This afternoon i took in Spvgg Unterhaching against Kickers Emden in the Bundesliga 3.
After getting into Munich airport around 10.45am, it was a question of jumping on the S bahn, dropping my bag at Munchen Ost en-route and i was at the Generali Sportpark an hour before ko.
Straight off the S-bahn and the ground is visible, so a five minute wander along the path and i was there.
A lovely little setting set around a park with an excellent beer garden just outside the entrances !, cannot imagine this in the UK somehow.
The ground reminded me a little bit of the superb Grunewald stadium of 1860 Munich, so i plumped for a 9 euro stehplatz on the subtribune.

A glorious day weatherwise, but sadly the game was shite for most of it.
Kickers Emden were second, so it was no real suprise when they scored after 43 mins, but a minute later, haching were awarded a penalty which was well saved by the Emden keeper.

A very subdued atmosphere, with the 200 or so Emden fans basking in the sunshine in the far corner, whilst the home "Ultras´"-termed loosely here-only woke up in the interval.

Second half was just as bad, but haching got an equaliser with a minute to go and then decided that they would try and play for 5 mins, but they only managed to hit the top of the bar with a glorious lob in injury time.

Just had to have a weissbeer in the autumnal sunshine after the game in the beer garden.

Friendly locals and a decent club shop as well.

Had time after to go and look at the OlympiaStadion that was used by b$$$$n and 1860 before they moved to the allianz, looks a stunning venue and then headed over to have a squint at the allianz as well, reminded me very much of close encounters !

Tomorrow afternoon's the biggie !

A two-game day for me this Saturday. First up was SC Pfullendorf v Viktoria Aschaffenburg in the Regionalliga Sued. A tidy little ground with a small main stand, it had a real small-town feel about he place. With just under 500 spectators it was a bit like watching Ryman Premier League football - with the quality to match. The game was really poor, and I was surprised Pfullendorf managed to score and win 1-0.
After that we had a bit of a dash for our first ever visit to Liechtenstein. We arrived at FC Triesenberg 10 mins before kickoff after driving halfway up a mountain to get there (All Liechtenstein clubs play in the Swiss leagues). The ground was on top of a car park and cut out of the rock, using huge boulders for terracing. Absolutely great.
The visitors, FC Ems, were top of the table but Triesenberg battered their 'foreign' visitors 5-1. There were no proper linesmen, and one of the volunteers was exchanged after half an hour so he could go round and collect the gate money!

Two games already today, although the first was an unexpected addition as it was taking place on a pitch adjacent to our planned game. TSV Goeggingen II were at home v FSV Inningen II on the 'nebenplatz' - a railed-off pitch with concrete down one side so we didn't have to stand in the mud. A low-quality A-Klasse match won 2-1 by the home team.

More later...

Match 2.
TSV Goeggingen v FSV Inningen at the main ground, which has a proper mainstand with about 1000 seats. The game was 1st v 4th, and a keenly contested game finished 3-3.
Match 3.
I'll not go into detail about the game, but Augsburg's Rosenaustadion is well worth seeing. Bowl-shaped with loads of terracing, a real traditional ground. Pity it is being replaced by a sponsor-named arena miles out of town next season.

I joined up with Lee & Patrick at TSV Goeggingen for the 10.30 affair at the main ground with five goals coming in the second half, the pick was a superb free-kick that was curled into the top by the home side.

A glorious morning in the sunshine and an excellent vantage point from the banked area opposite the main stand, with views of the nebenplatz and the jugend game which was also taking place adjacent to that.

The Rosenaustadion is a superb ground and was pleased not to have missed it, i had to walk past it to reach this mornings' fixture and it's a tragedy that they are moving.

We've said it all after the game and still cannot fathom the loss still.

Just spent a rather cold evening at the FA Trophy replay between Chasetown and Colwyn Bay.
The ground's nothing special, although it looks like some of their FA Cup money looks to have been spent on improvements.
The game was even in the first half, with Colwyn taking the lead with a decent volley. Chasetown must have had an ear-bashing at the break because they came out much stronger and dominated the game, getting 2 decent goals in the process.

A rare Thursday evening game at Wednesfield v Dudley Town. This was the first time I've seen a goat at a game! They had one tethered behind the goal, I presume it was guarding the bonfire.
The ground was basic, but had a decent old stand with wooden seats.
The game wasn't great, and the visiting keeper dropped a cross in the net for the winning goal.

Another FA Cup match this weekend, as I went to see the lowest ranked side still in the competition - Leiston FC. The Eastern Counties League Premier Division outfit were hosting Lewes, currently bottom of the Conference Premier.
The ground was fairly basic, with a small seated stand on one side and a bit of covered standing opposite. Still, there was more than enough room for the record crowd of 847.The FA Cup was on display, with people queueing up to pay £2 a time to have their picture taken with it (I didn't bother).
Lewes started strongly and got an early penalty, which was blazed miles over the bar. Shortly after the same player put Lewes ahead with a low shot to the corner from the edge of the area. Leiston equalised early in the second half with a cross that went in off the far post, and after that they more than held their own to fully deserve the replay on Tuesday.

Saturday i headed off to Billericay to see the hosts take on Ramsgate in the Ryman Premier League.
First time i'd seen the Rams away this season and dear old Danny Twyman was back in goal for the Rams due to Jack Delo being injured.
Ground ok but nothing out of the ordinary, all 4 sides covered with a very odd postage-stamp size stand next to the clubhouse-changing room area.
First looked to be a nailed-on 0-0 despite a few neat moves by the home side, but the Rams took a lead when a neat finish from Stefan Ball rippled the onion bag in front of the Rams traveling army(somewhat down in numbers and noise today)
The ref was having a nightmare and this gave the home stewards cause to complain in particular,but they were in better spirits when they equalised after 75.
5 mins late a powerful Ryan Royston header put the Rams 2-1 up, but a shambolically awarded last minute penalty- which even the home fans disagreed with-was convereted for a 2-2 draw.
10 mins before ex Margate player-manager Robin Trott was sent off for two ridiculously awarded bookings on his debut for Billericay, but this did go down rather well with the Ramsgate fans anyway.

Sunday was a new country point for me as i headed into Holland after zipping back from 'Ricay with passport in hand to get the overnight coach to Amsterdam.
After checking the fixtures a couple of weeks before, i decided to see the second division match-up between Telstar & Go Ahead Eagles(Deventer)
They used to be called Stormvogels Telstar but the prefix was dropped in July and the club dates back to 1963 and are a year younger to the day than myself !
As you can imagine, it was an interesting morning wandering around Amsterdam as i passed many weird and wonderful sights including the prolific amount of cafes !, but again like most of Europe,the transport system is excellent and after 30 mins i'd arriived at Ijmuden to head for the Sportpark Schoonenberg.
By now it was pissing it down, so i got to the ground an hour before ko and it seemed no-one was in !, but after wandering along a path through a forest area(a'la 1FC Union Berlin) i found the main entrance and had no problems in getting a ticket, 10 Euros for div.2 with a free decent prog as well.
Johnny Metgod's brother was the home coach whilst Marc Overmars(once of gooner fame) was ending his career back home with Go Ahead Eagles.
The main stand was covered(fortunately) with the opposite covered stand,no doubt condemned at the present time as part of both ends had either fallen down or had been destroyed, one open terrace behind the goal was unused, with the opposite terrace had a scaffolding-type stand )covered) in use and this seemed to house home fans.
There was a division in the main stand end, but there didn't appear(or sound) to have any away fans in at all.
Just after i'd gone in, a Telstar fan went in with a guitar in a dustbin bag which was bizarre, but as the team came out, the announcer played ELP's "Peter Gunne" which he rather badly mimed to with his guitar, before the traditional music of "Telstar" by the Tornadoes which gladly for me he didn't ruin, but he did try to have a "go" at "
If you've ever seen MadBill at East Stirling(StPauli Fifer will know him) he could have been his twin, he also had an array of toys(dodgy thing to say in Amsterdam ) with him, namely a Scandanavian small hunting horn and the obligatory quietened down East German horns.
When Telstar attacked, he then decided to charge along the front of the stand(think Barry Fry up and down the touchline) to help out with his Telstar flag and then his Hammer & Sickle flag as well.
First half was pretty good and the hosts went a goal up,before Go Ahead equalised, much to the delight of two officials who sat next but one to me.
Telstar scored another great goal before ending the half 2-1 up.
But mention has to go to the mosit bizarre "scoreboard" i've ever seen.
A hangmans'style noose with a platform each side had ropes attatched to pulleys, but each time a goal was scored, a large white builders' bucket was placed upside down on the platform, quite random.
Telstar scored another great goal and were playing some really attractive football despite their previous 12 games yielding 8 points, before Go Ahead brought on Overmars in the 65th minute.
he got a terrific reception from the home fans(good to see) but couldn't turn the tide despite nearly grabbing a consolation in injury-time with the score final score at 4 buckets to 1.
Dreadful weather, cracking game and a really enjoyable afternoon at this friendly club.

Just spent the evening in arctic conditions at Atherstone Town v Nuneaton Town in the Southern League Cup. A cracking local derby, reasonable atmosphere and a very good ground.
Nuneaton scored early on, but the game finished 1-1 thanks to a good headed equaliser. Atherstone took the lead with another header in extra time before Nuneaton scrambled an equalier to take it to penalties. Nuneaton had one penalty saved and another hit the bar as they lost 4-3 on pens to give Atherstone the local bragging rights. First, and probably only, time I'll see a pitch invasion at a Southern League Cup match.

With tonight's options limited due to postponements I ended up at Wolverhampton Casuals of the West Midlands Regional League for their JW Hunt Cup match v Cradley Town from the Midland Alliance. Although Cradley are only 1 division higher it was a complete mismatch, as the visitors won 8-1. There were no goals in the last 25 minutes as Cradley just couldn't be bothered.
The club was a nice little set up with bar and tea hut. I was glad of the shelter provided by the stand too.

Lads....are you having a "lets see who can watch the most ridiculous football match competition"?

As it doesn't look like I'm going to make it to Brownstock, the weather will decide whether I'm drinking real ale and watching Bazza's Strawberry Mynde in Gosforth or drinking strong tea and watching Team Northumbria v Darlington Railway Athletic in the Northern League Division 2.

West Allotment Celtic, Newcastle Benfield Bay Plastics, Blyth Spartans and Gateshead are all away and NUFC don't play Villa until Monday night.

Today i mqnqged to clock up yet another country point as i headed into Brussels to see the third division game at the famous Royal Union St Gillois as they hosted R.RC.Peruwelz:
One that has been on the radar for a while and it is a cracking old plqce steeped in history:
I went to find the ground early doors and it was a short tram ride to and a short walk up the hill:
Great frontage with brickwork and sets of footballers carved into infill masonry sections; only 10 euros to stand on a cracking steep stepped terrace with numerous crush barriers; around 1200 here today including the visitors who brought about 60.
Union are in trouble near the bottom of the table and it was easy to see why on todays showing as they were truly awful:
Peruwelz scored after 15 as they carved a static defence apart; second half they wasted more glorious chances and ended up just winning 2 nil when it really should hqve been 7
If you are ever in Brussels the Stade Joseph Marion is well worth a visit
An even more enjoyqable day as i have just seen the St Pauli score