An Away Fan in Disguise - Bristol City vs Swansea City. Ashton Gate, 29/10/22
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- Written by Richard Collins
As I hand my ticket over to the steward for inspection, I try not to say too much. I try to say nothing, actually. I don’t have a strong Welsh accent, a product of years living in Asia, teaching English to children, flattening any trace of singsong inflection from my speech. (But this is a thing reported on in contrasting ways; English people think I sound Welsh, Welsh people think I sound English. I don’t think I sound quite like either.)
Football Away Days: Newport County and Rodney Parade
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- Written by Darren Douglas
Time for the latest in our series of football away days, and on this occasion the new experience involved a short trip to South Wales and some League Two football at Rodney Parade. The game we chose was a clash with the, at the time, bottom of the table Rochdale AFC, whilst Newport County were hovering around the lower mid-table region. With a lot riding on the game, our own stakes were raised when the date of the fixture ended up clashing with another RMT strike across the train networks (solidarity brothers!), but thankfully we suffered little inconvenience when grabbing a coach instead.
Team Bath FC - An Education
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- Written by Christopher Morley
As the stirrings of a new academic year continue to evolve, the time is surely right to look back at a university challenge of a different nature- balancing the twin demands of studies towards degrees and lower-tier professional football! Such was the task facing Team Bath, affiliated to the city's university since its formation in 1999 and enjoying a relatively quick rise up the pyramid before disbanding in 2009.
Spectre of Berlusconi Looms Over Serie A Fairytale of A.C. Monza
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- Written by Darren Douglas
The 2022/23 Serie A season has a new kid on the block in the guise of A.C. Monza. The club has spent most of the 21st Century in a state of financial woe, twice being declared bankrupt (in 2004 and 2015) and languishing between the third and fourth tiers of Italian football, but now they are gracing the top flight for the first time in their history.
Barcelona- Mes Que Un Resurgence, Or Unheeded Warning
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- Written by Christopher Morley
They say you never forget your first, and the new- or should that be not so new- Barcelona have been giving your correspondent cause to look back, all misty-eyed, at the sort of chance most of us who follow the enthralling and at times downright unforgiving mistress that is football crave- a visit to the Nou Camp. As a fresh- faced (well, at least fresher than nowadays) eighteen year old young buck, the morning of February 17, 2005 brought with it a surprise possibly even greater than the fact I was old enough to both drink and vote now- my parents had actually listened to the sort of wittering about the beautiful game that I could have sworn had driven them to distraction and we were off to Catalonia's great other cathedral besides the Sagrada Familia.