Groundhopping24

  Let's rewind to 1st May 2024, and not just because it was my last day as a 28 year old on God's sweet Earth. No, in fact we must head east to Kosice, where Ruzomberok and Spartak Trnava will fight for the 2024 Slovak Cup. For Ružomberok, it was the chance to end an eighteen year wait for a Cup, whereas for Trnava, it was a chance to hold onto the trophy they'd beaten fierce rivals Slovan Bratislava to in the final for the last two seasons. Ružomberok did come close in 2020, with an Alen Ozbolt penalty stopping them from getting their hands on the trophy, instead giving it to Slovan Bratislava. But perhaps in 2024, things would finally be different for Ružomberok, who were relative underdogs in terms of league position and standing, as well as other factors like town and club size. The only top flight side they'd seen off en route to the final was DAC Dunajska Streda, whereas Spartak needed to see of Košice, Michalovce, and Podbrezova.  That said, Ružombero...

 When taking a cursory glance at Slovan Liberec's Wikipedia page, one thing stands out in particular - since the formation of the Czech League as a result of Czechoslovakia's dissolution in 1993-94, Slovan Liberec have spent 31 seasons consistently in the top flight. Included within this timeframe are also three title wins and two cup successes, as well as many a European night since the turn of the millennium. Only Sparta and Slavia can boast similar top flight longevity as far as Czech football goes. But who exactly are Slovan Liberec, and why should anyone care at this point? After all, the team has been solidly mid-table since 2016, with only a 5th place finish in 2020 granting them their most recent European endeavour. Sadly it was the year of the pandemic, meaning fans couldn't enjoy their last foray into the Europa League, in which they saw off Riterai of Lithuania, FCSB of Romania and APOEL of Cyprus en route to the group stage.  They crashed out on seven points, wi...

 When it comes to third tier Czech side Znojmo, there are questons that need to be addressed. In many ways, the main question I would want to ask is: are Znojmo a rare positive example of multinationalism in Czech football, or are they an absolute basket case of a club? The short Football Cliches approved answer is - it's a bit of both. You only have to look at their squad list on TransferMarkt, as well as the fact they're managed by a Portuguese man named Rui Amorim (no relation to United's current head honcho). The rest of their squad is littered with Lusophone players from the likes of Cabo Verde, Portugal, Brazil, even Guinea-Bissau. A glance at their squad list will show you flags of Finland, Cameroon, Senegal, USA, Ivory Coast, France, and a host of others. They even have an array of dual nationality players - possibly the only Portuguese-Moldovan player in world football, as well as a Finnish-Moroccan and an Italian-Ivorian. Frankly the assortment of flag...

 Bucharest's answer to the Arc de Triomphe If you've read part one of this two-part Romanian blog, you'll know that my trip to Farul Constanta was a bit of a disappointment. Perhaps I should have seen it coming given that both teams were struggling for form at the lower end of the Romanian SuperLiga, and that both have a goal deficiency. Thankfully I did at least get to see a goal at the very end of the game, even if the game really didn't deserve one. As Saturday drew near, so too did the main reason for heading out to Romania - to see a team I'd won two unexpected Romanian SuperLiga titles with on FM24, Dinamo Bucharest. By pure chance, it was Farul they would be hosting, before the big Bucharest derby away at FCSB next weekend. I picked up a ticket for around 40 lei (roughly 8 euros), which seemed good value for what would hopefully be a better standard of top level football. Given the 8pm KO time, I made a point to wrap up extremely warm - I'm talking two pa...

Think of Romanian football, and what's the first thing that springs to mind? Adrian Mutu? The bleached hair of France '98? Andrei Ratiu's blue hair at Euro 2024? Perhaps even the fact that two clubs are at war over who owns the Steaua Bucharest name, or the fact the same seems to be true of Universitea Craiova who also have two clubs? Rather than get into the gritty details of both of these cases, both of which seem well-documented elsewhere (if you can wrap your head around the insanity), I wanted to explore the country firsthand and take in a few games while out there. It was a frustrating wait for the fixtures around the weekend of the 15th February to be announced, given that my priority was seeing my Football Manager darlings, Dinamo Bucharest. I saw that Farul Constanta, some two and half hours away on the Black Sea coast, were also playing on the Monday of the previous weekend, meaning I could turn a potential weekender into a full week exploring two Romanian cities....

  It's often said that January goes on forever, and if you happen to enjoy attending football matches and live in Central Europe, a truer word could not be spoken. At least those in England, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, wherever else have the luxury of football to attend. Here, you've got the occasional friendly but little else worth making the effort for. Having said that, there is some mild regret at my having not attended Admira Wacker 4-5 Horn in a mid-season battle between top and bottom of the Austrian 2nd tier. But still, hey ho... Since I last wrote on my wonderfully enjoyable adventures in Celje back in December, I've seen a grand total of three matches - all with my beloved and very  mid-table (at the time) Stevenage side. This is best summarised by the fact I saw a 0-3 defeat (Wycombe at home), a 3-0 win (Bristol Rovers at home), and of course a goalless draw (Lincoln away). I did briefly think about writing a piece on Stevenage and my response to these game...

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...