How to not watch football in Istanbul.

Mrs Football Nerd and I consider ourselves to be seasoned football travellers having been to a significant number of the most iconic European football grounds, to the last two World Cups and a European Championships. Those trips are pre-planned in infinite detail to ensure that fixture dates and kick-off times have been confirmed, tickets secured […]

Four go on a Russian World Cup Adventure – Part 3: St Petersburg – Wednesday 20th June to Friday 22nd June 2018.

In case you missed:   Part 1: https://football-nerd.org/2018/07/17/four-go-on-a-russian-world-cup-adventure-part-1-moscow-saturday-16th-of-june-to-monday-18th-of-june-2018/)   Part 2: https://football-nerd.org/2018/07/18/four-go-on-a-russian-world-cup-adventure-part-2-still-moscow-tuesday-19th-of-june-wednesday-20th-june-2018/   Wednesday 20th June (continued) The hotel was only about a twenty minute walk from the station and after we had checked in, (stone cold sober we hasten to add!), we headed down to the bar to watch Portugal beat Morocco and sample […]

Four go on a Russian World Cup Adventure – Part 2 (still) Moscow- Tuesday 19th of June & Wednesday 20th June 2018.

(In case you missed Part 1: https://football-nerd.org/2018/07/17/four-go-on-a-russian-world-cup-adventure-part-1-moscow-saturday-16th-of-june-to-monday-18th-of-june-2018/) Tuesday 19th of June – Poland 1 Senegal 2 – Spartak Stadium   After another crazy and somewhat hazy night sharing our collection of Space Food with the bar staff, random guests and anyone else we could find; it is fair to say that we were all a […]

All the way to Kiev! A guest piece by Our Kid.

Having missed out on tickets for Liverpool’s last two appearances in the Champions League Final, Our Kid was absolutely thrilled that he managed to secure a ticket for this year’s Final in Kiev, although getting there and back was to prove far more challenging than he thought! Upon learning late on Thursday that his planned […]

An impromptu trip to the London Stadium

Without actually planning it in any way, I found myself heading to the London Stadium yesterday evening for West Ham’s penultimate home fixture of what has been a relatively tempestuous season for Hammers fans. I have visited the stadium on several occasions previously for the Olympics and Paralympics in 2012 for which it was originally […]

Walking in the footsteps of Maradona.

Over thirty years ago in the days before Channel Four popularised Italian Football in this country, a quite remarkable story emerged from the exotic seeming Serie A, one that captured the imagination of this at the time teenaged football obsessive. None other than Diego Armando Maradona, disillusioned after a 2 –year stint at Barcelona characterised […]