Out of town and out of sorts.

Friday 20 February 2026, KAA Gent 0 Cercle Brugge 1 - Jupiler Pro League, Planet Group Arena

Not a fan of out of town stadiums, and with the heavy rain, not great when looking for a bar- one found, close to the ground- a restaurant, that has set up a bar area for match days. However, once in the ground, it is impressive, and you can walk almost round the whole ground on the wide concourse, food and beer options aplenty and fast service- needed with ethe amount of beer being sold.

As not full- could choose to sit anywhere, Brugge only had a few hundred fans present, even with their city being just a few miles down the motorway - not helped probably by the 8.45 lick off.

Cercle Brugge were close to bottom of the table but that would surprise anyone who watched this game as they managed to make Gent look very poor, Brugge hit the post then took the lead on the stroke of half time with a deflected shot. It got worse for Gent on 50 minutes when one of their players got a straight Red Card for a very nasty challenge. It could have even been worse as they then gave away a penalty on60 minutes only for the home keeper to save it.

This lifted both the home team and the crowd and Gent pressed for an equaliser but Cercle Brugge held on for an unexpected win.

Leaving the ground was easy and did spot shuttle buses back to the city centre, however, I walked the 10 minutes or son to the closest tram stop.

TOP TIP

I did not know about this so had to rush to visit on the Saturday morning- but if in Gent, well worth a visit. The City Museum has been holding a football exhibition, marking 150 years of football in Gent, 125 years of KAA Gent, women's football and also looking at the other clubs in the city.

Even has a mock up of the bedroom of a certain Kevin De Bruyne - when he was 10- with a Michael Owen quilt cover. Best bits were the pictures of the old stadium, old match posters and tickets - well worth a visit and runs till the end of May.