Groundhopping24

Having recently read Jon Savage's extensive history of punk, England's Dreaming , I finally read up on the question that I've often seen, but never looked into the wider context of. Ever get the feeling you've been cheated? It was posed by John Lydon of The Sex Pistols after a disastrous gig in which Sid Vicious was an absolute car crash on stage. Only now, as I write my first blog of the 2025/26 season (and my first since April following a lengthy kidney stone battle), it refers to Drogheda United. Many will have heard the dreadful predicament that fell on Drogheda in light of a cup win in 2024 which meant they'd qualified for the Europa Conference League, only to have that qualification revoked at the last minute by the powers that be. Similarly, Crystal Palace face disqualification, and DAC of Slovakia have already been disqualified pending appeal - and why? Multi-club ownership. Because of course it's the likes of Drogheda and DAC that are ruining the sport ...

Hodonin - a town of oil apparently It's been a rough year health-wise to say the least. Instead of my planned groundhop at Uhersky Brod last week, I spent my entire weekend (and a bit of Monday morning) at Nemocnice u Svate Anny due to, thankfully, what was just a kidney stone. I was relieved to find, at least, that the game I'd planned to attend had finished goalless.  I was also relieved to essentially have the kidney stone problem sorted, barring some appointments in the not too distant future, and some (TMI) mild urinary discomfort for the foreseeable. Given the random illness that ruined my trip to Slovenia in December, and the pneuomonia that I picked up in Romania, I was hoping this would just be a case of things coming in threes, and this kidney stone being the third and final piece of medical nonsense. In all honesty though, it's the first time in my life I've actively considered at least trying to adopt a healthier lifestyle, so hopefully there are silver lini...

I'd had Karvina's fixture with Mlada Boleslav pencilled in since the start of the season, given that I'd had to plan somewhat meticulously in order to complete the Czech First League this season. That probably won't be possible this  season following various scheduling issues and a brief illness, but barring any setbacks, I should only be left with two or three Czech First League grounds to visit next season. When the fixture was announced for the Sunday, I was a little annoyed initially, given that I tend to prefer attending games on Saturday before chilling on Sunday like a true Craig David. Then I realised there was an an opportunity to make a weekend of it with a tick in the Slovak League on the Saturday - you can check out my most recent blog on Ruzomberok here if you like. Given that I'd come back to Brno via Karvina on my way back from Zilina recently, it made sense to stop over on the way back and take in a club widlely (citation needed) known as the greenes...

  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...