Groundhopping24

 Think of Ukrainian football, and it's like your first thought is Dynamo Kyiv or Shakhtar Donetsk and their multitude of Brazilian footballers who sound like middle-aged British blokes (Fred, Kevin et al.). Maybe some of you recall the Europa League final of Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and Sevilla in 2015, in which the Ukrainian side were edged out 3-2 in Warsaw by their Spanish opponents.  In any case, it's unlikely that Polissya Zhytomyr are your first thought, or perhaps that, like me prior to researching this blog, you even really know who they are beyond the name. And while that is likely to remain the case as long as Shakhtar and Dynamo continue to trade league titles (only the now defunct Tavirya have won a title beyond those two since the formation of the league in 1992), they're a club that should certainly be gaining some attention as they make their way through European qualification for the second season running from almost nowhere. Polissya refers to the region in wh...

Koper players celebrate an excellent 4-2 aggregate win over their Bosnian counterparts Let me begin today's blog with the exciting news that the Slovenian League sees the return of the 'metal derby' between Koper and Aluminij. Okay, so I'll freely admit it's not a thing unless you're a fellow footballing oddball like myself who listens to The Sweeper podcast, but it should be. In any case, following a recent trip to Ireland, which hopefully you've read about one or two (or perhaps even all three or four) of my recent blogs, I fancied something else. Ever since I found out I'd have the entire summer off paid on getting my current job a year ago, I spent the whole year plotting and planning the European qualifying ties I could potentially attend. Not to the detriment of my excellent  lesson plans I should clarify... The first of those centred around that aforementioned trip to Ireland, which I figured would be the perfect place to start. I could first of a...

 From meeting a man called Jurgen in Lurgan, to experiencing Conference League Fever in Ballymena, this whole trip has been something of a Dr Seuss book. In all fairness, it's likely to feel just as crazy by the time I'm at Belfast International Airport. What started in Cork and Cobh last Wednesday ends in Ballymena before a mad dash to the airport for a 6am flight back to Stansted on Friday morning. Suffice to say, I'll be sleeping my Friday away in an attempt to compensate for airlines and their ridiculous departure times (as well as Stansted's lack of any quick/direct Stevenage connection). And of course I'll be doing similar on the following Tuesday night before getting a 7am flight (seriously, get a grip airlines) from Gatwick to Ljubljana for another Conference League adventure involving Koper. But that's another story for another day. For now, our focus is on Larne, and the aim this summer given my flexibility is to see as many European ties in the qualif...

Ah, the Europa Conference League. I'm genuinely going to call it the best of the three European tournaments, despite it being the tertiary competition. And yes, I know it will be a shock if anyone other than Chelsea wins the whole thing, but where else can you see teams from the likes of Northern Ireland, Wales (technically), and even Iceland rub shoulders with the likes of Chelsea, Panathanaikos and, errm...Mlada Boleslav? In this, my second exposure to this wonderful mish-mash of European sides, I venture south to Celje in Slovenia to watch (technically) Welsh side The New Saints come up against Celje. Both sides have it all to play for with a win highly likely to secure qualification for Celje, though TNS need a win to stand a chance.  As for my one prior Europa Conference League experience, it was a delightful Thursday night in Trnava, in which Spartak Trnava hosted Danish side Nordsjaelland, losing 2-0 on the night to a side worth about ten times their entire squad. Though I d...