For the last decade, if not longer, I’ve done an end of year gig survey, giving a bit of an overview of the gigs I’ve attended this year. For the first time since I had a half season-ticket for Gillingham’s glorious promotion winning season of 1999-2000, I’ve attended more football matches than gigs in a calendar year - so I thought, why not rejig the survey for football?
Top 5 games of the year?
- England 2 Germany 1 aet, Wembley, 31st July
- BSG Chemie Leipzig 1 Berliner Dynamo 1, Alfred-Kunze-Sportpark, 13th March
- Arsenal 7 Aston Villa 0, Meadow Park, 1st May
- Germany 4 Denmark 0, Brentford Community Stadium, 8th July
- Arsenal 2 Ajax Amsterdam 2, Meadow Park, 20th September
Total number of matches?
Eleven, first year in ages I’ve hit double digits!
First match of the year?
Chemie Leipzig 1 Berliner Dynamo 1, 13th March
Last match of the year?
Arsenal 1 Everton 0, 3rd December
Most surprising game?
I honestly didn’t expect England to come out on top in the Euro 2022 final!
Most disappointing?
England 0 Czech Republic 0, 11th October. I’ve had hangovers more fun than that.
Farthest travelled?
Alfred-Kunze-Sportpark in Leipzig, 600 miles/1,000 km from my front door.
States attended games in?
Cheerful, grateful, euphoric, drunk, bored, knackered and achy.
Stadium most visited?
Amex/Falmer Community stadium in Brighton and Meadow Park in London, both three times.
Worst injury?
I had a horrible attack of hay-fever during the second half of the Germany vs Denmark game that sent me scrambling for antihistamines in a nearby Sainsburys afterwards. This was mid July, in the middle of a hot spell that I thought had burnt up all plant life in the country, and after not being affected by hay-fever all year prior to that I thought I was safe - evidently not!
Most expensive ticket?
The Euro 2022 final ticket was £25, that was my highest. The perks of watching women’s football! (Or 4th tier German men’s football)
Player seen the most?
I saw Lena Oberdorf play four times for club and country - the first two, in club colours, I didn’t really appreciate her style, but I came around quickly after she tucked Pernille Harder in her pocket for Germany! I think Leah Williamson and Beth Mead top her with six appearances apiece. Shoutout to Karen Holmgaard who was the only player I saw play twice for two different clubs - Turbine Potsdam in May, and Everton in December. She didn’t make it off the bench for Germany’s massacre of Denmark, otherwise I would’ve seen her play three times for three different teams, with a combined scoreline of 0-9 in those games!
Best new discovery?
Definitely Lena Oberdorf! Her tough-tackling style, complete with Wob buying up two of my other favourite German players (Merle Frohms and Jule Brand), plus my partner being in awe of Wassmuth’s cheekbones and Jonsdottir’s...general awesomness, means that I’ve been streaming more Wolfsburg games than I expected this autumn.
Bands seen this year that also broke up this year?
I’m not sure how to make this football related, but I’m open to suggestions.
Friends made at games?
I don’t know if they count, as I knew Joel online before the matches, but in May I flew to Cologne all alone for the German cup final (Wolfsburg vs Turbine Potsdam). A 50,000 seater stadium, and I knew only one other person there. Walking out of the toilets before the match, guess who I bump into? We sat together and had a great time, even if the result didn’t go our way. Two months later, having sat with Jamie, Mary, Adam and friends before the match, I made my way around the Wembley concourse to find my gate for the Euros final when I hear my name shouted from a queue. Guess who it was?!
Footballers met?
Tricky, in this post-COVID era, and with the general increase in popularity of the women’s game this will become rarer. But after the Arsenal vs Villa game at the end of last season I met and got a photo with then-England keeper Hannah Hampton - a player I’ve both enjoyed and been frustrated by watching whenever she’s played against a team I like.
Best souvenir from a game?
My Chemie Leipzig scarf is soft, comfortable, and confuses the heck out of people as it’s green and white. (”Who’s that? Celtic? Plymouth? Yeovil? St Etienne?”)
Longest time in line?
Aside from Wembley, I’ve had very little queuing.
Games seen from the front row?
Arsenal’s games at Meadow Park I’ve seen from my favoured spot on the front row of the northern terraces. I was pretty far forward for the Wolfsburg vs Turbine game and as a consequence couldn’t see much action in the opposite goalmouth.
Most games in one month?
July had four, a result of my country hosting an international tournament.
Most games in one week?
Two! Austria vs Norway and England vs Spain within five days of each other.
Biggest crowd?
Wembley, for the Euros final! 87,192 in attendance, the largest crowd for a European Championship game ever, of any gender.
Any drunk encounters?
I took advantage of being able to drink beer in the stands at the two games in Germany. The England vs Czech Republic game was so dull I made good use of Harvey’s being on tap in the lounge nearby, too. I also had a fun encounter with a drunk Portsmouth fan at the England vs Spain game.
Top 5 best 2022 footballing moments:
1. There were three iconic goals that did the advancement of the women’s game in England no end of good this summer, and I witness two of them in person! Chloe Kelly’s winner against Germany in the goalmouth at my end in the final is an obvious one, as well as Russo’s cheeky backheel in the semi. But Ella Toone’s equaliser in the quarter final against Spain was just as important. This was the first of four quarter final matches, and after a rampaging group stage the Lionesses had really captured the attention of the country. Had they gone out the first time they played a decent team it would’ve deflated the mood; attendances probably would’ve dropped, the usual sexist bores would’ve trumpeted the usual remarks, and it would not have come home. With Toone’s header - and Stanway’s winner - they really got the country behind them!
2. For sheer luck, bumping into the same person in crowds of 50,000 and 87,000 on separate occasions was great!
3. Chatting to a drunk Portsmouth fan next to me at the England vs Spain game. I was wearing an old Germany away shirt, for fun.
"So, <cod 'allo 'allo style accent>, ver you 'oping vor Germany tonight?"
Me: "No, my friends thought it would be funny if I wore a Germany shirt to the game."
After discussing the tournament so far: "What was the last club match you went to?" "Wolfsburg vs Turbine Potsdam in the German cup final" "Is that your team then, Wolfsburg?" "Nah, I'm a Gillingham fan!" I genuinely think I broke him.
Me: "Weird seeing a match from this angle, it's like a Football Manager game!" Him: "Dare I ask which team you're managing?" "Pisa, in Italy" "You fascinate me, man"
4. On the subject of Football Manager - in March 2020, Red Bull Leipzig were getting a lot of puff pieces in the English press, as they were due to play Spurs in the Champions League, and so the media were fawning all over how they had bought out a village team, renamed them after a soft drink and shovelled millions into the club built a team up from nothing to be title contenders. When lockdown hit, and I was bored, rather than spend my time improving myself as a person I decided to prove that it could be done properly - I took over an actual Leipzig side, then languishing in the 5th tier, and with only my skills and no influx of cash beyond what I could earn from promotions and player sales, tried to make them bigger than Red Bull. In that save my Chemie Leipzig side have won ten times more league titles and four more Champions League than RB. In real life, they’re in the German 4th tier, but while nearby on holiday in March I took advantage of the fixtures and went to see them grind out a 1-1 draw against the league leaders. It was cold, I missed both goals queuing for beer, but the atmosphere was amazing and I was so glad I got to see my beautiful football boys in the flesh!
5. Steve Evans and Gillingham parted ways. I had been boycotting my childhood club while that odious crook was in charge, so I was glad to call myself a Gills fan again.
6. BONUS! While on a run in a tiny Czech industrial town I found the football stadium. And broke in (went through an open gate) to take a picture of me in the main stand!
Top 3 worst 2022 footballing moments:
1. Prasnikar’s goal for Frankfurt against Potsdam in the league at the end of May. A point for Potsdam would’ve probably seen them qualify for the Champions League - the influx of cash certainly would’ve helped keep the team together. Instead, following a 4-0 hammering in the cup final, a large number of players left, to be replaced by recruits from the 3rd division; they were followed by the manager and president. Turbine are now bottom of the league, and this once great club who play in blue and white are now odds-on for relegation. Remove the “once great” part and it could describe Gillingham’s season too - clearly I have a type!
2. I regret wearing my Germany shirt to the Wembley final.
3. I regret going out into the cold to watch England 0 Czech Republic 0.
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