Paul’s Soccer Stories
Fulham’s Craven Cottage: A Proper Civilized Football Ground
Going to a game at Fulham is among the more civilized experiences I’ve had in my English soccer travels. First, it’s in a lovely and posh area of West London, and to get there from the nearest tube station you actually walk through a park along the River Thames. Second, the ground, Craven Cottage, is…
Watching a Match at Burnley FC:
A Trip Back in Time
(This is a repost of a game report from Burnley FC in 2014.) The first thing I heard about watching a game at Burnley was from a Sunderland fan – and it wasn’t completely positive. I had just told her, during a game at The Stadium of Light, that I like the old grounds, such…
Seeing a Game at Birmingham City FC
Birmingham City are one of several teams in England's second city. And while they've been stuck in the second-tier Championship for some time now, for the neutral they are a fun and easy club to check out. Here is a report from a game I saw there in 2015. Walking out of my hotel in…
Seeing a Game at Brentford FC’s Griffin Park
Paul shares his experience of seeing a game at Griffin Park prior to Brentford FC's move to their new ground. Never heard of Brentford? Join the masses -- outside of England, that is. They currently play in the second-tier Championship, they only got there a few years ago, and they haven't been in the top…
Italian Interruption: Seeing a Game at SS Lazio in Rome
Groundhopper Paul happened to be in Rome when Lazio played a home game against Salzburg in the Europa League. This is the story of his first foray into the world of Italian football, or calcio. It’s a story whose intensity I could not have imagined and, in fact, it’s one I didn’t even see coming.…
Hull City vs Reading:
I Guess We Have To Do This
(Note: This post was written in January, 2018, when Hull were in the Championship. As of the 2020-21 season, they are in League One.) By the time I rolled into Hull, everything was pretty much falling apart. The night before in Sheffield, the local derby had been a passionate, loud … nil-nil. Then an alarm in…
Back in Sheffield for Another Steel City Derby
Somewhere, in the streets near my hotel, a small band of lads are giving it one last “We are BLAAAADES!” The result is a kind of echoing silence. No “We are Wednesday” response, no clopping of police horse hooves, no sirens, no word from any other Blades. Still determined to give it a go, I…
My Visit to Blackburn: Town and Football Club
(2020 Update: Blackburn Rovers were promoted to The Championship in 2018 and are still there for the 2020-21 season.) Before I tell you about my day in Blackburn, and the game I saw at Blackburn Rovers FC, allow me to introduce you to the Standard Northern English Town Story. I have seen this in every…
Liverpool-Everton and the Magic of the FA Cup
“The Magic of the FA Cup” is a phrase you hear tossed around the world of English football. And sometimes that magic is real -- especially around early January’s Third Round. In 2018, as in all years, we had big clubs being upset, little clubs playing on big stages, enormous crowds making big impressions, drama…
A Tour and a Game at Leeds United FC
With Leeds United now in the Premier League, it's among the places I most recommend getting to for a game. Here's a report from my trip there on New Year’s Day, 2018. I had been to Leeds before — a none-too-thrilling 1-0 victory over Preston North End a few years back. And I was impressed…