55 football nations in one season!

[AnelZ]

With GOŠK playing the Premier League as well this season, you have now more options when it comes to matches near border as the stadium of GOŠK is just around 3 kilometers from the Croatia border and town of Metković. But then again, it is only on the way if you are going to watch Hajduk in Croatia then go to Gabela for GOŠK but then you could hit a brick wall if you want to go further to Montenegro as connections from Herzegovina or Dalmatia to Montenegro are pretty scarce, with lines to Montenegro being common from Sarajevo or Serbia. Radnik from Bijeljina could be a good choice as it is very near the border of Serbia and I'm quite sure there are regular bus lines to and from Belgrade. But both GOŠK and Radnik don't really have organized following with less then 500 people watching them on the stadium per match. It can be somewhat more if Sarajevo or Željezničar are comming to Bijeljina or Zrinjski and eventually Široki Brijeg to Gabela. Not sure if Borac would gather some more people on the stadium when they are away to Bijeljina.

[Executor]

Your exploits were presented today in Gazeta Sporturilor: LINK.

There is also a very nice photo gallery, a real treat for us football fans.

I was a bit surprised you chose Juventus Bucharest - OSK Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe as one of the games from our Liga I, due to the extremely low attendance level of the home games of Juventus, but on the other hand, I am glad that the stadium from Ploiești, my home town, will be featured in your book. Which, by the way, I am very interested to buy. Because it's basically real life tour of Europe's football, in contrast with the virtual ones we do here regularly.

Have fun with the remaining games!

[55footballnations]

Thanks Executor for your support. Glad you like my photos from the first 22 of the 55 Football Nations. More are on www.55footballnations.com

My Romanian games (Juventus Bucharest, FCSB) were chosen as they were the most convenient coming from Moldova. I had originally planned to watch Botoșani v Dinamo, but the match - which turned out to be a nil nil - was played on a Monday night. I actually enjoyed the Juventus match more than watching FCSB at the spectacular National Arena, it was close and it clearly meant a lot to the 'home team' to secure their first win of the season. And the Sepsi fans made me laugh!

[Todor]

Thanks Executor for your support. Glad you like my photos from the first 22 of the 55 Football Nations. More are on http://www.55footballnations.com

My Romanian games (Juventus Bucharest, FCSB) were chosen as they were the most convenient coming from Moldova. I had originally planned to watch Botoșani v Dinamo, but the match - which turned out to be a nil nil - was played on a Monday night. I actually enjoyed the Juventus match more than watching FCSB at the spectacular National Arena, it was close and it clearly meant a lot to the 'home team' to secure their first win of the season. And the Sepsi fans made me laugh!

How did you choose your Bulgarian match and what did you travel to and from Plovdiv, if not a secret?

[55footballnations]

Hi Todor,

No secrets, I explained to Meridian Match when I was in Bulgaria.

I travelled from Istanbul/Edirne to Plovdiv and then on to Kruševac in Serbia to watch Napredak v Red Star. Plovdiv was a convenient base for a few days and a pretty nice town. I'm trying to experience football outside the biggest cities where possible. I didn't get a classic when Lokomotiv played Septemvri, but that's football!

I keep my plans updated - they change every couple of days - at www.55footballnations.com/schedule/

[AlanK]

Hi Todor,

No secrets, I explained to Meridian Match when I was in Bulgaria.

I travelled from Istanbul/Edirne to Plovdiv and then on to Kruševac in Serbia to watch Napredak v Red Star. Plovdiv was a convenient base for a few days and a pretty nice town. I'm trying to experience football outside the biggest cities where possible. I didn't get a classic when Lokomotiv played Septemvri, but that's football!

I keep my plans updated - they change every couple of days - at http://www.55footballnations.com/schedule/

@55footballnations": Just wanted to make sure that you know about the way schedules work in the Spanish league. I saw that the game you plan to see in Spain is Málaga-Sevilla, listed as 28 Feb. The actual date of that game will not be decided until MUCH later--it could be on 27 or 28 Feb. or 1 March. Whenever it turns out to be, hope you get to go and enjoy it.

[55footballnations]

@AlanK - thanks for the advice. I normally spend 2-3 days in each city - partly because games can get moved for television so soon to matchdays and also to get more of a feel for a place - so I should be alright in Spain, especially as I will be travelling from nearby Gibraltar.

[AlanK]

@AlanK - thanks for the advice. I normally spend 2-3 days in each city - partly because games can get moved for television so soon to matchdays and also to get more of a feel for a place - so I should be alright in Spain, especially as I will be travelling from nearby Gibraltar.

I made the trip from Gibralter (well, you couldn't exactly do that back then, so it was from La Línea) to Málaga by bus in . . . 1972 to attend the Costa del Sol summer tournament (participants: Partizan, Vasas, Nacional of Montevideo, Málaga). It was a very long bus ride . . . probably a bit more comfortable now. Haven't been in Málaga since then

[55footballnations]

Thanks again for advice from this forum. 55 Football Nations hit the television screens in Poland (www.55footballnations.com/2017/12/19/polish-tv). Only 24 football nations left to go!

[matt]

Today 55 Football Nations is in Italy, in order to watch Crotone - Atalanta.

[55footballnations]

Today 55 Football Nations is in Italy, in order to watch Crotone - Atalanta.

Quite an experience. You can watch the Rai 2 film about my journey at:

http://55footballnations.com/2018/02/14/italian-tv/

[Thunder_PT]

Now in Portugal, FC Porto vs. Sporting last night, Vitória de Guimarães vs. Belenenses tomorrow. Looking forward to read how it was.

[55footballnations]

Now in Portugal, FC Porto vs. Sporting last night, Vitória de Guimarães vs. Belenenses tomorrow. Looking forward to read how it was.

I've put some photos up from Spain and Portugal (http://55footballnations.com/2018/03/22/spain-portugal/) on my website. No cameras allowed at matches in Portugal - I was lucky even to get my camera into a bonus second division match at Varzim (attendance: c700). You would think they would want the publicity!

Only 5 football nations left - Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro - to complete the challenge.

[Thunder_PT]

Now in Portugal, FC Porto vs. Sporting last night, Vitória de Guimarães vs. Belenenses tomorrow. Looking forward to read how it was.

I've put some photos up from Spain and Portugal (http://55footballnations.com/2018/03/22/spain-portugal/) on my website. No cameras allowed at matches in Portugal - I was lucky even to get my camera into a bonus second division match at Varzim (attendance: c700). You would think they would want the publicity!

Only 5 football nations left - Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro - to complete the challenge.

Nice! Surprised to see a handful of Santa Clara fans in the Varzim game, but I bet they're uni students somewhere in Northern Portugal, even if flights from the Azores are a lot cheaper now, that'd be some serious commitment.

Hope you enjoyed!

[AnelZ]

So Čelik - Borac and Sarajevo - Široki Brijeg for Bosnia and Herzegovina. I don't expect any high attendance in the match between Čelik and Borac as Čelik is almost doomed to get relegated this year, first time since independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina. But at least it is a nice stadium on which the national team plays its matches. Sarajevo - Široki Brijeg has some animosity between them because of the case from fall 2009 so it attracts more people then other games but the overall attendance will depend greatly from the derby between Sarajevo and Željezničar which is on schedule the round before that one as Sarajevo isn't really playing great so wins are needed to bring back the people on the stands. Koševo is the largest stadium in the country although it quite bad shape, the 1984 Winter Olympics were opened on it. If you have any desire to visit Grbavica stadium which has quite a history just as FK Željezničar maybe you could contact the club and get permission to enter it (if not able to get response from the club in time probably 1921.ba could be of help as it is runned by fans of the club who have close ties with the management).