Gave goals away

Sunday 8 November 2026, Ipswich Town 1 AFC Bournemouth 2 - Premier League, Portman Road

Bournemouth are a good team, but no reason to give them two simple goals, a goalkeeper error that has looked on the cards for a while (Walton not great with the ball at his feet) then the ball given away at the start of the second half leading to an own goal.

We got back in the game with a fortunate penalty (Ref not great) and then Bournemouth showed how a number of teams have learnt how to get round the new rules on timewasting.

Still we showed enough to think we have a good chance of staying up- helped by both Manchester teams destined to go down! 

On the Farm

Saturday 7 November 2026, Brook House 6 Spelthorne Sports 0 - Combined Counties League, Division One, Farm Park

Brook House sit top of the Division, however a few teams below have games in hand - but after watching today, I do expect Brook House to be Promoted or close to it at the end of the season.

Plenty of skill on show and also a great work ethic- in particular when defending. Spelthorne had plenty of the ball but could not break the home defence down, whilst every time Brook House attacked they looked like they would score. Three up at the break but the second half was more even until the last 10 minutes of the game when Brook House added three further goals.

Like the ground, clubhouse 150 metres away and a short walk towards, what looks like a wood and you find the ground. Grass looked very green and slightly long, loved the cover behind the goal which also had an assortment of chairs and sofas to sit on!

Burger van in the car park also served up some quality food. 

Waveney Valley Derby

Friday 6 November 2026, Bungay Town 1 Beccles Town 0 - Anglian Combination, Premier Division, Maltings Meadow

Local derby and a big crowd in attendance but the visitors left their shooting boots at home having plenty of chances and goalmouth scrambles and almost scoring in the first minute of the game.They were made to pay just before half time when a Bungay player received the ball with his back to goal on the edge of the box and hit a grteat overhead kick from a standing position which sailed over the keeper into the roof of the net. The Bungay now move up to 3rd with this win while Beccles can be overtaken at the top if 2nd placed Sprowston win on Saturday.

Montenegro Game 4 and 5

 My last day in the city and had the chance to see 3 games but the constant rain, wind and the third game on a pitch not on the Futbology App, I ended up just watching the 2 games. The first game was a visit to the ground that Peter Miles had mentioned and no surprise, he was right- a real gem and a club that seems to actually have some fans.

Sunday 1 November - 12 noon
FK Zabjelo Under 19s 1 FK Zeta Under 19s 1
Montenegro Under 19 League, 2nd Division
Stadion Nikola Scepovic

Attendance: 62 h/c

The game was not great- the ground is a gem but the pitch is like a cow field, so not great for football. The visitors were happy to let the home side have plenty of the ball as they did struggle to do anything with it. FK Zeta were far sharper in front of goal and no surprise when they took the lead after 27 minutes. The home team did manage to get back on level terms after 60 minutes. Home side then had a player sent off for a second yellow card on 89 minutes. Not a great advert for Montenegro football.

Great communication from the club on social media, so they let me know the game was on- they did say it was Under 21 but the league stated it was Under 19. The club has a hip/Clapton feel- A group of young ultras arrived 10 minutes after kick off, they walked down the middle of the road holding transport up. Flags around the ground state the local area declared independence from Montenegro 30 years ago! If in the city, try and see them play in either Third Division game or if not their Under 19 or Under 17 side, you will not be disappointed.

It was back to the Stari Aerodrom area and a game at the large sports complex, as it was a Third Division game expected a good crowd and the game to be played on one of the better pitches - I was wring- just 12 wated the game and it was played on an old astro, the training pitch of OFK Titograd

Sunday 1 November - 13pm
FK Karioke Podgorica 0 FK Internacional 8
Division 3 Central Region
OFK Titograd Training Pitch

Attendance: 12 humans and 2 dogs

Karioke may be Third Division but they sound like, looked like and played like a poor pub team - still a great name. FC Internacional, were very good, looked fit and had some quality players, they have played as high as the Second Division, where they used the Montenegro FA pitch at the same complex.

Was hoping it would be on the main Titograd pitch, which has some quirky stands. Titograd had moved here when their ground was built on and borrowed the pitch of FK Stari Aerodrom, before taking it over and the old owners moving to a new pitch next door.

Easy game for the visitors, funny thing one of the 12 spectators gave the visitors the team talk at half time! Guess he is the manager and is either banned or has not got the right coaching badges to sit pitch side.

Only 0-2 at the break but 6 further goals added in the second half

2 Photos of the quirky stands by the main Titograd pitch

Montenegro Game 1 to 3

 Saturday 31 October 2026

First game was a 45 minute walk north from the city centre, buses were around, and only 1 Euro for an hour journey but as had nothing else to do a walk seemed simple enough.

Next issue the game was Pioneer game, I thought this was going to be Under 16, but in fact it was Under 15 - not normally something I would bother with, but with nothing else planned for the morning and unlikely to come back to the city, I took the opportunity provided to see a game.

Saturday 31 October 2026 @ 930am
Crvena Stijena Tolosi Under 15s 2 FK Zabjelo Under 15s 11
Central Region Pioneer League
Training Pitch of FK Kom

Attendance: 14 h/c
A very one sided game, with Zabjelo scoring with ease, 6 -1 up at half time and adding a further 5 goals after the break and just conceding one more.

The main pitch at FK Kom had been dug up and was being worked on, so guess Second Division FK Kom are using another stadium as the training pitch next door was of poor quality astro and inside a cage, with just one small stand on the outside of the cage, however after seeing how poor crowds are in Montenegro, they might play on the training pitch.

The main pitch had 4 UK style floodlight pylons and an open seated stand on one side, on the other side, was a small section of terracing, built on the side of a derelict changing room block. The new changing rooms are part of the club house building, which was open and selling hot drinks.

Saturday 31 October 2026 1pm
FK Podgorica 1 Iskra Danilovgrad 0
Druga Liga (Division 2)
DG Arena

Attendance: Under 200!! Including myself and 3 German hoppers!

My highest level game of the weekend, stadium looked impressive in the photos I had seen. Got a taxi to ground as a few Kms outside the city but a bus could be used. Ground also shared with a 1st Division team. Turned up about 40 minutes before kick off and no one around other than the teams! Only one stand was open and the other stand is not finished, next door is an astro with the clubhouse and changing rooms next to the pitch, clubhouse was not open. So surprised how low the crowd was.

The game itself was very poor with neither team impressing and that was with the home team sat on top of the division, they dd eventually get the winning goal in the 64th minute. Can't complain much as it was free to get in! Walked back to the main road with one of the German hoppers and got a bus back into the city for 1 Euro.

A short walk from when I got off the bus to my next game, this was on the site of the old airfield, now a housing estate with a sports complex on the eastern side, 8 pitches, most were G3, home of the training grounds of the Montenegro FA, plus the biggest club side in the country plus the homes of 2 further clubs- whilst a number of other clubs hire the pitches for their use.

5 of the pitches are on the Futbology app, and when you look at the satellite picture you can see those 5 and 2 further pitches, the newest pitch is not on the satellite picture ( home of FK Stari Aerodrom )

Saturday 31 October 2026 5pm
FK Buducnost Podgorica under 17s 3 FK Podgorica Under 17s 1
Montenegro Cadet League, Division One
FK Buducnost Training Ground.

Attendance: 42 h/c

A competitive game that the home team ( who are top of the table) were always slightly better but the visitors always felt they were in with a chance of getting a goal.
It was 1-0 at the break and the home team then went two up after 50 minutes, the visitors got one back 10 minutes later. The hosts then confirmed the win in the 80th minute.

The pitch was G3 inside a cage, an open seated stand on one side of the pitch and the large Club Headquarters on the other side of the pitch.

Montenegro - Prodgorica, Low crowds but plenty of graffiti!

 Friday 30 October 2026

After 3 games in Albania - it was an early morning bus to Podgorica the capital of Montenegro - easy journey, arrived early and dropped at the main bus station in the capital. No games today, final dates and time for 1st Division fixtures only came out a few days before I arrived, it meant my only 1st Division game planned, was moved till after I had flown home. But the FA website was good for fixtures including U17 and U21 games, plus also got a link to the website for the Central area Third Division.

I was also armed with an article from EFW, written by the legend and my late friend Peter Miles, this helped me spend the Friday seeing all the cultural sites in around the city and also visit the main stadium, only a very short walk from the town centre, 3 sided and used by the main club side and the national team. By the ground was plenty of graffiti for the biggest team in the country - FK Buducnost Podgorica, but soon realised that graffiti was all over the city, not just near the . Most of it was well painted and for some reason the ultras also had a soft spot for Maradona.

Also visited the ground of a third division team that Peter mentioned, looked a great ground and I was lucky to have an Under 21 game pencilled in on the Sunday at the home of FK Zabjelo

An early night with 3 games planned for the Saturday and 2 or 3 on the Sunday

Albania Game 2 and 3

 Game 2 - could have probably got there by bus but all bus stations on edge of city due to congestion in the city plus buses back would have impossible as not many after 8pm - so decided on a taxi- £50 return, reliable and no issue

Wednesday 28 October 2026, 7pm
KF Elbasani 2 FK Partizan 1
Elbasan Arena
Kategoria Superiore

Admission: £10 ( cheaper tickets available)
Attendance: 1500 max (no away fans)

Large bowl with athletics track, pitch in very good shape, sat in expensive seat and had a cafe plus service to your seat if needed for beer, crisps and rolls!

Only 30 plus miles from capital but no away fans, not banned but think they are boycotting games and Partizan at bottom of the table, and they are the biggest club in the country.

Partizan were poor but somehow took the lead after 16 minutes, it took till the 80th minute for the home team to get back on terms. they scored again in the 86th but ref disallow3ed it for a foul on the keeper, after 2 minutes of protests he decided to check VAR, reversed his decision and game the home team the goal. whilst hew as in the VAR Tent! He was pelted by bottles from the home crowd.

Politics and corruption never far from politics or football in Albania, a percentage of every ticket sold was to be given toa home fan who had been injured during the week before the game when he was hit in the eye by a rubber bullet fired by the police at the students protests, so the club officials were happy to make a public stand against the Police and the Government.

Taxi waiting for me and a much quicker trip back to the city to find the police station smashed up but with all the students having left the city centre.

Decided to walk in the morning to the edge of the city and a bus 25 miles to the seaside at Durres - just £2 on the bus, walk along the beach, plenty to see in the city withy Roman ruins also on the tourist train, back to the bus station and the ground was just a 10 minute walk north.

FK Tirana moved the game to Durres as their stadium had just had fresh grass sown, I did pop in on the Wednesday and you could see that the grass was fresh!

Thursday 29 October 2026, 1.30pm
KF Tirana 1 Dinamo City 1
Stadiumi Niko Dovana ( home of KS Teuta Durres)
Kategoria Superiore

Admission: £10 -Could have sat in open for £3
Attendance: Under 200

Large bowl but stands were impressive, a couple of astro pitches outside, where the Durres Academy and women team were training. Ticket purchased from the ticket hut in the street, not many in attendance but it was Thursday afternoon and both teams had to travel to get here.

Dinamo were much the better team, even after they went down to 10 men in the 37th minute as one of their players picked up his second yellow card. Tirana were slightly better in the second half and took the lead in the 64th minute but the ten men of Dinamo were back on level terms after 77 minutes.

Home team thought they had won in at the end but Ref used VAR and goal disallowed, still time for the home team to go down to 10 men in the 94th minute.

Short walk back to the bus station and £2 bus back to Tirana and a 45 minute walk from bus station to city centre hotel.

Albania, riot damage, low crowds but worth the trip - Game 1

Last minute idea to do a short trip to the Balkans, making the most of mid-week games and getting slowly towards watching a game in every country in Europe. Plan to fly into the capital early on the Wednesday and then bus to Montenegro on Friday and fly back to UK Monday.

Flight was cheap, on time from Stansted and easy to get shuttle bus to city centre (£2 - pay on bus) - city was in middle of student riots but in fact most people just ignored the protests, police station 100 metres from my hotel was smashed up, but police just moved to the bar opposite and set up camp there. Fixture wise - my main fixture was moved from Wednesday to Thursday and then a few days later the venue moved from their own home to the seaside 20 plus miles away.

But Futbology came up trumps with an extra game on Wednesday

Wednesday 28 October 2026 - 2pm
FK Partizan Under 19 0 FC Hradec Kralove U19 6
UEFA Youth League
House of Football

Admission: £5
Attendance: 250 plus

Large modern sports complex, owned by Albania FA - 3 pitches, 2 with lights and a large stand between 2 of the pitches. Short walk from city centre and very close to stadium of FK Tirana. Tickets on sale at gate ( for ticket collectors, plain tickets at all 3 games in Albania, all of same design). Pitch in great condition, complex surrounded by very modern apartment blocks. No refreshments on sale at game.

Close first half but the Czechs were the better team and went in at the break one up after scoring just before the half time whistle.

56th minute saw the best chance for the home team but a minute later they were down to 10 men after one of the home players got a second yellow card. This was the signal for a home team collapse as the visitors added a further 5 goals in the last 33 minutes.

Had decided on a taxi to second game and was meeting it my hotel, only just made it as police had shut a few side streets off as students moved towards the main square.

Dutch hit seven

Tuesday 27 October 2026, Ipswich Town Under 21s 0 PSV Eindhoven Under 21s 7 - Premier League International Cup, Portman Road

As it was half term and a lunchtime kick off ( because PSV were using the Hook-Harwich Ferry, rather than fly) a large number of children were at the game, and they all seemed happy even with Ipswich getting hammered.

Not a fan of Premier League reserve teams being allowed into the EFL, like many Premier League Clubs want - but you can see from this game (and the Anderlecht one last week) that playing Championship level football in their own countries meant the European Under 21 sides are much stronger and football wise than our Under 21 teams.

Over half of the Dutch side played in their Second Division team at the weekend whilst one of their players has played for the first team and Cape Verde!

The Dutch scored after 2 and half minutes and were 6 up by the break. Ipswich never let their heads drop and continued to try and play football but without ever putting the Dutch keeper under any real pressure. PSV just added one further goal in the second half.

Wind and rain

Saturday 24 October 2026, Gosfield United 2 The Rodings and Waltham 4 - Essex and Suffolk Border League, Premier Division, Notley High School

G4 Card played but also meant only a short drive and completed my second closest Step 7 League

Astro at the back of the school, on the edge of Braintree, usual cage set up with spectator area on 3/4 of one side of the pitch. Astro in very good condition.

Heavy rain and swirling wind throughout the game but both team still attempted to play football. Both teams joined the senior division this season, so expected a close game however quite obvious that the visitors were much the better team when it came to attacking. They took the lead on 6 minutes however Gosfield were back on level terms after 18 minutes. The visitors missed a number of good chances before adding further goals on 22 and 41 minutes.

The second half was more even  and the home side pulled a goal back on 65 minutes, however the visitors secured the points with a 4th goal on 85 minutes and still had time to miss a couple more good chances.

Hard won point

 Friday 23 October 2026, Ipswich Town 1 Nottingham Forest 1 - Premier League, Portman Road

Forest were the better team, but we never gave up and our hard work deserved some reward

Easy win

Friday 23 October 2026, Ipswich Town Under 21s 5 Birmingham City Under 21s 0 - Premier League 2, Playford Road.

Hard to decide if it was great display by Ipswich or they just faced a very poor Birmingham side? Think it was a bit of both!

Ipswich could have scored about 3 in the first 5 minutes but Birmingham survived, only to go behind from an own goal on 11 minutes. Ipswich stayed on top with their full backs acting more like out and out wingers than defenders, further goals were added in the 28th and 39 minutes, Ipswich even managed to miss an open goal from 10 yards out.

Second half was still mainly all Ipswich but they just added two further goals in the 51st and 54th minute.

Game was played on the Playford Road site, whilst most games at U18 and U21 level have been played across the road at Bent Lane in the past.

Wind and rain

Wednesday 21 October 2026, Ipswich Town Under 17s 1 Fulham Under 17s 3 - Premier League Under 17 Cup, Group Game, Bent Lane Training ground

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Strong winds heavy rain and not a great game.

Even start to the game then Fulham got on top and took the lead after 25 minutes and added a second after 37 minutes. We also had a mass punch up- with just 2 yellow cards shown, start of the season we saw 22 player punch ups in the Under 16 and Under 18 games v Fulham - Coincidence?

​Ipswich had plenty of the ball but final pass was often poor and the Fulham keeper had little to do, whilst when Fulham attached it nearly always ended up with a shot on target.

Fulham added a third on 56 minutes, both teams made a number of subs and the Ipswich subs managed to start putting pressure on Fulham and pulled a goal back on 68 minutes. Ipswich had most of the play in last 20 minutes but could not add to their solitary goal.

Return to Europe (sort of)

Tuesday 20 October 2026, Ipswich Town Under 21s 0 Anderlecht Under 21s 1 - Premier League International Cup, Portman Road

Poor game that Anderlecht probably just deserved on their first half display, taking their goal well on 22 minutes. Ipswich were better in the second half but the visiting keeper did not have to do much, game came to life in the last 5 minutes when one of the Belgian team got a straight red card then the Belgian keep decided to pretend he had been shot and laid on the ground for a good 2 minutes, then suddenly recovered to take the free kick!

Never get wet here

Saturday 17 October 2026, Egham Town 4 AFC Portchester 2 - Isthmian League, South Central Division, Runnymede Stadium

Well, you would never get wet here watching a game, a decent seated stand however also 5 covered terrace stands!

Game was only a few minutes old and the first strong tackle went in, not a dirty foul but set the tone for the game with plenty of tough challenges/fouls from both sides.

Home side went in front after 3 minutes but Portchester were back on terms 3 minutes later. then the first of 2 Egham penalties, this one on 10 minutes as Egham took the lead again.

Portchester got back level on 48 minutes as the tackles/fouls were still keeping the Ref busy and on 65 minutes Egham went ahead again from the penalty spot, the Portchester player also got his second yellow card and an early bath.