Random Matches You Are Going To...

[tamthebam]

Ended up at Bonnyton v Benburb on Saturday. It was quite entertaining and there were 3 goals, all for Bens.

There was a looney on the sidelines from Bens- not sure if he was a coach, committee man or player's da' but he was shouting the odds at them (someone told him to shut his hole at one point!). He was quite animated and took me back to the glorious grumpy days of Sir Peter at Whitehill Welfare.

[Sergeant Wilson]

7 hours ago, tamthebam said:

Ended up at Bonnyton v Benburb on Saturday. It was quite entertaining and there were 3 goals, all for Bens.

There was a looney on the sidelines from Bens- not sure if he was a coach, committee man or player's da' but he was shouting the odds at them (someone told him to shut his hole at one point!). He was quite animated and took me back to the glorious grumpy days of Sir Peter at Whitehill Welfare.

I'm guessing Frank Lovering, the managers Dad. He was always worth the entrance fee on his own. Paul does not bad himself!

[Marten]

On 30/10/2022 at 21:04, The Mantis said:

Wiki says 292 but don't shoot the messenger.

It's 283 when excluding B-teams AFAIK. There are 3 in the LL, 2 in the SOS & NCL, Stirling Uni reserves in the EOS & BOD in the North Juniors, that's 9 in total. I also don't count B-teams in the total, hence why I say I've done 14/16 in the Lowland League. I have been to Whitehill Welfare, Airdrie & Dumbarton though, but just for those teams and not the B-teams that play there. In the EOS I have done the Stirling Uni EOS ground with a game of Stirling Uni Women.

[DiegoDiego]

Omonia 2-0 Anorthosis Famagusta.

Back in the south last night for a good quality game.

Opinion among the fans was that Lennon was a shite manager who was paid too much. Nevertheless I was a bit disappointed not to see him at the helm. Instead my highlight was being treated to three minutes of a rotund middle-aged man jogging in the general direction of the ball. Locals referred to this individual as "Gary Hooper".

Omonia were on top from the start but Anorthosis defended well until Bruno was slipped clear through and finished well.

Second half was all Anorthosis who had a few good chances including an open goal skied over the bar from six yards.
Omonia got the insurance goal with a few minutes left, paving the way for the Hooper cameo everyone had been waiting for.

It was a bit of a faff logistically, getting tickets, getting in and getting there. Decent stadium though and both sets of fans contributed, though I'd give the edge to Anorthosis.

[The Mantis]

1 hour ago, Marten said:

It's 283 when excluding B-teams AFAIK. There are 3 in the LL, 2 in the SOS & NCL, Stirling Uni reserves in the EOS & BOD in the North Juniors, that's 9 in total. I also don't count B-teams in the total, hence why I say I've done 14/16 in the Lowland League. I have been to Whitehill Welfare, Airdrie & Dumbarton though, but just for those teams and not the B-teams that play there. In the EOS I have done the Stirling Uni EOS ground with a game of Stirling Uni Women.

Ah right, thanks for clearing that up Marten. Having lived here all my puff, I've been to all of these places, some many times, before B teams were even thought of (Whitehill Welfare over 150 times ). Been to very few grounds in the NCL, SOS and North Juniors but at my stage of life I won't be bothering. Pity I never got round the NCL when I was younger.

But... just been looking at Futbology... I can only see one ground share (Caley Braves Reserves) in the SOS and one in the NCL (Clach reserves) but two in the North Juniors (Banks O'Dee and Montrose Roselea). Then Broomhill, Stirling Uni and Shire in the LL plus the 3 B teams making 10. Stirling Uni reserves at the Gannochy is not a share so now I'm as confused as ever 

[The Mantis]

12 hours ago, tamthebam said:

 

Ended up at Bonnyton v Benburb on Saturday. It was quite entertaining and there were 3 goals, all for Bens.

There was a looney on the sidelines from Bens- not sure if he was a coach, committee man or player's da' but he was shouting the odds at them (someone told him to shut his hole at one point!). He was quite animated and took me back to the glorious grumpy days of Sir Peter at Whitehill Welfare.

 

5 hours ago, Sergeant Wilson said:

I'm guessing Frank Lovering, the managers Dad. He was always worth the entrance fee on his own. Paul does not bad himself!

Those are the guys that were on AVFTT the other week, right? Must have been warned to be on their best behaviour before they filmed it then.

[DiegoDiego]

That's me having watched club football in 21/55 UEFA member nations. I've quite a bit of low hanging fruit left but could do with a successful Champions League campaign for Thistle to help me along.

[Christophe]

For the Futbology users: has anyone found a way round this scenario?....

I have manually added a few grounds over the years, public parks etc where I've seen amatuer games. The only one I haven't been able to add is the astro at McDiarmid Park. The app says it is too close to an existing ground and won't allow it. It's the only ground I've been at that I haven't got on my list! Added the match in question (a Saints-Rangers Academy game) to McDiarmid instead but it's always bugged me, completist as I am! 

[The Mantis]

3 hours ago, Christophe said:

For the Futbology users: has anyone found a way round this scenario?....

I have manually added a few grounds over the years, public parks etc where I've seen amatuer games. The only one I haven't been able to add is the astro at McDiarmid Park. The app says it is too close to an existing ground and won't allow it. It's the only ground I've been at that I haven't got on my list! Added the match in question (a Saints-Rangers Academy game) to McDiarmid instead but it's always bugged me, completist as I am! 

I would email Geir or Lars-Erik directly with the problem. The address is kepermat something. I always found them helpful in the early days when you couldn’t add grounds yourself. They also have a fb page but I haven’t had much experience with that. Interesting that Meggetland in Edinburgh has the same situation as you describe and the Astro has been included. Same at Heriot-Watt.

Edited November 1, 2022 by The Mantis

[cowdenbeath]

Not really random as it was my team but completed the Lowland League grounds last night at Alliance Park.

 

Edited November 2, 2022 by cowdenbeath

[JMDPco]

Got a freebie ticket last minute for Real-Celtic. Tbh, I thought Celtic were relatively decent first half but just beaten by a far better side. 

[Marten]

On 01/11/2022 at 18:25, Christophe said:

For the Futbology users: has anyone found a way round this scenario?....

I have manually added a few grounds over the years, public parks etc where I've seen amatuer games. The only one I haven't been able to add is the astro at McDiarmid Park. The app says it is too close to an existing ground and won't allow it. It's the only ground I've been at that I haven't got on my list! Added the match in question (a Saints-Rangers Academy game) to McDiarmid instead but it's always bugged me, completist as I am! 

 

On 01/11/2022 at 22:16, The Mantis said:

I would email Geir or Lars-Erik directly with the problem. The address is kepermat something. I always found them helpful in the early days when you couldn’t add grounds yourself. They also have a fb page but I haven’t had much experience with that. Interesting that Meggetland in Edinburgh has the same situation as you describe and the Astro has been included. Same at Heriot-Watt.

Seconded, just email them. I emailed them when I tried and failed to add Gussie Park as it's too close to Tannadice. I sent an email and they added it.

[Adamski]

I'm guessing that not much Malawian football has featured on this thread!

Young Rangers v Monga Youth Club

Kamphenda v KK Rangers

Bowe v Betere

…all around Vwaza Marsh Wildlife Reserve, Malawi

 

Bata Sasani v Young Stars

Young Challengers v Ngala Stars

Mthirah v Red Rangers

…all around Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve, Malawi

 

A wee bit of background…

As I’ve mentioned a couple of times on here, I’m a scientist working on infectious diseases in Africa. We recently got funding to work in communities affected by sleeping sickness in Malawi: essentially a roadshow visiting affected villages including theatre, dance, music, sport, etc, and using that as a way to start conversations with people living in those communities about the research we do, the impact that the disease has had on their lives, the importance of getting tested and treated, and any barriers or fears preventing testing/treatment. As in much of sub-Saharan Africa, football is by far the most popular sport in these areas. Our Malawian collaborators told us that one of the best ways to draw a crowd for our work was to organise it around a football match, with local villages playing against each other. They also told us how resources for sports equipment were scarce in these areas, and that donations of football kit would be a great way to encourage teams to take part and to forge links with the communities that we visited. Thanks to donations from various teams in Scotland (Glasgow University, Bo’ness United Community, and loads of Dumfries Sunday amateur teams) we headed out there in October with plenty of kit to deliver.

Overall, it’s fair to say it’s a long long way from a Tuesday night at Broadwood: pitches made primarily of dust and sand, goalposts fashioned from particularly straight tree trunks, often massive slopes, ruts, vegetation, other hazards, and usually featuring a commentator who will describe every inch of the game at 1000 miles an hour via a PA system turned up to 11. The crowds were decent too – usually over 1000 people watching, and many of them very watchable themselves with plenty of singing, dancing, drinking, and general fun going on. Your average Scottish steward would have been in bits.

(You’ll note the frequency of the word ‘Rangers’ in the team names. No big teams found, and nothing staunch afoot – just that the games were in places near wildlife reserves, and several of the teams were originally formed by rangers working in those parks!)

It wasn’t all plain sailing: the Young Rangers vs Monga match didn’t ever actually start: a third team turned up claiming it was their pitch, asking why they didn’t get invited to play and get a set of strips, and threatened to cause trouble if the game went ahead. Also the Bowe vs Betere match featured two really nasty injuries in the space of a couple of minutes, and we had to organise getting the players to the nearest hospital (at least 90 minutes away). Thankfully neither injury was as bad as it initially looked. Also due to the distances that these places were from where we were actually staying and the quality of roads in between, we often had to leave at half time to avoid driving in darkness, and I’m not actually sure of the final score for any of the games!

But what an experience overall – fun, interesting, hopefully worthwhile, and the reactions that we got from handing out the strips was extremely humbling. We’ve done a bit of publicity about all of this on social media which has spread to actual news outlets, and as a result I’ve had people getting in touch offering strips that we could send out. And the Dumfries Sunday Amateur League teams seem to have got a particular kick out of it: two of the games featured face offs between teams in strips from that league, and pictures of the likes of Hole In The Wa FC vs Dumfries Athletic on a pitch in Malawi seems to have caught the eye of a few Dumfries pubs!

I’ll be returning to Malawi in the coming months, and I’m keen to keep a channel open for getting kits to teams like these, so if you’re involved in a football team that has spare kit and would like to see it go to a new home where it will be very much appreciated, please do send me a message.

[Sergeant Wilson]

Stand on the back of a lorry, surrounded by trees, you might as well have gone to Fauldhouse.

[Le Tout P'ti FC]

Cumnock 4 Dalry Thistle 0. West of Scotland Cup, Preliminary Round.

After a drive through 1950s Lanarkshire, this was a comfortable win for Cumnock. Dalry didn't give up and had some nice moments in the second half.

Highlight of the game was Cumnock winning a penalty at 4-0. Player was offside but ref played on. Keeper hacked the attacker down, was sent off, and the outfield player who went into goal saved the penalty. Love seeing an outfield player in goals!

[DoingThe42]

1 hour ago, Le Tout P'ti FC said:

Cumnock 4 Dalry Thistle 0. West of Scotland Cup, Preliminary Round.

After a drive through 1950s Lanarkshire, this was a comfortable win for Cumnock. Dalry didn't give up and had some nice moments in the second half.

Highlight of the game was Cumnock winning a penalty at 4-0. Player was offside but ref played on. Keeper hacked the attacker down, was sent off, and the outfield player who went into goal saved the penalty. Love seeing an outfield player in goals!


 

Ha! Snap!

Last-minute decision to fire down to Cumnock, but I enjoyed that.

 

[Bully Wee Villa]

Leyton Orient 1 Salford City 0 while I was in that London for the weekend to watch NFL. A pretty full house except for the bit you can see in the right, opposite, which was the away support. Orient should have won more convincingly, you can see why they're top of the league.

 

Edited November 4, 2022 by Bully Wee Villa

[Le Tout P'ti FC]

Ha! Snap!
Last-minute decision to fire down to Cumnock, but I enjoyed that.
 

Did you get an onion pie? Made my night that did.

Regretting not buying a bobble hat, they were very smart.

[DoingThe42]

2 hours ago, Le Tout P'ti FC said:

Did you get an onion pie? Made my night that did.

Regretting not buying a bobble hat, they were very smart.
 

Just a normal pie for me. Considered the onion, but stayed traditional.

[The Mantis]

7 hours ago, DoingThe42 said:

Just a normal pie for me. Considered the onion, but stayed traditional.

You could have had aninginaneana’