Worksop Town 5-0 King’s Lynn Town (National League North) So, Harry Kane has won the Balon d’Or. I remember sitting at Wembley around seven or eight years ago watching him play, thinking to myself ‘he’s the best striker I’ve ever seen in an England shirt’ and wondering why he gets little recognition despite his ridiculous goals returns? I suppose the longer he’s been doing his business, the harder it has been to ignore, a deserved award for a humble and elegant footballer tha

Nottingham Forest 2-2 Newcastle United (Women’s Super League 2) I don’t get paid a lot for watching women’s football, but it pays better than working eight hours at McDonalds and when Forest are at home it only takes three hours out of my day. The agreement with the wife is I work a Sunday and that money goes towards shopping, I also get out of going to the shops, a no brainer? I watched Newcastle play for the first time on Wednesday at Everton and was impressed all be it in

Boreham Wood 4-0 AFC Fylde (National League) It's Ladies Day today. Free entrance for all women who get a complimentary cocktail at the Glasshouse on arrival. Yet another inclusive modern marketing introduction from a small non league club who are trying their best to appeal to the wider audience. Boreham Wood are flying in their division, top of the table with already clear space beneath them but gates are often under 2,000 in these parts. Another relatively small club AFC F

Celtic 1-2 Celta Vigo (UEFA Europa League Group Stages) I've woken up in a hotel room in Liverpool preparing myself for a long day of travelling up to Glasgow for tonight's Europa League match. They often send me to Scotland as we've a lack of scouts north of the border. I don't mind chipping in and the fuel money is good, let's hope the football is something to enjoy too. Celtic have been hit and miss this season so far. After winning the title last season in dramatic last

Everton 2-0 Newcastle United (Women’s Super League Cup Group Stages) I’ll be honest, I was really sad when I heard that Everton Football Club were leaving Goodison Park, one of the great traditional homes of the English game. Granted, the Hill Dickinson is the real deal, stunning, modern and gorgeous looking set glowing on the banks of the Mersey and one day the new place will be as iconic as the old, and I get there comes a point in life where yes, you have to move on, but t

Anstey Nomads 0-3 Macclesfield (FA Cup Fourth Qualifying Round Replay) I keep saying I’m not coming back, but here I am. Returning sooner than expected due to these two teams drawing at the weekend. I was supposed to be at Quorn v Bury and was looking very much forward to it, but Bury drew their FA Cup game on Saturday with Harrogate and they are also replaying tonight, the closest alternative after re-arrangements to fixtures is little more than 6 miles south of my original

Buxton 2-2 Worksop Town (National League North) It’s been a while since I have been up here, I previously stated that it might even be the highest ground in England, although I have since found out ‘unofficially’ there are 34 football pitches even higher up the hills than Silverlands (which stands apparently 1,027ft above sea level), the Wearhead Ground in Durham at 1,594 feet is home of Wearhead United and said to be the highest of all, a good 567 feet above the hilltop home

Anstey Nomads 3-2 Rushall Olympic (Southern League Central Division) Whisper it quietly, but I’m back at Anstey. After saying I might not be that keen to come back here (in my last blog visit) anytime soon, I return less than 3 weeks from making my Cropston Road debut, this time in search of a better pew. It’s not that it’s a bad ground, it has lots of character and is very likeable on the eye, a bigger plus is that it’s easy for me to get to, but venues lacking side on seats

Boston United 1-2 Southend United (National League) I tried attending this very match in January 2025 (you can read my short blog about it here). It lasted all of seven minutes until the Referee on the night, abandoned proceedings due to thick fog. Prior to that, the last time I watched Southend United in action, Ricky Otto was in the side. It’s been a while. I’ve read on Twitter via Boston’s stats guru Christian James (who you can follow here) that the Pilgrims and the Shrim

Nottingham Forest 2-0 Burnley (Women's Super League 2) I'm back at the City Ground for the third time this season, Forest are going well in WSL 2 unbeaten in their opening four games so far but with three draws including last time out on the road at Southampton. Burnley I last watched here a couple of seasons ago, promoted from the National League North in the summer they are still looking for a first league win in the second tier after two draws and two defeats so far. I was

Harrogate Town 3-0 Hornchurch (National League) A spa town famed for its water, the home of Bettys Tea Rooms, the heart of Yorkshire, it’s one I’ve passed through on occasion, I may have even stopped off here once, but other than a quick passing by of the Marcy Fitness Stadium on Wetherby Road, it’s a ground I’ve not yet been to, so I’m excited to chalk this one off my list. Last year I watched Harrogate Town in an FA Cup defeat at Mansfield, by then already they looked a sor

Ilkeston Town 0-1 Warrington Rylands (Northern Premier League) It’s been a tricky season for Ilkeston Town. A couple of lads who I have previously worked with in football, Aaron Large and Triss Whitman, got the Robins job in the summer, two young coaches who made the leap from United Counties League side Hucknall Town (in step 5) to the third tier of the non-league game, I always felt it was going to be a tough ask, but they know ball, give them time they’ll get it right, I j

Nottingham Forest 0-2 Aston Villa (Women’s Super League Cup Group Stages) The Subway Players Cup is a competition involving 23 Women’s Super League and WSL2 sides (Manchester City, Arsenal & Chelsea aren’t appearing this season due to their European commitments) and after ditching the four team group formats of previous campaigns, this year will see the in trend Swiss model being used, a watered down copy cat of the UEFA Champions League format, but with another twist, draws

Anstey Nomads 2-2 Alvechurch (Southern League Central Division) As it goes, I know little about either team… Even though I probably should know more, neither is that far from my home in distance, Alvechurch is 64 miles from Nottingham over in the West Midlands, Anstey just a 30-minute drive south of my house, both have played in the local leagues, but both largely at steps 4 & 5 which is why I haven’t perhaps crossed paths until now. I might have even played against Anstey No

Emley 0-4 Spennymoor Town (FA Cup Second Qualifying Round) It’s been fifteen years since I last visited Emley’s Welfare Ground, a then scouting mission to watch Stocksbridge Park Steels in the Sheffield Senior Cup, I remember the game because my report wasn’t needed in the end as the cold wet snap put pay to our following weekends fixture, but I recollect sitting in the old Main Stand looking out towards the Emley Moor tower underneath dark chilly skies hearing the deep thud

Nottingham Forest 2-2 Watford (Women’s Super League 2) I’ve got an agreement with the wife. If I work Sundays, a proportion of the money I make goes to her and is (I’m told) put towards our weeks shopping. So with that in mind, and with the City Ground just a couple of miles away from my house, I see covering Nottingham Forest’s first home match of the season against Watford, as a bit of easy, extra shopping money for our household. I was here for the Forest women’s last matc

Boston United 1-3 Wealdstone (National League) It’s been a while, the last day of last season saw Boston beat Hartlepool United 3-1 and I was at the Jakemans Stadium that spring afternoon in April but haven’t been back since, a ground I have frequented no less than 34 times in the last four or five years (according to my Futbology app) is one that I’m returning to after almost five months away, all of six games into this latest National League campaign. It’s been a tricky tes

Swindon Supermarine 3-1 Winslow United (FA Cup First Qualifying Round Replay) I’ve always been fascinated by the name the Swindon Supermarine. The club originates from a merger between Swindon Athletic and Supermarine FC in 1992, before that the Marine founded their football arm in 1946 as Vickers Armstrong which was a social club associated with the Supermarine Aircraft company which made planes during the second world war, in 1983 the club decided to adopt the name Supermar

Boreham Wood 2-1 Carlisle United (National League) I’ve been looking to chalk off Meadow Park for a while now, not just because I’m yet to visit the home of Boreham Wood, but because their team under Luke Garrard has over the last couple of years became one of the most attractive football teams in the National League to watch. Abdul Abdulmalik was recently sold by the club to Swedish top tier team Djugardens for a non-league record £1.5m which surpasses the £1m Leicester City

Quorn 2-1 Shepshed Dynamo (FA Cup First Qualifying Round) It’s a Leicestershire derby in the FA Cup first qualifying round on a Friday night for some reason? I’ve checked both SKY & TNT but I don’t think this one’s been moved to be screened on live TV? Martin O’Neill once managed Shepshed Charterhouse who became Dynamo in 1994 thanks to some much needed financial help from another local club, Loughborough Dynamo who’s ground sits between Shepshed’s Dovecote Stadium (located o