Blog Archives
Mainz 1905
A historic club that struggled mightily before rising recently back to the Bundesliga -- aided in part by a very famous former player and manager. LOCATION: Mainz, Germany CONTACT: mainz05.de, 06131 375500, #Mainz05 NICKNAMES: Die Nullfünfer (the 05ers), Karnevalsverein (Carnival club) Above image by Lacu Schienred, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Heart of Midlothian
A once-great club that still sees some glorious days and offers traditional -- and now European! -- football in the grand city of Edinburgh. LOCATION: Edinburgh, Scotland CONTACT: heartsfc.co.uk/, 0333 043 1874 NICKNAMES: Hearts, Jambos (Above image by Warburton1368, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons)
Plymouth Argyle
Way out in the west, a famous old port city with serious American connections is the largest city in England to have never had top-flight football. LOCATION: Plymouth, in Devon, just over three hours west of London by train. CONTACT: pafc.co.uk, 01752 907700, #pafc NICKNAMES: The Pilgrims, which comes from the religious group that left…
Lincoln City
A club that has recently risen to new heights in a city whose history and architecture reaches back to medieval times. LOCATION: Lincoln, which is about three hours north of London and an hour east of Sheffield by train. CONTACT: weareimps.com, 01522 880011, #WeAreImps NICKNAMES: The Imps, for a 13th-century figure in the Lincoln Cathedral…
Mansfield Town
After a brief drop out of the league, Mansfield Town are back to their yo-yoing ways between the third and fourth tiers. LOCATION: Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, which is 30 minutes from Nottingham by train. CONTACT: mansfieldtown.net, 01623 482 482, #Stags NICKNAMES: The Stags. They have been known as the Stags since the 1920’s due to the…
Lyon
Right before PSG took over French football, Olympique Lyonnaise were the unquestioned leaders, cranking out famous young players and winning seven consecutive league titles. Today they are a solid Ligue 1 club with a beautiful stadium in a wonderful city. LOCATION: Lyon, France CONTACT: ol.fr , 04 51 08 70 40, #Lyon #OL NICKNAMES: Les…
Monaco
Soccer is probably not the reason you will ever go to Monaco, but a game at AS Monaco is a fascinating intersection between the worlds of football and global wealth. LOCATION: Principality of Monaco CONTACT: asmonaco.com, +377 92 05 37 54, #ASM NICKNAMES: Rouges et blancs (the red and whites)
Benfica
One of the "big three" that wins everything in Portugal, Benfica are also past European champions and play in a lovely, modern stadium that was the inpsiraiton for Arsenal's Emirates Stadium. LOCATION: Lisbon, Portugal CONTACT: slbenfica.pt, (+351) 217 219 500, #EPluribusUnum NICKNAMES: As Águias (The Eagles)
Borussia Mönchengladbach
Glory years in the 1960s and 1970s built the club a large following, and while they haven't won anything lately, they have a large and usually full stadium with an excellent atmosphere in a hotbed of German Fußball. LOCATION: Mönchengladbach, Germany CONTACT: borussia.de, +49 1806 1819 00, #DieFohlen NICKNAMES: Die Fohlen or The Foals due…
Union Berlin
This over-achieving club, best known for years at the working-class team in East Berlin, is now the only Bundesliga club in the country's capital. LOCATION: Berlin, Germany CONTACT: fc-union-berlin.de +49 30 - 65 66 88 100, #fcunion NICKNAMES: Die Eisernen (The Iron Ones)
