Saturday 22 December 2018

Still fighting

Saturday 22 December 2018, Ipswich Town 1 Sheffield United 1 - Championship, Portman Road

Can we stay up? Not sure, but we are still fighting.

Tuesday 18 December 2018

Nasty locals

Tuesday 18 December 2018, Needham Market 3 Redditch United 1 - Southern League, Premier Division Central, Bloomfields




Like Needham but today it seems every club has it's bores and yobs, but the surprise here, the yobs were the pensioners in the seats who got stroppy, all because we had the cheek to talk about their withdrawal from the FA Trophy- will not be rushing back!


Monday 17 December 2018

Keep on winning

Monday 17 December 2018, Ipswich Town Under 23s 2 Charlton Athletic Under 23s 0 - Professional Development League, Playford Road


What a rare 3 days, all Ipswich sides win - unlike the 1st team, the Under 23s have had no problem winning all season and today was no different.



Saturday 15 December 2018

A win - at last!

Saturday 15 December 2018, Ipswich Town 1 Wigan Athletic 0 - Championship, Portman Road

Wind, rain, a bad ref, 7 minutes injury time but that could not stop us getting our first home win of the season!

Wednesday 12 December 2018

Plenty of goals at the Post

Sunday 9 December 2018, Berliner AK 07 4 Union Furstenwalde 4, Regionalliga North East, Post Stadion


A large sports complex hidden at the back of a housing estate, you will then find a great gem of a ground, a stand very similar to the one at the Mommenstadion and a ground that held German International games before the war.



Now the home team have their origins in the Turkish community, doing well on the pitch but have very few fans. Even so they looked like they would be getting a win and securing their second place in the league but a great second half for the visitors and a last minute penalty miss followed by an equaliser meant the spoils were shared.










Surrounded by history

Saturday 8 December 2018, Hertha Berlin 1 Eintracht Frankfurt 0 - Bundesliga, Olympic Stadium



I would recommend to anyone visiting Berlin to take the self guided tour of the Olympic complex, not just the football ground but the whole area, including the tower Hitler had built to remember German soldiers killed in the First World War, the outdoor swimming pool and the many statues that are seen around the arena.


Arriving at the stadium for a winter evening kick off, you  miss much of that but you can still see you are in a ground that is just soaked in history but even so you also feel you are in a modern stadium with great views of the pitch - the perfect combination.

Not Tennis?

Friday 7 December 2018, Tennis Borussia Berlin 2 Sp.Vg. Blau Weis 90 0 - Oberliga Nord, Mommenstadion



love Berlin, love football but do not love rain - but here it did not matter as the Mommenstadion has a great grandstand plus a good German club bar- and a few gluhweins and could not even feel the cold or notice the rain!



Good game but the visitors will feel they were robbed as for much of the game they were the better team but the rain did not stop the home team from staying second in the division.












Tuesday 4 December 2018

Start of a cup run?

Tuesday 4 December 2018, Ipswich Town Under 18s 4 Andover Town Under 18s 0 - FA Youth Cup 3rd Round, Portman Road

All the goals in the second half.

Mid Essex Top dogs

Monday 3 December 2018, Chelmsford City 2 Braintree Town 0 - Essex Senior Cup 4th Round, Melbourne Community Stadium






Braintree are higher in the pyramid and have been top dogs for a while on the footballing front but Chelmsford have far more supporters, a more prestigious history and see themselves as the top non-league side in Essex ( even if a number of clubs have done far better than them for the last 20 years)


Last night seemed to indicate that Chelmsford are on the 'up' whilst Braintree are struggling, so next season they may be playing each other or may just pass in opposite directions at the end of the season.

Saturday 1 December 2018

Best game seen so far this season

Saturday 1 December 2018, Bearsted 3 Steyning Town 2 (aet) - FA Vase 3rd Round, Honey Lane



Simple the best game I have seen this season, good first goal from the visitors, fantastic goal for hosts to level scores and numerous great saves by the visiting keeper - and that was just the first half.



Second half a great header to put Bearsted in front but a fantastic free kick late on by Steyning number 7 hit the bar, and the visitors put the rebound in. extra time!


Last 30 minutes were not as great as the first 90 but not surprising as the whole game had been played in the rain and so after 90 minutes the players started to feel it in their legs however still time for another great header and the home side were through to the last 32.



Great advert for football, the Vase and both teams were a credit to the game - Steyning fans may have seen their team lose but they also seemed to have a great day out.



Wednesday 28 November 2018

Down by Christmas?

Wednesday 28 November 2018, Ipswich Town 2 Bristol City 3 - Championship, Portman Road

Sunday 25 November 2018

Sunday best

Sunday 25 November 2018, Canterbury City 0 Chatham Town 5 - Kent Senior Trophy, Second Round,  Salters Lane



This game was a repeat of the league fixture played 8 days earlier but that game was close with Chatham winning 2-1 but today they strolled to an easy victory with Canterbury destroyed by the pace of the Chatham forwards. The home team did not take it well and the second half was full of small skirmishes and numerous arguments with the ref.


Ground wise, Canterbury share at Faversham and the ground has plenty to offer the supporter. The club house is just a set of portakabins, but inside a good bar, warm and TV. On the far touchline is a good long stand with seats, standing and a Press table! plus a quality tea hut which seemed to have its own pet cat!