with your life? More important things? Ah, okay, that's fair. But if you want to get a sample of my Belgium trip prior to la deuxième  game of my trip, you can do so right here . In summary, Standard Liège is an absolutely brilliant place to take in some Belgian football, whether it's your first visit to Belgium, or your umpteenth. It's certainly somewhere I'd relish returning to should the opportunity arise again. One thing I didn't cover in this blog, however, was the insanity of Belgian football, or rather the madness of how the top division is structured at the very least. Perhaps it's something you'll have heard about before, with the league splitting into three separate parts - the top six (Championship Group), the middle six (the European play-off group), and the bottom group (the regelation play-off group). The s...

Belgium - a nation of diversity and contrasts it would be fair to say. Even linguistically, the country is split between Flanders and Wallonia, with the former speaking Flemish on the whole, and the latter speaking French. This is before we even mention the small German speaking part in the east too. One thing that I felt summed up Belgium quite well, as pointed out during a quick lunch with a friend in Liège on Monday, was the fact the massive Liège Together facade outside the station was almost impossible to photograph as one because of the various trees and bushes preventing the full view. In any case, as a teacher, February always involves a week off for me, meaning I often like to occupy it with a little trip to a new country. In 2024, I went to Lisbon and saw Benfica. Last year, I went to Romania, froze my nuts off, and saw both Farul Constanta and Dinamo Bucharest. This year it was to be the turn of Belgium, and Standard Liège (and Royal Aywaille in the lower reaches of the Belg...