In the blogs on Sri Lanka, I have described some of the frustrations and difficulties in the country. It is true that there are too many people trying to feed off too few tourists, and so the attentions of the touts is a problem, and it is true that the ever present security in the city can present the impression that there is still an ever present threat to security – but while there are many checks, they are generally cursory, and the soldiers are very polite about telling you where you are allowed to, (or not allowed to) take photographs. Overall, it is hard to name a country where the locals are friendlier than they are Sri Lanka.

Friendly, the locals may be – but enthused by the AFC Challenge Cup they were not. The competition was billed as the biggest football event ever in Sri Lanka – but the bills were not placed where people could see them. This is the third AFC Challenge Cup, with the tournament heading South through the Indian sub-continent each time. The first tournament was played in Bangladesh in front of some quite good attendances. The second, in India was met with poor crowds in Hyderabad, but was somewhat redeemed when heavy rain forced the final to be switched to New Delhi, where 10,000 watched the home side win the tournament. This time, with no hosts involved, it will be a surprise if the final crowds reach the four figure mark.

This is a pity, as the final match could well deserve a much bigger audience. I was disappointed with North Korea in their opening game, feeling that by playing a youthful side rather than the full World Cup squad, they might be damaging their chances of using the occasion to qualify for next year’s Asian Cup finals. Indeed, in the first game they struggled to make an impact against Turkmenistan, but in the second game the opened up and increased in confidence as they put four goals past Kyrgyzstan. In the third group game, they easily beat India, and in the semi-final put five past Myanmar. Turkmenistan, on the other hand have played all the games I saw in the same way as the opening match. At times dour, and always more than willing to bend a rule or waste more than a little time, they have made a functional route to the final. After the opening draw with the Koreans, both India and Kyrgyzstan were beaten in single goal games. Neither was particularly pretty, and Kyrgyzstan had more than one opportunity to remove them from the contest. The surprise in the semi-final, when they played Tajikistan was they managed to score more than a single goal.

Hence when they meet in the final, neither Turkmenistan, nor North Korea will have conceded a goal since they played each other in their first match. The title will depend on whether or not Turkmenistan can resist the more inventive and fluid North Korean side. If they can, then I would think they could eventually find a chance of their own. North Korea will start as favourites for the match, and I am sure they can win the game if they score early. The longer the match can go on scoreless, they better the chances of Turkmenistan will be. It will be a good test of Korean stamina if the game goes into extra time.

Before the main event, Tajikistan will play Myanmar for third place. They met in the final game in their group, with Myanmar practically guaranteed a place in the semi-finals before the game started. As the scores came through from the other game, and it became clear nothing could stop Myanmar going through, they did not appear to try to head to stop Tajikistan. The result was a 3-0 win for the central Asian side. Although Myanmar will be trying harder, I believe that Tajikistan will again be too much for them. This match does have an importance if the AFC keep to their recent record of giving the top three sides exemption to the next edition of the contest.

What lessons have been learnt from this tournament? The AFC need to realise that the people will not come just because you put on a tournament. They need to add a bit of a show, a bit of razzamatazz to get the locals interested. Especially if the tournament is to be staged in the territory of another sport. For this competition, there was so little advanced publicity that even the tourist office at the airport claimed definitively that there was no football tournament being played in the country. The local press reported on Sri Lankan games only, and even then only briefly. The second stadium used was a very late choice, and not really up to the job. Clearly they did not realise that the matches there would attract the few football tourists here, and that there would be a press presence, even if it was limited to the Press Association man hired by the AFC themselves. Playing in February, (the last two tournaments were in April) means that half the teams come in from freezing conditions having not started their regular seasons. Having said this, these teams (from Central Asia and Korea), turned out to be better organised than those from further south. It did not help the cause of India that they only brought along their under-23 team. Having allowed this, the AFC allowed the devaluation of the competition. The Sri Lankan side was not technically under strength, but suffered from the decision of the local association after failings in other competitions to put all their most experienced players out to grass, and bring in less experienced youngsters in their place. For both India and Sri Lanka this meant they had a team that could not compete, although in Sri Lanka’s case, it is unlikely that any XI they could put out would have been competitive.

In the future, the AFC should make sure that the full teams are sent out to play, but they also need to put their own house in order. The AFC can find sponsors for its signature events, the Asian Cup and Champions League; they need to persuade some of these to pay a little attention to their other competitions. They need to work with the local organising committees to see that not only the main event is organised, but also that the event gets into the spotlight in the host country.

The Kyrgyzstan coached promised afterwards that “the Result does not mean the end of our participation in this competition, the final game will be important”. The weather has proved a difficult opponent from the central Asian team, even though they had a training camp in Bahrain before coming here.

In the second match of the night, the defensive minded Turkmenistan beat India by a single goal. However, with the exception of a free kick in injury time at the end of the game, India’s chances were limited and Turkmenistan was always in charge of the game. Turkmenistan had a chance in the 16^th minute when Merdeov shot over the bar and was awarded a penalty just before the half way mark when the same player was brought down by Debabrata Roy. Maedaly’s spot kick just squeezed inside the post to open the scoring. Although Turkmenistan were to dominate possession for the rest of the game, their tactics were mainly to slow the game down creating few chances, while in goal, Bayram would also hold onto the ball until challenged. There was a clash of heads between Turkmenistan’s Azat Garajeyev and India’s Jewel Raja in the 52^nd minute. Both players went off the field to have bandages wound around the wounds. Garajayev was surprised when trying to return to the field to find he been substituted while his back as turned (by Nazar), while Jewel Raja did return to the field after a couple of minutes. Good work by Ruslan on the right side set up a chance which neither Guvanch or Mamedaly could convert as the ball bobbled across the area in the 72^nd minute, allowing India to eventually bundle the ball away. India’s slim pickings were reduced further when Bebabrata Roy stopped Ruslan from proceeding down the right wing with a potential dangerous high kick. This earned the Indian player his second yellow card, and would have left them exposed at the back had they not brought on Gurwinder Singh in place of forward Jeje Lalpekhlua. India had been warming up an attacker to come on, but this opportunity was lost. With the Turkmenistan team holding possession well, it was a surprise when India got a last minute chance, Balwant Singh being fouled just outside the penalty area. However, any hope that the Indian’s would come away with an unexpected draw was lost as Guvanch sent the kick high and wide into the night sky.

When questioned as to whether this team was good enough for this competition, coach Sukvinder Singh said that the experience would help the under-23 team in the forthcoming Asian Games, while the first team were in a training camp for the Asian games in Qatar next January. For Turkmenistan, the coach said “thank you to all his players for their efficient play”, he also criticised the referee without specifying any individual incident he was unhappy with.

The results mean that North Korea and Turkmenistan both go into the final game with 4 points, Kyrgyzstan have three, while India have lost both games and cannot reach the semi-finals. North Korea have shown they play an open game, and should easily prove too much for India. Turkmenistan may well try and tie up their final game, as a draw would see them in the semis. Kyrgyzstan need to beat them to go through. Before that, in Group A, Sri Lanka have lost twice, but they are not quite out. Should they beat Bangladesh in their third game, and Myanmar can pick up their third victory when playing Takijistan, then there will be a three way tie on three points, for second place behind Myanmar. If however, the opposite results apply, with Bangladesh and Tajikistan winning on the final day, then Bangladesh, Tajikistan and Myanmar will be in a three way tie on six points, all ahead of the hosts.

Hindu Gods

It was with this in mind that we selected the Myanmar v Tajikistan as our Saturday game. The decision was helped by the fact that this was one of the only two games being staged at the Ceylonese Rugby and Football Club grounds, the alternate venue to allow the final series of games to go ahead together. My morning was spent on a trip to the National Museum, with a short stop at the Gangramaya Temple on the way back. The national museum in a classic white building, from the height of the Empire, in 1877. Many of the artefacts contained within go back to before the coming of the Europeans, and there is no shortage of stone carvings of the Buddha or of various Hindu gods. It is well laid out, but it was not one of these buildings that has developed a natural coolness. I found myself increasing drawn to stand in front of the fans. The temple was also worth a visit, set on a short pier into the southern section of Beira Lake

When we arrived at the Ceylonese Rugby and Football Club, we found our movement very limited. AFC officials were on hand to try and keep the crowd to the modern stand behind on goal. The bar on the lower floor was out of bounds, as we were not club members, while a refreshment point, served through a hatch on the terrace of an old stand along the side was also kept out of bounds by the AFC people. Except for the groundhoppers, (five English and one Luxembourger, who apparently has seen around 690 International matches in 164 countries over 60 years), the ground consisted mainly of officials of other clubs, and a party of about 50 local schoolchildren and their teachers. Apart from the new and old stands, there was a small structure near the halfway line opposite the old stand, which looked as if it was supposed to be a press stand (actually occupied by the match commissioner), and a small shed at the far end occupied only by security personnel.

The views were not bad, but it is never ideal to watch a game from behind the goal

In the early part of the game, it appeared that Myanmar were the better team, and could win at a canter, with a good chance in the 10^th minute, when Tiychiev had to save from Aung Kyaw Moe, who was set up by a short pass from Myo Min Tun. Myo Min Tun himself had a fine chance in the 32^nd minute, running down the right channel, but again was foiled to Tunichiev

Tunichiev stops Myo Min Tun.

Tajikistan v Myanmar

A minute later the game turned on after a hand ball by Myanmar just outside the penalty area. Ibragim Rabinov stepped up to take the kick, and send it into the far corner of the net

Tajikistan first goal from Rabimov (7 – left)

At the start of the second half, I sneaked around to the old stand in order to take a picture showing the new stand

The new stand has around 400 seats, The lower level is a members only bar.

Fortunately for civilisation, I was soon apprehended by a member of the AFC super police, and ushered back to the stand. As I was about to take my seat, in the 53^rd minute, Tajikistan crashed a shot against the bar, the ball coming out to give Khakimov the simplest of headers for 2-0, Aung Aung Oo, the Myanmar keeper for the game got a hand to the ball, but could not stop it. One had the impression that Myanmar knew that Sri Lanka were unexpectedly 2-0 up at half time in their game, and that Bangladesh had lost their goalkeeper to a red card. This meant that no further change in either score would result in both Tajikistan and Myanmar reaching the semi-finals. Tajikistan remained in almost complete control, with Ergashev heading just wide from a 68^th minute corner, and a third goal added two minutes from time. On this occasion, Rabimov’s shot from long range was parried by Aung Aung Oo, leaving Yusuf Rabiev to pick up the loose ball, control it and direct it into the net. It could even have been four as Rabiev set up a good chance for Saidov in the final minute.

After the game, we wandered up the road, past a whole row of different cricket grounds. The fourth was the Gymkhana Club, and this had some action on it. Not a full scale cricket match it was true, but a local six-a-side tournament. We entered the ground and made our way up to the bar, where we were pleased to see an open policy of allowing us to buy drinks. We sat and watched the final, and applauded the teams at the presentation. Six-a-side cricket appears to be about wild swings at the ball, plenty of boundaries, but also catches at the boundaries and some rather foolish run-outs. A great time appeared to be had by all.

Playing with a tennis ball, the players need no protective equipment, and this is the first time I have watched a cricket game where the batsman has kicked off his flip-flops during his innings and played on in bare feet. Despite missing his swing at the ball on the picture, the batsman in red and white ended up on the winning team.

For the final day, we had the choice of returning to the Sugathadasa Stadium or the Ceylonese Rugby and Football Grounds. In the first match, North Korea would only need to take a point against an Indian team who looked unlikely to be able to stop them, while the ‘Stans’ derby, Turkmenistan v Kyrgyzstan had the advantage the either team could go through, but both was very unlikely (involving a heavy defeat for the North Koreans), we chose this match where a draw or better meant Turkmenistan went through, and only a win would do for Kyrgyzstan. We knew from experience that Turkmenistan were likely to try and slow down the game and hold on for the draw, and this was indeed how the game went, but as it was, there were plenty of chances. Krygyztsan held most of the early possession, but Turkmenistan created the first real chance in the 8^th minute, when Guvanch headed over the bar from a Begli corner. Sidorenko was only a yard wide of putting Kyrgyzstan ahead from 40 yards in the 12^th minute, when the Turkmen goalkeeper , Bayram had chased out of his goal and only half cleared the ball. Turkmenistan were forced to change the centre of their defence early when Belyh was injured and replaced by Dovlet, while Kyrgyzstan had the most of possession, but shot wide of the mark at every opportunity. In the second half, Kyrgyzstan appeared to tire of their failings, but it was not until the 70^th minute that we saw a goal. It came from a Turkmenistan free kick just outside the area. Two players both ran in as if to take it and almost collided. As they apparently questioned each other on this, Begli lifted the ball over the wall and past the distracted goalkeeper. In the next few minutes, we had an exchange of free kicks with both sides making further attempts from just outside the area, but either the wall, or the shooter’s inaccuracy took care of these, and Turmenistan happily wound down the clock for a second 1-0 win.

A Kyrgyzstan free kick goes hgh and wide.

We reckon the crowd at the Ceylonese Rugby and Football Club numbered no more than fourty, but they were boosted by a small group of Turkmenistan fans, the only visiting club supporters we noticed at the tournament. As the second team in the group, they will see their boys play Tajikistan in the semi-final; this is the more difficult semi to call, but I feel the Turkmen’s more cynical attitude will prevail. When North Korea play Myanmar, I cannot see beyond a win for the Koreans

India on the defensive as Kuleutin heads wide

The second half was a completely different tale. Kyrgyzstan’s captain, Bokoev was sent off in the 47^th minute for elbowing Baljit Sahni, while India stepped up the pace and gained control of the game. Kyrgyzstan now struggled in the heat and were forced to pull back and defend. Jewel Raja came close with two chances, the first blocked by Baimatov and the second blasted over. The pressure finally paid off when India were awarded a penalty for hand ball. India dominated the rest of the game, but struggled to make real chances from their possession while the Kyrgyzstan defence held strong. The best of their late chances came when Abranches blasted a shot over five minutes from the end.

Volkov cannot reach Denzil’s penalty

The size of the crowd increased for the second game, but never reached the 800 claimed by the organisers for the first match. North Korea brought a very young side into this tournament but with places in the world cup squad supposedly up for grabs, they were guaranteed to be eager, and they started both halves of this game playing with pace, and chasing long balls sent over the Turkmenistan defence. Their best early chance was after just five minutes when Ryang Yong Gi was put through, but wasted the chance after a poor first touch. The heat however soon appeared to be too much for them, and they visibly wilted, allowing their opponents into the game. Turkmenistan have a much more experienced side, but still very few remain from when I saw the pair play in Pyongyang in 2008. They came into the game as the Koreans began to struggle and took the lead in the 36^th minute through Mamedaly. The North Koreans tried an odd free kick routine with three players kneeling in front of the wall, and another two to the side of it, but it came to nothing as Pak Song Chol shot high over the bar. This turned out to be the last move of the half. Six minutes into the second period, the Koreans got another free kick, but this time went for a simple routine without disrupting the wall – this time Ryang Yong Gi curled the ball just inside the far post to level the scores. Pak Chol Min missed a chance to put North Korea ahead five minutes later. As in the first half, the Koreans began to run out of steam allowing chances for Turkmenistan, with Amanov sending the ball just over the bar on the hour mark.

Sugathadasa Stadium Main Stand

Turkmenistan’s chances were ruined though in the 67^th minute when an ill-timed challenge by Omar earned the player his second booking of the game. It means that all of the first four matches have seen a red card. Down to ten men, Turkmenistan resorted to time wasting to hold on to the result, while North Korea were eager to take advantage, but unable. Most of their chances ended with shots from long range and lacked accuracy. The North Korean coach said he was happy with the result, but cited the heat (clearly most team’s favourite excuse here). The Turkmenistan coach accepted the red card, saying “this is football”, but said the team were here to win and could improve for the next match.

The second day gave us a poor first viewing of the two teams who at full strength would be favourites. India beat Kyrgyzstan in the recent Nehru Cup on their own territory, but none of the Indian first team squad were retained here, while the Kyrgyzstan side involved many of the same players. Similarly, North Korea only used one player who was in the World Cup qualifying campaign, when a stronger squad could well give them the chance to move on to the Asian Cup. Against these two, both playing at substandard strength, we have two Central Asian ‘Stans’ who want to win the tournament. On Friday we will again see the two ‘Stans’ in separate games, and if they can keep eleven players on the pitch, then I feel they may well prove to have the strengths to qualify from this group.

On the Thursday we took a day off from the football and went to Kandy. The football itself did not take a day off, with another series of games in Group A. It shows the interest in the country that as far as we could see, not only was there no interest in the tournament from Sri Lanka’s second city, hardly anyone knew it was being played. The first news we could get from the event was at the bus terminal in the morning. As there were no English language newspapers available, I asked the vendor to look at the sports pages of one of the Sinhalese editions. This carried a report on Sri Lanka’s match, saying they lost 2-1 to Tajikistan. As it turned out, they had actually lost 3-1. Meanwhile Myanmar beat Bangladesh in the evening game, but this did not make the papers. To get to Kandy, we took the train, travelling on the so called “First class observation car”. This has more comfortable seats that second class, a fan that works some of the times, natural air-conditioning (or as we normally call it, an open window). Finally the rear windows are fully glassed, allowing us to observe where we had come from. As promised, there is a short section of the line where the train travels high above a valley, giving spectacular views, but much more of the journey was passing through built up areas. So what we got was a good view of the tin shacks that many Sri Lankans call home. Meanwhile, using the railway lines as a footpath we saw schoolchildren in pristine white uniforms. Amazingly, these children were disgorged from the untidy hovels we see.

Kandy is a good place to spend a day or so away from the capital. It has a bustling centre, and as in Colombo it is difficult for someone with white skin to walk far before they get accosted by a local trying to sell them some type of goods or service. With hardly any of these being things that tourists might want, it gets wearing very quickly. Of course, anyone wanted to import coconuts carved into elephants may find a supplier here. A quick tourist can come up and down and see the main sight in a day – the observation car train arrives around 09.30 and leaves for the return trip at 15.00. This is enough time to wander through the town, see the views from the lake, explore the Temple of the Buddha’s Tooth, and have lunch in the old and not quite majestic Queen’s Hotel. There are plenty of other sites in Kandy, but my list completes those that you would go to Kandy to see, as opposed to seeing because you are in Kandy. We did choose to spend the night, staying at the Palm Garden Guest House, a moderately priced establishment that is the wrong way from the station that is further away than readers of the “Lonely Planet” guide book may expect. It was exactly a “Lonely Planet” sort of guesthouse – family run with extremely friendly and helpful staff, fans and mosquito nets, but no air conditioning, and slightly curious rooms. In my bathroom, it was a squeeze to get past the lavatory to the shower, and to be seated straight on the facility, one would need to be a midget with at least leg amputated. As I found out later, mosquito nets work both ways – if a mosquito is inside, there is no way out.

The Temple of Buddha’s tooth from a viewpoint. The Tooth itself is in the pavilion with the gold roof.

A Giant Buddha looks down on the city

Inside the Temple of Buddha’s Tooth. Note, that you do not get to see the actual tooth.

As well as being well known for Cricket, Kandy has a quite passable football ground. Apparently also used for Athletics although the track is grassed. The outside is cunningly disguised as a bus depot, but I was not fooled. A second problem, on reaching the gate was a guard whose sole purpose appeared to be to stop tourists from taking photographs. He must have thought it was his busy day as after six months without a tourist to stop, both Kevin and I tried separately to gain access. Success had gone to the guard’s head though and he allowed me to take a picture, although moving more than ten yards from the gate was prohibited.

Despite the curved stands, the grounds are too small for cricket. I left, disappointed that I had not seen a game at these stylish grounds. We returned to Colombo by bus. Not the best idea, as being crammed into a stuffy can like so many sardines is not my idea of fun. It was an air conditioned bus, but this just means the windows don’t open. The driver had to be persuaded to turn the air con on, and even then it did little to cool the back of the bus. There was not much scenery en route, with towns every two to three kilometres down the road, and every town home to it’s own set of traffic lights and attached traffic jams.

My travelling companions for the trip were Paul and Kevin. We arrived in Sri Lanka around 3 a.m. – inside the airport is almost indistinguishable from anywhere else in the world, whereas once you have cleared customs and immigration, it takes on a more Asian feel. At least here we were allowed to work out where we were going before we had to suffer the general crush of touts. Exchange rates in the airport are about 4% down on the town, worth knowing if you pass this way. A taxi booking desk arranged a car to town at a fixed price. Once the vehicle (it was not in any way labelled as a taxi) got started it hared off towards town. The journey is about 30km, mainly through built up areas, but we couldn’t get much bearing on the scenery as we passed. It was dark, we were travelling at full pelt, so only neon lights on the route stood out, these appeared to be mainly small eateries or hotels. We stayed at the Grand Oriental Hotel, and they checked us in without any comment about the early hour. I hate hotels that insist check in time is 12 noon or later, especially when I arrive at 4 in the morning. The Grand Oriental must have been a key point of the old British Colonial rule, opposite the docks, one imagines the well-to-do coming off their boats from England and immediately transferring here. However, nigh on two centuries have passed since its opening, and little has been done in the way of maintenance, so the Grandeur has become somewhat faded. Inside, one finds many small faults, such as noisy and ineffective air conditioning, or a shower that tends towards an uncontrollable scalding hot. As with the national airline, the staff appear to have a limited attention span, so asking for something, (such as a fresh battery for TV remote control, or a fresh jug of water) is not guaranteed to bring results first time.

Grand Oriental Hotel

Changing from a cold winter in England to the high humidity and 30 degree temperatures in Colombo hits one quickly. One only has to step outside the hotel’s air conditioned ambience to start sweating. Colombo does not get too many tourists, and there are easily enough locals trying to persuade us to ‘take a tour’, or visit certain events. When this fails to impress, one is offered a ‘massage’, or if its late in the evening, a visit to a nightclub. Apart from on foot, the only way to travel is with the Tuk-Tuks, three wheel moped was two seats under shade at the back. The way to travel in a moped is to hang on tight – as they are always going to head off too fast for the road conditions. There are not too many sights to Colombo – the basic attraction is a contrast between old colonial buildings and the hustle of local street stalls. The guide books mark off Galle Face Green as a place to see, but all this is, is a lawn next to a wide paved promenade that overlooks the sea. On a Tuesday, the remains of the litter from last weekend’s picnics still comes to the fore, with black plastic sacks, mainly bursting with rubbish placed at unstrategic intervals along its edge. While one imagines the weekend green bustling with the local family picnickers, the area is empty on a Tuesday lunchtime, while along the promenade, the evenly positioned benches are the place for courting couples. Each contains one boy, one girl and holding one umbrella as a sun shade. I think that in the more serious relationships, the boy holds the umbrella!

Wherever you wander, you cannot avoid the army checkpoints. Security is a major issue here, although the Tamils fighting for a separate state in the north have been defeated. During the war, terrorist attacks in the city were not uncommon, and the security still remains. Our hotel is right next to a restricted high security area, and we are not allowed to take pictures from the restaurant that overlooks the harbour. As this is now a major container port, it would appear to be a vital link in the nation’s trade. Even walking down the promenade at Galle Face Green, you have to pass checkpoints, and you are only allowed to take photos pointing southwards, not back towards the security zone and the presidential palace.

AT the bottom end of the green, is the Galle Face Hotel, another colonial relic, but better maintained than the Grand Oriental (and hence able to price itself outside our bargain holiday price range). Still, I can take a pot of tea on their well situated veranda (it cost less than £1), and enjoy the cool air coming off the sea, and then drafted downwards by a fan above me. Here Crows chatter between the colonnades of the upper balcony, while a small squirrel runs between the tables eager to pick up scraps left by the visitors.

Galle Face Hotel

Tuesday afternoon sees us at the Sugathadasa Stadium for the first time. This is the National Stadium and holds somewhere around 20-25,000. It is a multi-purpose stadium used primarily for Athletics, but also for Rugby and Football. Most of the ground has an even low slung roof over about ten steps of concrete. The concrete is painted but no wooden or plastic seats are provided, except in the sections closest to the main stand. With a fence and a running track before the pitch, and supporting pillars for the roof, there are no really good views to be had from the low stands. The main stand, which cover around three quarters of a side, is a two tier effort. From the lower portion, you can feel crammed in under a low roof, which is supported by view restricting pillars. Making my way upstairs, I find the rest of my party already in the best viewing positions. There is a forward section of about 10 rows, which enjoys the only uninterrupted views of the pitch. This was the only area that got crowded, even when the hosts were playing. The section is also at a good height for viewing across a track, while you are still close enough to read the players’ numbers. Above us, there are many more rows, but again the roof supports block parts of the view.

The first day’s football, a double header saw Tajikistan play Bangladesh, followed by Sri Lanka against Myanmar. We had a rainstorm just before the first match, which continued while they were playing. This made the pitch a little slippery, but did not excuse much of the play. The first half of the opening game was pitiful. There was a lack of basic skills on show as few players could either pass or trap the ball. There were a few shots and headers off target, and just one shot on target – and this had no more power than a broken down tuk-tuk. Tajikistan had come to this tournament from a country still in the grips of winter, but via a week of training in Doha, where the temperatures were not up to Sri Lankan standard (under 25° in Doha, but over 30 in Colombo, plus a much higher humidity). Their league season is on a winter break, and the team were at best rusty. With recent tournaments for the South Asian Football Federation and South Asian Games (U-23) involving many of the squad, Bangladesh came into the tournament better prepared, and this showed even in the sad show that was the first half. They were creating better chances to miss than their opponents. Although the Tajiks tried to get into the game early in the second half, the pattern soon returned, except now the chances appeared a little better. The finest piece of football of the game, halfway through the period ended with full back Nasir, overlapping down the right, cutting a ball in from the by-line to his Mohammedan Dhaka team-mate Enamul to score. Two more goals followed in quick order, although both goalkeepers may reflect that they could have done better with the chance. Rabiev levelled the scores just two minutes after his team went behind, but then Meshu got Bangladesh’s second with fifteen minutes to go. Tajik defender Choriev then got himself sent off and his team could not come close to levelling with a man short. Indeed, as they pushed forward, Bangladesh were increasingly dangerous on the break, and Enamul really should have scored again when in a one-on-one with the goalkeeper at the end.

The second game saw the hosts take on Myanmar. Sri Lanka, like Bangladesh had been playing in the South Asian competitions, while Myanmar did not appear to have had much recent football. The home side came out eager to please, but with no immediate success. They could not keep this up, and were soon being pushed back into their own area. Playing in a 4-1-4-1 formation, the midfield was slow in moving up in support of the striker, but at least to start, the defence held its line. This story changed in the 18^th minute when Rahmeen was adjudged to have lunged in at a Myanmar defender and received a red card. I did not have a good view of the incident, while Paul thought both players went in together and the foul could well have been given the other way. The home manager said something similar in an interview afterwards, and blamed this loss of one of his most experienced players for what happened next. What happened next was that Myanmar took control of the match, slowly at first taking the midfield with their 4-2-3-1 formation – Tun Tin Win and wide player Kyaw Thiha enjoying the freedom that the extra player gave them. Myanmar eventually took the lead on the 40^th minute, with a long shot from Thiha. In the second half, Myanmar were completely dominant, but it still took until the 78^th minute before they scored their second goal, Yan Oaing getting on the end of Khun Maung Tun’s cross. Pai Soe, coming on as substitute for Kyaw Thiha added another from close range in the 81^st minute and Myo Min Tun added the final goal with a free kick from 25 yards, going in off the near post with two minutes to go.

Matches come thick and fast in these tournaments, the group series means every team has three games to play in just five days – which really does not provide enough recovery time. Squad management is therefore of vital importance in the second and third games. The first day was hot and very humid, especially for the second game after the rain that had affected the first. The second game listed a crowd of 3000 which may well be about correct, while the 1000 recorded for the opening game appeared to be stretching the figures. On day 3, the two winners will meet in one match, the two losers in the other. I will not be viewing and it is difficult to guess the result of the ‘winners’ game. For Sri Lanka, it is equally difficult to imagine them improving much, even with a full eleven on the field. A second defeat would mean elimination for the home team, seriously affecting the rest of the attendances.

Back to Asia, where the AFC has been running since the mid-fifties, and the first Asian Cup started in 1956. The first tournament should have had ten teams, with four playing the finals in Hong Kong. As it was, Israel was given a free ride to the finals, as both Afghanistan and Pakistan withdrew. South Korea qualified at the expense of Taiwan and the Philippines, and South Vietnam at the expense of Malaysia and Cambodia. The overall title was won by South Korea in a single round robbing group. Over the years, the numbers grew, and the politics became a little easier after the movement of Israel to UEFA. By 1996, there were 37 countries competing, 44 in 2000, 43 in 2004, but only 29 for 2007 and 24 for 2011.

Why the sudden discrepancy? Asia has not lost teams (Kazakhstan have switched to Europe, but for 2007, Australia came in from Oceania). The answer is the Asian Challenge Cup. Up until the 2004 Asian Cup, qualifying tournaments were held in single venues over a short period of time, but some of the bigger countries wanted more competitive home fixtures. (Asia’s World Cup qualification used to also be single venue, so a country not chosen to host matches only had friendly home games). The smaller countries baulked at the idea of travelling across the continent to get heavily beaten – in some cases they just would not have been able to afford to compete. To fill the void, and provide competitive football for those clubs not involved in the Asian Cup, the Challenge Cup was started in 2006. The first Challenge Cup was for 16 teams, with no qualification competition and just the finals in Bangladesh. It was the first Continental Championship, Second Division.

The AFC divided their 45 countries (pre-Australia) into three groups. The top 14 were those who might expect to reach most Asian Cup final series, and could even put in a good run in the World Cup (some of the weaker teams in the list must have been questionable). These were Bahrain, China, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Thailand, UAE, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The second group, also 14 countries were called developing associations – the theory that they could grow to join the developed associations in the first group, but in the meantime they would settle for being knocked out of Asian and World Cups in group games. These were Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, North Korea, Oman, Singapore, Syria, Turkmenistan and Yemen.

The final 17 were called emerging nations, in some cases more in hope than expectation. They were Afghanistan, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Taiwan, East Timor, Guam, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Macau, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Tajikistan. You may think this is simple, the first two groups, plus new boys Australia make up the 29 entrants into the Asian Cup, while the final 17 lose one somehow to become the Challenge Cup entrants. Asia is never as simple as that. It would appear that the emerging group had the option to enter both, an option taken up by Pakistan, Palestine, Sri Lanka and Taiwan, although Sri Lanka from the Asian Cup without playing – the Maldives, Myanmar and North Korea not entering the Asian Cup. Meanwhile Mongolia, Laos and East Timor did not enter the Challenge Cup, so the AFC drafted in India and Bangladesh (the latter as hosts) and increased the number of teams entered for both competitions to five. The competition was won by Tajikistan, who won five of their six matches, losing the last group match to Kyrgyzstan only after they were confirmed as through anyway. They beat Sri Lanka in the final by 4-0.

In order to juice up the 2008 and 2010 Challenge Cups, the AFC decided that the champions of each would gain qualification to the 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar. They also decided that the top three from the 2007 competition did not need to qualify, and the hosts, of course had a free run. This meant that only 10 places were available through qualification. Never one for simplification, the AFC allowed 21 teams into this competition, meaning a single knock out match (the Maldives being beaten twice by the Lebanon), and then placed the remaining 20 into five groups of four.

Before qualification started for the Asian Cup, there was the 2008 Challenge Cup. The AFC had managed to reduce the numbers, so only one Asian Cup team was also entered this time; this being the host nation, India. As well as India, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Myanmar were made top seeds and exempt from qualifying. Holders Tajikistan, beaten finalist Sri Lanka and losing semi-finalists Kyrgyzstan and Nepal from 2006 were all asked to qualify again. Only Kyrgyzstan of this quartet had the advantage of a home qualifying series, (they were all single venue), but curiously they were they only one to lose out, beaten by Afghanistan. Bangladesh came third in this group, while Laos withdrew without playing. Nepal played in Cambodia, where the hosts were second, Macau lost two games, and Palestine withdrew without playing. Sri Lanka finished ahead of Pakistan, hosts Taiwan and Guam. The closest group saw Tajikistan ahead of hosts Philippines on goal difference, with Brunei and Bhutan only getting a point by drawing with each other.

The finals in Hyderabad must have been a great disappointment to the organisers. It should have used Lal Bahadur Shastri stadium as its main venue, but the poor condition of the former international cricket ground meant that most games were switched to Gachibowli Athletics Stadium. The final was then rained off, and switched to New Delhi. This may be seen as a godsend. While no match in Hyderabad was watched by more than 1500 (India’s semi-final) and most by just one or two hundred, the final was seen by around 10,000 spectators. The group matches did at least confirm the AFC seedings, with only holders Tajikistan of the qualified teams reaching the semi-finals. Their neighbours, Turkmenistan missing out. India went through to the final where they beat Tajikistan 4-1. North Korea beat Myanmar 4-0 to take third place

The result meant that India had qualified for the 2011 Asian Cup, some four months before the qualifying campaign was due to start. Naturally they withdrew, leaving one group a team short.

For the 2010 Asian Cup, which was long rumoured to again be held in India, there was originally a possible 23 teams, but Guam, East Timor and Guam chose not to compete. The Maldives (who of course had already failed in qualification for the Asian Cup) and Mongolia came in having missed the 2008 edition. Three teams were given exemption to the finals, India, Tajikistan and North Korea. Not only were these the top three from the last competition, but they were also the top three using FIFA rankings (which decided seeing). The other 17 teams were to be placed into four groups of four, with Maldives, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh chosen as hosts. This meant the worst two on the rankings; Macau and Mongolia had to fight out a preliminary two-legged tie. The scores were 2-0 to Macau in the first leg (crowd 500) and 3-1 to Mongolia in Ulan Bator (3000). Macau went through on away goals.

The first group to play was in Nepal, in March 2009, with Afghanistan announcing their withdrawal two days before the group started. All three matches ended in draws with Kyrgyzstan taking the honours thanks to the fact they drew both games 1-1, while Nepal and Palestine drew 0-0. There were crowds of 12,000 and 15,000 when Nepal played in Kathmandu, 2000 for the game without the hosts. Nepal was placed second in the group, by virtue of less yellow cards. Sri Lanka staged the second group, winning their first two games, meaning they only needed to draw against Pakistan in the last game. This match finished 2-2, leaving Pakistan in second, Taiwan third and Brunei (three defeats bottom of the table). The best attendance recorded in Colombo was 3000 for Sri Lanka’s final game. The worst was only 200, not a good omen for the finals. A week later, the Maldives group was played, with the home side losing to Turkmenistan 3-1 in the opening game. Turkmenistan went on to score seven against Bhutan and five against the Philippines to take a 100% record. The home side also won their other two games, and recorded official crowds of 9000 for each game. A few hundred only was recorded for games not involving the hosts. The Philippines took third place by virtue of beating Bhutan 1-0. Finally, attention turned to Dhaka, where the attendances were very good. All of Bangladesh games were seen by over 8000 and the deciding game by 14,000. This was the second game, and resulted in the home side losing 2-1 to Myanmar. Both Bangladesh and Myanmar won their first and third games, while Cambodia beat Macau to finish third.

Curiously, this meant that all four groups finished in the order one might expect using the rankings given by FIFA in January 2009, (when the groups were drawn). Finally, there was one place to be given to the best runner up. Due to Afghanistan’s withdrawal, games against the fourth placed team in the groups were discounted. This would prove crucial. Both Bangladesh and the Maldives had beaten the third placed team, but lost to the group winners, while both Pakistan and Nepal had drawn against the group winners, and the third placed team. No fourth placed team had picked up a point. So Bangladesh and the Maldives had three points, against the others with two. Bangladesh had a level goal difference, and this took them through. Had all games counted, the Maldives with a bigger win would have made it.

Sometime after all the matches were completed, the decision to play in Sri Lanka was taken. I think this is fair enough, no stadiums are being built, so six months is surely enough preparation time. Anyway, with one of the stadiums for the finals changing in the week before they were played, it seems that very little pre-planning was really done. The groups for the finals are A), Tajikistan (148), Bangladesh (150), Myanmar (141) and Sri Lanka (151) and B) India (130), Kyrgyzstan (158), Turkmenistan (134) and North Korea (85) – showing the current FIFA rankings in brackets. This however may not be a tournament where the seeding holds sway. Three teams are less than full strength. The Indians admitted so, with nothing for them to win, they are using their under-23 team, rather than the full international side. They did the same in the recent South Asia Football Federation finals, which they won, beating the Maldives on penalties in the final. Sri Lanka was so disappointed with their performance in the same tournament, that they ‘disbanded’ the senior team afterwards. The preliminary squad list I have seen suggests 50-50 between reasonably experienced players and youngsters with hardly a cap, while Panushanth Kulenthiren is staying with his club (Roma) in Europe. The North Korean squad is also bare of the majority of players that competed in their successful World Cup qualifying campaign. It appears that while they bemoan the fact they failed to make the finals of the East Asian tournament (currently underway in Tokyo) as it would have brought them up against China, Japan and South Korea and given them a good preparation of the World Cup, they do not consider this to be a good second choice. I find this surprising as it is their chance to play in next year’s Asian Cup. With their best teams, I would have expected North Korea and India to reach the final, but now I feel the central Asians, particularly Tajikistan and Turkmenistan to be the most likely finalists.

The next post on this Blog will be posted from Sri Lanka

Harimau Muda is basically the national youth squad of Malaysia, with the players concerned having been removed from club teams and put on central contracts, in much the same way as the English cricket team. At under-19 level, they have been competing in the lower division (perversely called the Malaysian Premier League) of the Malaysian league. At the end of last season, they won this division, but were prevented from taking up promotion to the Malaysian Super League. Instead, they have remained the Premier League, and remained as an under-19 squad. Those players graduating from the young squad on age grounds were not given anywhere to go, as they were still not permitted to rejoin club sides. The team to play in Slovakia are the national U-21 squad.

Having been kept out of their own national league, there then came a suggestion they should join the Singaporean League. It seemed a surprising suggestion, considering the politics of this are. Until 1994, Singapore entered a team in the Malaysian League. Although this team had non-Singaporeans, it was still the basis of their national side as well. The S-League has a history of allowing a number of foreign sides into its competition. Albirex Niigata, with a senior team in Japan’s J-League have been operating in Singapore for several seasons, I guess they believe it is a good training ground for their younger players. There have been a number of Chinese teams in the league, and for the last few years, there has been a Korean team. All the ‘foreign’ teams in the S-League have a base within Singapore, and play a team made up 100% of their own nationals. The rest of the S-League combines Singaporeans with a limited number of foreign nationals. Whereas I have never been certain about the success of say, Albirex Niigata, in terms of transfers back to Japan – it is clear that their existence has increased the number of Japanese players with other Singaporean clubs – most are graduates from the Niigata club.

There was a departure for the S-League last season when DPMM were admitted. DPMM had followed on from a long tradition of Brunei clubs in the Malaysian leagues, but were thrown out in December 2008 (between seasons) when the Brunei FA failed to register properly with a governmental agency. Taking them into the S-League, DPMM were an instant success with good crowds and results. Unlike the other ‘foreign’ teams, they continued to play in Brunei, and used Brunei players with a permitted number of foreigners. However, local politics conflicted with FIFA policy, the government attempting to set up a new organisation to run football in Brunei. FIFA then suspended the country from all international football, and DPMM were forced out of the S-League with just five fixtures to play, and the League Cup in their trophy room. Had Harimau Muda been accepted into the S-League, they would have been a team of Malay nationals only, but it was uncertain whether they would have been based in Singapore, or played home games in Malaysia.

However, despite the fact that they had a vacancy, and the chance to turn the tables on their local and larger rivals, the S-League refused to admit the Malaysian team into their membership. Instead they have given places to a side affiliated to Chinese champions Beijing Guo’an, and to Etoile FC, who are intending to use only French nationals. Incidentally, the Singaporean equivalent to Harimau Muda, the Young Lions, play at Under-21 level in the S-League, so by taking in the Malay team, they would effectively be raising three matches per season to the level of U-21 international.

Not perturbed by this, the FAM turned to Europe, and appear to have come to an agreement where their team will take over Podbrezova’s fixtures from the end of the month. The Malaysian report says these matches will be competitive, but that must be open to questioning? With 14 games to play, it is difficult to believe that points will be awarded, as they will be playing 3 of their 11 opponents twice, but the rest once only. If points are not awarded, then surely these games are no more than friendlies, and the Slovakian sides will have no incentive to put out their strongest XI.

Is this the way forward for small nations, anxious for the players to get experience? Could we see a number of National, or National Under-21 sides playing in European leagues? It certainly could help their players to gain experience in a more competitive arena (at least, if the games are made to be competitive), and it puts these players closer to the market place, increasing their chances of being picked up by European clubs generally.

On the other hand, keeping a squad of 26 players and their coaches away from home for four months or more must be testing the FAM’s finances. In the meantime, their home league is in disarray, two top division clubs pulled out at the end of last season, and this season they will have only one representative in Asian club competitions, the other citing costs as their reason for not competing. The clubs also complain that the rule banning foreign players in Malaysia reduces their competitiveness in these competitions.

The senior national team fares no better, with heavy defeats in the 2007 Asian Cup followed by straight defeats in all their games in the quest to reach the 2011 finals, while the World Cup campaign was over almost before it began. The loss of a group of players who should be among the best in the league is not exactly doing anything to improve the situation.

Last seasons under-19 squad, having won the lower division of the Malaysian League, then narrowly failed to make it to the finals of the Asian Under 19 competition. This may be an acceptable return for keeping the squad together, but one wonders what will be required to justify running a squad abroad – the next challenges for Malaysia are Olympic qualifying for London 2012 (an u-23 squad then, so basically using the current u-21 team) and the 2014 World Cup – Asian qualification is going to start incredibly early, but I think Malay pride would settle for an improved performance in the more local ASEAN Cup at the end of the year.

Post script - since writing this, I have been alerted to a Slovakian news story. What this shows is that while the idea is being given serious consideration in Slovakia (as a series of friendlies, not for league points), the decision will not be made until a meeting of the clubs on 15 February.

First on the list is Olhao, two stops by train from Faro, with the ground an easy walk from the station. We did head first towards the centre of the town, which seems to be undistinguished, except   a few old terraces where the outsides of the houses are tiled.  Much of the area is given over to apartment blocks,  more so as we approach the stadium – a lot of the new blocks appear to be unoccupied, but there is still much construction going on – no doubt we will soon be seeing more advertising in England as the real estate agents try to make a profit by increasing the already significant English speaking population in the area. 

There is one other unique selling point to the French cup, and this is the seven “Outre Mer” teams. If the remains of the British Empire are these days ignored, almost an embarrassment except when we fight wars to defend them – and these remains are encouraged to enter international competition in their own right, the French keep their remaining possessions close at hand, and politically, some are treated the same as if they were part of mainland France. Having frequently voted to keep their French connections, and against independence or a union with the Comoros Islands, the small territory of Mayotte is to become a French department in 2011, (despite the fact this would mean an increase in taxation). It became the seventh of the overseas territories to have French cup status in 2002, following Reunion, Martinique, Guadelopue, Guyana, French Polynesia (Tahiti) and New Caledonia. Mayotte is situated in the Indian Ocean, north of Madagascar and not far from to Comoros Islands – it consists of two main islands, and a number of smaller (many uninhabited) ones. Oddly, because the capital used to be on the smaller island of the pair, the international airport is not on the main island. Each year, a local cup competition will decide the territories entry into the main Coupe de France (each overseas territory gets one entry only, entering at Round 7 with the second division teams). This year the team is Kaweni, from just outside the capital. To get to play in Petit Quevilly, (a southern suburb of Rouen), they had to get to the airport by boat and taxi, then fly first to Reunion, and then from there to Paris – still a two hour coach trip to their destination.

On arrival, they find that the Amable et Micheline Lozai is a typical football ground, with no track and the sides square to the pitch. The names refer to the club president and his wife during a successful era for the club. On one side there is covered terracing along the whole length, whereas the main stand takes up about the third of the other side with other buildings to the sides, (furthest away from the entrance) is the dressing rooms, while nearer is a room used for VIP and guests. General refreshments are served from behind the goal by the entrance on a flat area. There is no access behind the far end goal for spectators.

The last picture seems to be a mixture of supporters and the visiting ‘WAGS’. Certainly some of the girls had come with the team from Mayottte, and there were some supporters that had made the journey. On the other hand, when I questioned the only people wearing Kaweni replica shirts, they turned out to be students from Lyon.

The Quevilly team have a cup pedigree of their own, they reached the final in 1927, when they lost 3-0 to Olympique Marseille. They were the top amateur club in France in the mid-fifties, winning the amateur championship twice in successive years, but after that they must have gone into some decline - as by the end of the seventies, the club was wallowing in the fourth division of the district league. This is about as low as a club can get in France, but things have picked up - over the next 22 years the club won promotion 9 times (with one relegation to compensate). This brings them back to the CFA, the highest level of amateur football in France. (The amateur title, won by Quevilly in the fifties, is now given to the winner of play-offs between the four regional CFA winners). When Quevilly were at the lowest ebb, neighbours FC Rouen were at the top level of French football - (they were relegated from the first division in 1985). Last season they met in the CFA, with FC Rouen winning the title and returning to the National level, while Quevilly finished a credible third.

While I believe I was the only English groundhopper at the match, I met up with Stephan Schlei, a German groundhopper and hitchhiker. Stephan informs all (he has it printed on a card) that he is a World Record hitchhiker, recongnised by the Guinness Book of Records. I do not quite know what this means, but I do know that Stephan travels the length and breadth of Europe through hitchhiking and sleeping rough. Last season, I had also met Stephan when watching “outre mer” teams in the French Cup, we both watched Colmar v AS Tefana (Polynesia) one day, and St. Louis Neuweg v Jeanne d’Arc (Reunion) the next, both matches won by the visiting team. On that occasion, Stephan refused to travel with me between games, preferring to make his own way - but this time he was desperate to persuade me to drive to Pontivy where the Guyanese club CSC Cayenne were to play. Sadly, I could not help, as I was in my own car, and needed to return to Calais the following evening. Stephan even offered to pay my entire expenses for the trip - although I do not think he realised I would be almost doubling the weekend milage (which cost me £100 in petrol anyway), and the road tolls in France are high - anywhere between €40 and €80 extra - and another £50 or more if I failed to make the last Eurotunnel shuttle trip before midnight.

In the end, I gave Stephan a lift to the nearest motorway services (30 miles return) for which he just paid the motorway toll of €2.80 (and he was looking for a way to avoid that), and kept to my plan of watching FC Rouen.

But what, you may ask, of the actual game between US Quevilly and ASC Kaweni. The answer was it was a predictable procession. In their eight previous attempts on the French cup, teams from Mayotte had lost eight times, scoing just three, but conceding 29. Kaweni themselves had never previously represented the islands at this stage. It took 27 minutes for the resolute defence to be broken down, but even in this time, it was always a question of when, and how many goals. The score was quickly built up to 3-0 at half time, with another two minutes after the break. Two more were added later, and the game finished 6-0. Still you have to admire the Africans for making the journey from summer in the Indian Ocean to a cold and wet city in Northern France, to face what a defeat that was surely inevitable. Still, the first representative from Reunion lost 14-0 - and they are now the most successful of the “outre mer” teams, this season, Excelsior, from Reunion were the only won to get a win this season with a 1-0 win over Quimper. Excelsior will visit Angers in December.

For me, it was on the FC Rouen….

To be honest, none of this makes much difference to the boys at the KNVB (Netherlands Football Association), who were already looking at ways to bridge the gap between the closed shop two divisions of their professional league, and the well organised double pyramid that in the amateur game. The Netherlands are unique in Europe in offering parallel, (generally equal) systems for non-League football, played on Saturdays and Sundays. Across Europe, the traditional day for playing football has a religious divide, with the Catholics of Italy and Spain being played on Sunday, while Protestants tend to play on Saturdays. The Netherlands however has a full structure of amateur football on both dates. The top level for this is currently the Hoofdklasse, which is divided into three regional groups, hence giving a total of six divisions, (three Saturday, three Sunday). Below the top level, the game is organised in six regions, unexcitingly called North, East, West 1, West 2, South 1 and South 2. Each of the six regions runs football from first class (one Saturday, one Sunday per region) down, and the regional cup competition (four teams from each regional cup on season qualify for the national cup the following year).

In one of the South zones, covering the area around Maastricht and close to the German border, there is a Sunday pyramid only, as this area has no Saturday teams

Regional and National cup competitions, and the final of the end of season amateur play offs are the only times that Saturday and Sunday teams meet – and the rule is always that such matches are played on Saturdays. A Saturday team can always refuse to play on a Sunday.

As I have said, the KNVB have been looking for a way to bridge the gap between this system, and the two division professional league. Currently, teams move into the professional league by applying for a place, and proving that they have suitable facilities and finances for the higher level. There is no method for moving in the other direction, and the KNVB will not contemplate forcing a team to drop out of the professional league until there is a direct promotion available in the other direction. This is despite the fact that be allowing several new teams to join the league in recent years (Top Oss, AGOVV, Omniworld), while teams have not be dropping out, and mergers are no longer in vogue – which means the lower division now has 20 teams, the KNVB would prefer both divisions to be 18. Until the start of the current century, there seemed to have been significant losses from the professional leagues – teams dropping out for financial reasons, while others merged – recently however, there have been no drop outs, and fans have started to transfer against mergers. Efforts last season merge Roda JC and Fortuna Sittard, both in financial trouble, failed due to supporters’ campaigns to keep their own clubs.

So, from next season, the KNVB plan is to introduce a new Top Klasse, above the Hoofdklasse. The Top Klasse will be a National Amateur League. Although of course it will be repeated for both Saturday and Sunday football. The end of season championship matches are therefore simplified. At the moment there are play-offs between the three Hoofdklasse champions to find the Saturday and Sunday Amatuer champions, but these will be unnecessary, leaving only the grand final to select the overall champion.

Promotion to the professional leagues will be limited to a single team, with only the two Top Klasse champions being eligible. If neither title holder wishes to apply for promotion, then no team will be relegated, but as the professional league currently has two more teams than it should, it has been decided that the bottom two sides from this seasons Professional League will be relegated into the new league. This has led to protests from clubs in the league, with the current bottom club, Emmen, saying that a relegation of this form would practically be the same as sending them into liquidation. Faced with this sort of bad publicity, the KNVB are now considering parachute payments, similar to those made to clubs relegated from the Football League to the Conference to help these clubs to keep on running. I am told the most likely result of this decision is that the clubs near the bottom of the league will go on a spending spree in the transfer window in an attempt to sign players to stave off the threat. This, of course will increase the debts, and I would be surprised if the crowds are increased by the anti-relegation fight. Nine of the 20 teams get less than 3000 per match, only 3 get over 5000.

Heerjansdam is a typical small town in the Netherlands, which means it is neat, tidy, very friendly to the cyclist, it is low rise and low key, with a bland shopping centre – and of course, it has a football ground somewhere on the outskirts. This has a large stand on one side of the pitch, while the rest of the ground is surrounded by a level pathway. Like most amateur teams in the Netherlands, it stands as a true community club, apart from the first team, which is run as a semi-professional team and will recruit players in the same way as a team anywhere else, the club will run as many teams as it feels are necessary to meet the community’s desire to play football. For youth football, in every age group, this may mean running three, four or more teams. Quite simply, if you are a youngster in Heerjansdam and you want to play football, then you will play and be coached by this one club. It also means that if you run a business in the town, then either you, or some of your employees are sure to have an involvement in the club either directly, or because their children are involved. Hence most small businesses put a small amount of money into club sponsorship.

Sportpark de Molenwei, Heerjansdam. The clubhouse backs onto the stand, whereas there are further pitches behind the trees.

The away team for my game is ASWH – a very local derby (they share a motorway intersection). Heerjansdam are in the 1^st Klasse, Zuid 1 (after relegation last season), while ASWH are if Hoofdklasse A. The match is in the regional cup, and hence has the unwieldy title of Districktbeker Zuid 1, Round 1. Apart from local cup glory, the four semi-finalists from this competition will play in next season’s national cup. Although both sides for this match are from the Saturday leagues, the cup bridges date divide, and also has Sunday clubs in competition.

I am told that Heerjansdam had beaten their neighbours last season despite ending the season as relegated. I had been to ASWH in 2005, to see them become the Amateur champion of the Netherlands. [incidentally, the name stands for Altijd Sterker Wordend Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht. The last part of this is a placename whereas the first three words means something like “Always Becoming Stronger”. Such slogans are common in Netherlands football club names, and are perhaps the reason why clubs now prefer to be known only by initials]. Both clubs have made good starts to the season, but it took a while for this to notice on the field, or for either team to create a chance worthy of note. What was evident was a lot of progress being made on the wings, being ended by poor crossing. De Jager should have put the visitors ahead around 30 minutes in, missing a clear chance when the ball successfully made it to the far post, and then Heerjansdam created three good chances as the half came to a close. The first was blocked, but resulted in a corner, which for once was delivered into the danger area for centre half Gert-Jan Stout to bundle over the line. Jeroen Wolf should then have added a second in injury time, but he hesitated and allowed visiting keeper Jacob van der Belt to close down the chance.

The final (saved) penalty. Note the high number of advertising hoardings, a common feature of grounds in the Netherlands and Belgium.

ASWH came out for the second half with all guns blazing, and it was no surprise when substitute Henk Roeland brought the scores level; but in an already physical game, ASWH almost brought about their own downfall. Verluis was booked for a challenge in the 66^th minute, and had to be restrained by his goalkeeper. Two minutes later with the ball out of play he was in trouble again and was fortunate to only get a second yellow and not a straight red. The game continued to be physical, and the referee ended up showing ten cards, but there were also plenty of chances for both sides in the second half – but a couple of good saves including a tremendous dive by van den Belt in injury time, and a lot of timely blocks kept the scores level. The match then went straight to penalties, but the home side did not come good here, missing the first two, while ASWH hit three in a row. Van den Belt then saved the third to give the visitors a 3-0 penalty shoot out win.

And then, to add to the difficulties, there is the uncertainty about the fixture list. Part of the weekend trip I had planned featured a match between Shamrock Rovers and Sligo Rovers, at the Tallaght Stadium. This being Shamrock’s first season here, after a number of years sharing other Dublin grounds. According to the fixture list seen when I booked my ticket, about two weeks before the trip, the game was scheduled for the Saturday. Having decided to make the trip, I was then hoping Sligo would meet early defeat in the Europa League qualification, because if they played in that on the Thursday, surely their league game would be postponed until the Sunday.

This is at least was not a problem – Sligo went out at the first hurdle. My travelling companion, Paul had found a cheapish hotel almost adjacent to the Tallaght stadium, and on booked this six days before we travelled. Later the same day, we found that the match was switched from Saturday to Friday! I then phoned Shamrock, confirmed they had switched the fixture and actually booked two match tickets, while Paul changed the hotel reservation. Based on this, I made plans for a long bus trip to Finn Harps on the Saturday, while Paul, who had been to Finn was heading to Longford. So all fine until I arrived in Dublin and picked up the local paper. On the day before the match was due to be played, the local council had decided that Shamrock could not use the Tallaght stadium due to health and safety issues as work was being carried out to increase the capacity for two prestige friendly games (one of which had already been played). So the date returned to Saturday, and the venue was changed as well. Fortunately, neither club not hotel complained about cancelling the reservations.

So, Shamrock was taken out of the equation, and we made our way down to our alternative fixture at Wexford (indeed the one we would have chosen for the Friday, had Shamrock played on Saturday). It takes almost 2½ hours to get down from Dublin to Wexford by train – a slow journey at this is under 90 miles. The four car diesel unit used demonstrates that the Irish Railway system is no better than the English at matching demand to train size. Not only was this one full to standing for over half the distance, but the one we returned on the following morning had far less custom, but six cars. Wexford is a pleasant enough town, but does not have a anything really special to promote it. We took up residence in the closest B&B to the railway station despite the extortionate €90 for a twin room. We at least persuaded them to put on breakfast before the first train of the morning. One might have thought that a B&B close by the railway station was used to getting customers who wanted breakfast in time for the early train (which was 8 O’clock), but apparently this is not the case. For the record, the room was comfortable, but not special; and the breakfast was good.

Wexford Youths are newcomers to the League of Ireland, having joined in 2007. They have grown out of the successful County Wexford Youth team, and the five stars shown above the badge on players shirts and the programme cover all refer to national youth titles won (and all within the last decade). The club owes its progress to local businessman Joseph Wallace. The club plays a quite large site at Ferrycarrig, about 5 miles north of Wexford, (no public transport, about €11 by taxi). Access is quite confusing – the ground is next to the main road, but there is no entry at this point. Instead, a one way system down small country lanes in instituted on match days. At the ground are two full size pitches, and with two five a side pitches further on. Two buildings separate the main pitches – one is still under construction, and appears to be a sports hall, the other holds dressing rooms, bar and offices for the club. Most of the main pitch surrounds are flat, with a single stand, apparently built from meccano, and with a tarpaulin type roof. Dotted at intervals around the ground, are converted portacabins or containers providing facilities such as lavatories, ticket office and tea bar.

All of the facilities have been paid for by Wallace, who is club chairman. A permanent stand is apparently due soon, and as one of Wallace’s companies is in development, I assume he knows how to get this. His son is manager of the team. It is interesting to reading the programme notes that at Wexford, it is not the senior team that takes precedence, but the youth teams, and in particular the under 18 team that has picked up the trophies. The notes said that in particular, the under-20 team would get squeezed by demands from the under 18s and seniors – but this appeared to be disingenuous. Despite the programme claim that most of the senior side also qualifies as under 20, no starting player was less than 20 years old (2 of the subs were 18, and a couple of the 20 year olds may still qualify if the under 20s have a spring qualifying deadline). The programme referred to was a 16 page A5 affair, selling for the princely sum of €3. Admission to any part of the ground was €10.

And so, to the game. The visiting club were University College of Dublin (UCD) currently third placed in the league compared to Wexford’s fifth. The UCD team are mainly students, although it also acquires a few additional hands and they started out as much the stronger of the two teams. It was no surprise when they went into the lead after just 18 minutes, but disappointing that they could not add to this in the rest of the game. A lot of football in this division relies on an uneven division between attackers and midfielders trying to show off a bit, (but lacking the real ability to make a telling pass or hit the target consistently), and well organised defensives. Many of the attacks broke down simply because the player on the ball was not looking for the simple ball, but seemed to believe it was a requirement to turn the defender before passing. At both Wexford, and Finn Harps the following day, the opening goal was partly helped by a fortunate bounce or block. Wexford rallied near the end, and attacked enough to feel they deserved an equaliser – but I felt that this would have been unfair on the visiting club, and in particular their best player; Evan McMillan, a 22 year old centre half who also still turns out for student teams, and who won almost every ball put into the box in the air.

Getting away from the ground, we were lucky enough that by just asking drivers leaving, we easily found someone heading back to Wexford and willing to give a lift – otherwise the alternative would have been to phone for another taxi. Plenty of time for a couple more pints of Guinness (average €4 per pint) before turning in.

So, without the easy option in Dublin (unless I wanted to return to Tolka Park), it was going to be a long day of travelling on the Saturday. The train took as away from Wexford at a few minutes past 8, giving me best part of an hour to arrange my transfer to a coach (the bus station being a five minute walk). Irish bus does a good selection of radial routes from Dublin, serving most of the country. The coaches are comfortable and not cramped, prices are a little less than the railways. Generally, I am told the timetables are kept to, but I was not lucky, and major traffic jams on the way into two of the towns en route meant my bus was 30 minutes late. No here is a problem – Finn Harps play in a small town called Ballybofey, which is not on a direct route from Dublin, and the connecting buses run only every two hours. Hardly any connection time is allowed, and they don’t wait. So I had 90 minutes to wait when changing. Fortunately, the bus stop was adjacent to the bar, and I could indulge myself in a Guinness while waiting.

So, by the time I arrived in Ballybofey, I had been travelling for over 10 hours. The main street was full of people in football colours drinking before the game. This, of course was not the game I was there to watch, but a qualifying round of the all Ireland Gaelic Football Competition, in which Donegal, (the Irish county including Ballybofey) were playing neighbouring Derry. I had booked into a really nice hotel, spacious and comfortable room, good breakfast, and not much more than I paid to share in B&B on the nights before and after. I noticed from the web site that rooms come even cheaper in mid week, and I would recommend Jackson’s hotel in Ballybofey to anyone passing the area during the week. Not much to do in the town, unless there is football or Gaelic sport on, but of course the town does have an appropriate number of pubs and restaurants. The Gaelic ground is just north of the main street, while the Harps Stadium is a few yards south, behind the shopping centres. Despite this being an old and interesting ground, it will soon be replaced by a new stadium in the neighbouring village of Stranorlar, (the Finn river marking the boundary between the two). The existing ground seems more than sufficient for the crowds that Finn get, even if they could return to the Premier Division, so naturally I was intrigued as to why they wanted to move. The answer is there is only one cramped building serving as dressing rooms and offices – no bar or other facilities, and pitch side refreshments served from temporary huts. There would be room to improve the current ground – but developers would prefer to extend the shopping centre and move the club elsewhere.

The ground is three sides – there is no spectator accommodation at the far end (away from the ground), while the cover is in the form of a barrel roofed stand filling most of the side close to the road. At one end some new seats have been installed on a standard scaffolding base, while the rest is low rise terracing. I am guessing there was once something taller, but this has been knocked down.

Meanwhile I was asking about the clash of fixtures with the Gaelic. “You do ask difficult questions”, the secretary responds – before telling me that the League of Ireland do not allow fixtures to be changed at less than two weeks notice, (a strange statement considering the Shamrock game had been switched twice in the last five days). The GAA, meanwhile, makes its fixtures only a week in advance, a necessity of a knock out competition with matches every week. With the strength of having much larger crowds than the association game can muster; the GAA keeps its own counsel, and only needs to discuss its schedule with the TV company. A few people did walk into the game last on after the GAA game had finished – something I had seen before when a game at Tolka Park in Dublin started while a GAA game was being played at nearby Croke Park. If the GAA match had considered kicking off an hour earlier, then many more people would have been able to double up.

As for the game, not much different to the night before. Defences were generally organised, whereas the attackers continually failed to make anything of the possession they had. Finn were the better team and took advantage when a clearance went back out to the winger – one pass and a good finish. In the second half, Athlone Town managed to level the scores. Again it was a good finish, and again there was little teamwork involved.

With the first bus out of Ballybofey being at 12.25 the next day, I had time for a good night’s sleep. The timing became critical as I had only a few minutes to make a change of buses. Even with all the transport going smoothly, (and it did) – I only arrived in Newbridge les than an hour before kick-off. Fortunately, Paul, with the shorter journey had booked into our B&B and met me at the station. The ground, is in Station Road and all we had to do was cross the railway to get there.

The ground actually belongs to Newbridge Town, of the Leinster Senior League, rather than Kildare County, and all the signs show the Newbridge name. On the side where we entered, there are two sections of open seats, made up on scaffolding. On a blustery and wet evening, not many people choose these seats, as those on the other side were protected by the club house roof. Again just five rows of low seating. The clubhouse itself is two storey, and above the seating there is a good area that can be used as a VIP viewing area, but it does not appear the club has managed to sell this idea. The referee’s dressing room was also upstairs. Downstairs were the other dressing rooms and a small bar – where care was needed due to exposed wiring just by some seats.

The game was no better than any of the others. The visitors, Limerick were on top throughout, but were quite incompetent and it did not take long before we had concluded a no score draw would occur. Kildare are about the worst team in the League, and would have been relegated last season, if Cobh Ramblers had not been thrown out of the league. Having been reprieved once, they have won only once this season, (away to Mervue, the team that would have replaced them), and this was their second home draw. Naturally, they are the only candidates for bottom place again – but relegation depends on a first team finishing in the top three at least one group of the A championship (the third division, split into two groups of 9, but including 13 reserve teams). It appears Salthill Devon may be the challenger – play offs will take place at the end of the season.

Note the small group of supporters to the right (as we see it) of the entrance way are from visiting club Limerick. They were very vocal, but could not spur the team on to actually score.

The Irish League changed to a summer season in 2003, and it has achieved its first objective in doing so – on the UEFA rankings used to determine numbers for club competitions, Ireland has risen about 10 places, from around 40^th ten years ago. By comparison, Northern Ireland and Wales are still in the 40s. According to the web site, European Football Statistics, this has happened without much noticeable effect on the crowds attending the games. The season by season averages for the Premier Division are still around 1500, with Division One getting something less than half that. Now in its summer season, Irish football plays second fiddle to the Gaelic games, while when playing the winter season; there were always more people crossing the water to see Liverpool, Manchester United and Celtic than the total watching League of Ireland.

With these figures, the finances of Irish football are always on a knife edge. The cost of living in Ireland is high – most things are more expensive there than in the UK, and the recession has hit the Celtic Tiger hard. While Ireland is still a popular destination for English and Scottish clubs in pre-season, the really big crowd pullers, such as Real Madrid do not have this as a regular visiting spot. 10,000 spectators at Tallaght thanks to the addition of temporary seats is not normally enough of a crowd to pull in the giants – although once Lansdowne Road has been rebuilt, the prospect of filling this may generate the receipts guarantees required.

And while Ireland have improved their ratings with UEFA, it has not yet been enough to get the clubs into group contention in either the Champions League, the Europa League or its predecessor, the UEFA Cup. While I was there, some of the local papers had realised that Bohemians v Salzburg in the Champions League was the big game of the week, even if they still refused to give it the same sort of coverage as the glamour boys of Real Madrid, (the opposition was generally inconsequential and hardly mentioned). Bohs had already drawn in Salzburg, and if they could win this match, they would have to play Dinamo Zagreb – not exactly the top team in Europe. This is where the new method of keeping champions and non-champions apart can help. On seeding, most of the clubs winning second qualifying games in the old days would find themselves up against runners-up from nations in Europe’s top 15 – now they have to play Champions, but against teams from much poorer leagues.

Losers in the Champions League third qualifying round get a second try in the Europa League (but those who fall earlier do not), while the fourth and final qualifying round is a selector – winners go into the Champions League group stage, while losers play in the Europa League groups.

Having seen Salzburg in May, I thought they should be too good for an Irish team, but Salzburg have hardly played since then, while the Irish season is in full swing, and a 1-1 draw in Austria seemed to swing the tie towards the Irish – but as it turned out, Salzburg got a late goal in a defensive match in Dublin and now face Dinamo Zagreb (another team I saw in May – I am again predicting a Salzburg win).

Still, it has not been all gloom for the Irish in Europe. Bohemians may be out, and Sligo lost earlier, but the two Europa League contenders still in the competition both went through, following 1-1 draws in the first legs with single goal victories. St. Patricks managed this away to Valetta in Malta, while Derry City played Skonto Riga. St Patricks now take on the Russian team, Krylia Sovetov Samara while Derry will play CSKA Sofia. With another round to go, even if they win these (and the odds do not favour the Irish), group stage football still looks unlikely, but Ireland will at least hold its rating in Europe.