Lionesses.

Brighton v Leicester. Sunday 4th September.

“The thing about football
the important thing
about football – is that
it is not just about football.” Terry Pratchett.

A hot Sunday afternoon in September saw a resounding 5-2 win to home team Brighton. Controversial VAR aside, it was uplifting to see old and young, singles and couples and loads of families all united in enjoying the beautiful game.

Nottingham. England.

Great road trip to Nottingham last weekend.

There was the lace quarter.

And Robin Hood of course…

Lord Byron had a presence apparently .

We wandered the Christmas market , the canals and some great vintage shops.

Goosegate- location of Nottingham’s Goose Fair.

There were buskers- good and bad…

Best purchase? Moonshine

Iconic moment? Meeting up with football legend Brian Clough.

Although I had never been, I had never rated Nottingham. How wrong I was. We had a fabulous day!

Brighton Hove Albion v Newcastle. Saturday 6 November 2021.

‘Oh Sussex, Sussex by the Sea!
Good old Sussex by the Sea!
You may tell them all we stand or fall,
For Sussex by the Sea.’

The Brighton/ Newcastle game at home at the Amex Stadium, was my first Premier League football game and I was filled with both a sense of county pride and being a part of something, as fans sang a rousing rendition of Sussex by the Sea, Brighton’s Anthem, prior to kick off.

Whenever it’s played, Sussex by the Sea binds Seagulls fans everywhere into more than a century of pride in Albion and Sussex history.

We didn’t win against Newcastle, it was a draw, but whatever the score, nothing will take away the excitement at being at a Premier League match, with all the accompanying atmosphere and excitement of the moment.

Over the Moon.

Not over the moon but under it. Eastbourne Borough Under 18s last night at their 1-0 home win against visitors Hastings.

Newhaven FC.

Followers of my blog will know that I’m a bit of a football fan. They will also know that I like local football grounds. Lockdown has meant that instead of international travel we’ve been rediscovering our local area over the past year. Today took us over to Newhaven in East Sussex- another stretch of the coastline that I’ll cover in another blog.

Today’s picnic stop was by Newhaven Football Club grounds.

Newhaven FC is one of the oldest clubs in Sussex, and was formed by the Towner family who were brewers in the town during the latter 19th century, plus some of their enthusiastic friends. A meeting took place at the Bridge Hotel in December 1887 when it decided to form the Club and 20 members signed up on the day.

About Newhaven Football Club

They play in the Southern CombinationPremier Division. Unfortunately, as with the majority of local clubs the 2019- 2020 season was abandoned. Hoping for better things for 2021- 2022.

When things don’t quite work out.

I am on annual leave these last two weeks of January 2021. Like a lot of other people during this pandemic, I should have been elsewhere in the world. So we had to re-think. Plan B was a road trip to take in a few of these:

Then a third lockdown has meant staying in our home town. So plan C came into force and we took a walk and did these:

Eastbourne Borough, Eastbourne Town and Eastbourne United.

His and Hers.

Opposite ends of a table. Both working at home. His reading material football stadiums and walking guides. Her’s travel book and the Avon catalogue. Both with reading glasses strategically placed. Couple of a certain age.

American Express and Seagulls.

I was working at the American Express Community stadium recently, Falmer, Brighton. The Stadium, known as the American Express Community Stadium, or colloquially as the Amex, is the home of Brighton and Hove Albion FC (The Seagulls). It hosted Premier League football for the first time in August 2017, following Albion’s promotion at the end of the 2016-2017 season. It was however also it designed to allow hosting for other sports and events and hosted some matches from the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Took myself off for a sneaky little solo tour during the lunch break:

‘The Beautiful Game’

Football.

I think the best place to work in football is England.

(José MourinhoPortuguese football manager)

And here are grounds from my football journey around England this year.

From Premier League (Southampton, Brighton and Leicester City) to the Isthmian League Division One South (Lewes) down to East Midlands Counties League (Barrow Town) football unites our country and our sense of national identity.