Saturday 22 February 2014, Leicester City 3 Ipswich Town 0, King Power Stadium - Championship
Mick, I trust you but please give Paul Taylor a full 90 minutes.
Sunday, 23 February 2014
Your ground is too big for you - Turkish style
Wednesday 19 February 2014 - Istanbul BB 0 Orduspor 1, Turkish Division One, Ataturk Olympic Stadium - Istanbul
A trip to Istanbul has to include football in what is a football crazy city but you might be surprised that in the biggest stadium in the city the team who play there can only attract a few hundred fans and always seem to be outnumbered by the opposition fans. Welcome to the Ataturk Olympic Stadium home of Istanbul BB (or BBKS) but simply the Istanbul Corporations works team!
A number of groundhoppers and casual fans have been put off taking the trip to this ground because of the lack of public transport and the ground being situated miles outside the city - but ignore the reports- for less than £2 you can get all the way to the ground via the new metro system.
The ground is still in the middle of nowhere, and you do wonder why the ground was chosen for the famous Milan - Liverpool Champions League final and there is still a lack of facilities but that void is quickly taken by local traders, selling scarfs, kebaps, Turkish bagels and water.
But the strange thing still is the lack of a home crowd, you have to remember it is like supporting your local councils works team, they get the ground as it is owned by the council but people still support one of the three Istanbul teams, but BB have now attracted a small Ultra crowd who have been disillusioned by the violence that seems to go with supporting the three big Istanbul teams.
But they are still small in number and are easy to spot amongst a home support of just a few hundred but surprisingly all the executive boxes are full!
Even with the small crowds there is a heavy police presence, plus plainclothes police and two types of stewards – after the game I saw 4 buses of riot police – for a crowd of a few thousand!
But the lack of crowd was made up for by the Orduspor fans, who were there in quite large numbers and enjoying their day out from their home on the Black Sea. They were even happy to pose for pictures with the BB mascot – an owl.
A win would see them leapfrog Istanbul BB and move into second place and they spent the whole game singing and chanting and were rewarded with a late winner, the last few minutes were tense as no one could see the other end of the ground due to arrival of fog.
The final whistle was greeted as if it was the end of the season with players throwing their shirts into the crowd and fans throwing scarves the other way.
So if in Istanbul take the trip out to this impressive ground, £2 to get there and £4 to get in can’t be bad but do not be surprised to see the away fans outnumber the home support.
A trip to Istanbul has to include football in what is a football crazy city but you might be surprised that in the biggest stadium in the city the team who play there can only attract a few hundred fans and always seem to be outnumbered by the opposition fans. Welcome to the Ataturk Olympic Stadium home of Istanbul BB (or BBKS) but simply the Istanbul Corporations works team!
A number of groundhoppers and casual fans have been put off taking the trip to this ground because of the lack of public transport and the ground being situated miles outside the city - but ignore the reports- for less than £2 you can get all the way to the ground via the new metro system.
The ground is still in the middle of nowhere, and you do wonder why the ground was chosen for the famous Milan - Liverpool Champions League final and there is still a lack of facilities but that void is quickly taken by local traders, selling scarfs, kebaps, Turkish bagels and water.
But the strange thing still is the lack of a home crowd, you have to remember it is like supporting your local councils works team, they get the ground as it is owned by the council but people still support one of the three Istanbul teams, but BB have now attracted a small Ultra crowd who have been disillusioned by the violence that seems to go with supporting the three big Istanbul teams.
But they are still small in number and are easy to spot amongst a home support of just a few hundred but surprisingly all the executive boxes are full!
Even with the small crowds there is a heavy police presence, plus plainclothes police and two types of stewards – after the game I saw 4 buses of riot police – for a crowd of a few thousand!
But the lack of crowd was made up for by the Orduspor fans, who were there in quite large numbers and enjoying their day out from their home on the Black Sea. They were even happy to pose for pictures with the BB mascot – an owl.
A win would see them leapfrog Istanbul BB and move into second place and they spent the whole game singing and chanting and were rewarded with a late winner, the last few minutes were tense as no one could see the other end of the ground due to arrival of fog.
The final whistle was greeted as if it was the end of the season with players throwing their shirts into the crowd and fans throwing scarves the other way.
So if in Istanbul take the trip out to this impressive ground, £2 to get there and £4 to get in can’t be bad but do not be surprised to see the away fans outnumber the home support.
Saturday, 15 February 2014
Windy City
Saturday 15 February 2014 - Ipswich Town Blackpool, Championship - Portman Road
But was the wind any excuse for such a poor display?
Wednesday, 12 February 2014
Going up?
Tuesday 11 February 2014, Soham Town Rangers 3 Dereham Town 1, Ryman League Division One North, Julius Martin Lane
Another wet Tuesday and they had ducks on the pitch at Soham last week but thanks to plenty of hard work and they got the game on.
The result was a bonus for their hard work and keeps them in the promotion race.
Another wet Tuesday and they had ducks on the pitch at Soham last week but thanks to plenty of hard work and they got the game on.
The result was a bonus for their hard work and keeps them in the promotion race.
Saturday, 8 February 2014
Heavy pitch, heavy team!
Tuesday 4 February 2014, Billericay Town 2 Harrow Borough 1, Ryman Premier League - New Lodge
A slight break in the rain and this Essex club did well to get a game on. Bottom corner of the pitch was still like quicksand but with the lack of games over the last few weeks - important to get a game on to help pay the bills.
Just under 200 turned up (looked more) and saw the Essex side come from behind to win 2-1. Billericay must have the heaviest front line in the league, but they may have been closer to 20 stone than 10 stone but they were still skilful and worked hard on what was heavy pitch.
The club house was also welcoming, free match team sheets and posters reminding fans of trips to Wembley in the Vase. Well worth the drive to an old but still welcoming ground.
A slight break in the rain and this Essex club did well to get a game on. Bottom corner of the pitch was still like quicksand but with the lack of games over the last few weeks - important to get a game on to help pay the bills.
Just under 200 turned up (looked more) and saw the Essex side come from behind to win 2-1. Billericay must have the heaviest front line in the league, but they may have been closer to 20 stone than 10 stone but they were still skilful and worked hard on what was heavy pitch.
The club house was also welcoming, free match team sheets and posters reminding fans of trips to Wembley in the Vase. Well worth the drive to an old but still welcoming ground.
Saturday, 1 February 2014
Bloody Cold but at least there was something to read.
Saturday 1 February 2014, Ipswich Town 1 Bolton Wanderers 0, Championship - Portman Road
A game that was ruined by the wind but we managed to beat a team of giants - and it was bloody cold. Good news, Issue 4 of Turnstile Blues was out!
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