Paul’s Soccer Stories
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. Here's a trip to the new Brentford Community Stadium. Never heard of Brentford? Join the masses -- outside of England, that is. They currently play in the second-tier Championship (update: they have now been in…
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.) 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 a building near my hotel went off all night, so I got no sleep. The…
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
(2023 Update: Blackburn Rovers were promoted to The Championship in 2018 and are still there for the 2023-24 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
Leeds is an exciting place to catch some football and 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…
Some More Thoughts on This Whole “Soccer” Situation
Once again, I shall wade into dangerous cultural waters. But this whole thing about Americans calling the world’s most popular game “soccer” just keeps coming up in lots of ways, and I have some more thoughts on it. First, as I have explained before, the word "soccer" originated in England and was fairly widely used…
My Night in The Den:
Seeing a Game at Millwall FC
I stepped off the train, onto the platform, and into what I assumed would be the usual London-area train station: people coming and going, lively street down below, if I’m lucky a coffee shop on the platform. This is particularly true as I had only come one stop from bustling London Bridge, and just a…
