Sunderland 2-1 Rennes (Friendly) I’m up early on a Saturday morning to travel north, and to a ground and city, which has long been on my bucket list, one that has far too long been avoided, so I’m keen to get this done. Sunderland is a good three and a bit hours’ drive from my house in the Midlands, and it’s always a place I’ve wanted to visit, and even though I’ve been to its noisy neighbour on many occasions (whose name shall for the good of this content, remain nameless),

Coventry City 2-0 Monaco (Friendly) I’m back in the big time. After Tuesday night’s non-league spectacular, I’ve been sent to Coventry, which AI tells me is to deliberately ostracize, ignore, or refuse to speak to someone. So, no chatting in the stands tonight. Originally a Roman founded fort, Coventry has seen Saxon nunnery’s and Tudor hospitals built upon its land, the town came through the English Civil War and Industrial Age to be bombed by the Germans in both world wars,

Leeds United 2-0 RB Leipzig (Friendly) In 2024, soft drinks company Red Bull (who have their hands in one or two other things) purchased a minority stake in Leeds United to grow their ever-flapping sporting franchise wiiings. As well as having majority stakes in Red Bull Salzburg, New York Red Bulls, Red Bull Bragantino in Brazil, RB Omiya Ardija in Japan, FC Liefering in Austria, and minority stakes now in Leeds and Paris FC, one of the most successful franchises of the well

Ipswich Town 1-0 Le Havre (Friendly) So what do we know about Le Havre? A port city in Normandy on the north coast of northern France, it’s probably as close to Portsmouth as it is to Paris? One of the oldest French football clubs around, Les Ciel et Marine (The Sky & Navy) have been in Ligue 1 since 2023 and were three times national champions during their amateur years at the turn of the twentieth century. Current Head Coach is a former PSG and Middlesbrough midfielder in D

Nottingham Forest 1-0 Porto (UEFA Europa League Quarter Final) Folklore will forever tell us that in 1979 and 1980 Nottingham Forest won back-to-back European Cups. I was too young to witness the early days of Brian Clough’s magnificent historical tenure, but I did get to watch his later years in charge, by which time English clubs were banned from Europe due to the Heysel Stadium disaster. During that time, FC Porto won the first of their two European Cups in 1987, beating

Midtjylland 1-2 Nottingham Forest (UEFA Europa League Round of 16 Second Leg) *0-3 pens aet Mid-Jutland is the central section of Denmark's largest peninsula. Translated to Midtjylland in Danish, the area is home to a team that was only founded as recently as 1999 when both Ikast FS and Herning Fremad joined forces. Based in Herning, Midtjylland are the region's formidable force and are one to be reckoned with amongst Europe's elite, having spent the last 25 years in the Sup

Nottingham Forest 0-1 Midtjylland (UEFA Europa League Round of 16 First Leg) I really wanted to attend more of Nottingham Forest’s Europa League matches this season but at £60 a ticket I’ve been priced out of watching the club I’ve supported for well over 40 years. It’s not just me either? This week, the club came under scrutiny from fans who weren’t prepared to be ripped off, with thousands of unsold tickets ahead of the Reds second home match with Midtjylland this season,

Newcastle United 1-1 Barcelona (UEFA Champions League Round of 16) It was the wife’s birthday over the weekend so no matches for me, luckily the wait is worth it as I was always pencilled in for this biggy between Newcastle and Barcelona in the Champions League. It’s my first UCL game of the season, I usually get a couple each year through UEFA but have had to bide my time as others in my position have been sent to the likes of Anfield and the Etihad whilst I’ve often got G

Nottingham Forest 1-2 Fenerbahce (UEFA Europa League Play Off Round) As a Forest fan and in doing a bit of freelance work for UEFA, I’ve been asking for a Reds Europa League game all season and finally, I’m given one, in truth I known about it well before the first leg win in Istanbul, in Vitor Pereira’s first game (against his old club) his new side put in a brilliant performance, to all but put this tie to bed. Forest won 3-0 in Turkey to give themselves a real advantage t

AC Milan 0-1 Parma (Serie A) San Siro has long been on my bucket list, so when hearing of its devastating potential demolition within the next five years, I said to the Mrs, “We have to pay it a visit before it goes”. So at Christmas, I surprised the wife with a trip to Milan and with it, a couple of tickets to the football which was the only catch for me taking her with me. I chose this game as given the option of Inter or AC who both play at the iconic Stadio Giuseppe Meaz

Nottingham Forest 4-0 Ferencvaros (UEFA Europa League Group Stages) As I don’t often get the chance to watch them, I’ve been looking at ticket prices all week to see my team Nottingham Forest play their final Europa League group stage match of this season, they’ve already qualified for the playoffs, not much riding on this one, so it’s annoying to find out prices are around £60/70 per ticket for what is pretty much a meaningless match. A couple of seasons ago fans were moani

Newcastle United U19 1-5 Benfica U19 (UEFA Youth League Group Stages) It's all going off today. I'm heading north whilst listening in to the radio, Sean Dyche is the new boss of Forest, Danny Rohl announced in charge of Rangers whilst Ian Evatt has got the Blackpool job. West Ham are getting slated on air for last night's dismal performance against Brentford and the outcry from the Maccabi Tel Aviv fan ban by Birmingham (West Midlands) Police has finally ended out of Westmin

Leeds United U21 2-0 Athletic Bilbao u21 (Premier League International Cup Group Stages) I’ve got a bit of man flu. Just coughs and sneezes which I always seem to pick up around this time of year, but that won’t deter me from heading north today, to the city of York, and to watch a Premier League International Cup game between two young sides, Leeds United and Athletic Bilbao. Now, Athletic Club, have always fascinated me, they have a cantera policy (cantera meaning quarry

Derby County 2-0 Atromitos (Friendly) Whisper it quietly, but I’m a Nottingham Forest fan, and today I’m sitting in the Derby County...

Oxford United 1-1 Leganes (Friendly) Only my second game of the month tonight, I’ve been busy cricketing and summer holidaying, so...

Aston Villa 3-0 Club Brugge (UEFA Champions League Round of 16) You can't help but love the game. On a Tuesday night you could be...

Manchester United U21 1-3 Nordsjaelland U21 (Premier League International Cup Group Stages) After the weekend’s defeat against Brighton...

Tottenham Hotspur U21 1-5 Ajax U21 (Premier League International Cup Group Stages) You can’t mention Spurs v Ajax without the name of...

Wolverhampton Wanderers U21 0-1 Valencia U21 (Premier League International Cup Group Stages) It's been a busy week in the world of...

Norwich City U21 2-0 PSV Eindhoven U21 (Premier League International Cup Group Stages) In January I watched a young (or jong) PSV thump...