European Sports

[jetsorbust]

Well, I know there are at least one or two of you that follow Euro sports leagues, so I'm looking for a little advice here.

I'm starting to plan a honeymoon in Europe for this upcoming January (2015). I know honeymoons are supposed to be romantic, so I figured what could be better than some sports!


I'm hoping to experience a soccer game and a hockey game with good atmosphere. I googled what is the top soccer league (Barclay's Premiereship I believe), but it appears my schedule won't work for any of those games. So I was leaning towards a Celtic game if it works out for soccer, and probably something in Italy for hockey?


Basically, the rough plan is to be in the following places:

Jan 14-17 in Edinburgh, Scotland
Jan 17-20 in London
Jan 21-23 - travelling through France, these days are pretty much a writeoff unless there is a good soccer game somewhere in the South East of France (near Italy)
Jan 24 - 30 in Italy. Basically start off in the North, go to Venice and then work south to Rome.


So my idea was a Celtic game in Glasgow if it works out (I don't think the schedule for January is up yet) and I really wasn't sure where is best for hockey - anyone know of a team worth seeing in particular in these areas?


Much appreciated for any advice!

[Lions67]

watching Celtic play in Celtic Park would be amazing. im pretty sure Edinburgh still has a hockey team as well.

go to www.celticfc.net to look at the fixtures for Celtic that will work for you.
good luck!

[jetsorbust]

I take it "fixtures" means games?! Thanks for the reply though

[jetsorbust]

Ahh yes, their whole schedule of "fixtures" is up. Unfortunately it doesn't work out, as Celtic plays an away game when I'll be in Scotland. They play in Hamilton which I see is only a 6000 seat stadium - not really going for the soccer, more so the experience so I'll try to see if there are any other cool stadiums to check out a game in while I'm there.

[Lions67]

dont ignore the hockey in England or Scotland. both places will easily compare to the hockey you will find in Italy.

if you head over to HF boards, they actually have a sub-section for leagues in northern europe, united kingdom etc.

lots to look over here:

hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/forumdisplay.php?f=53

hockey is played everywhere!!

[cheswick]

Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal, QPR, West Ham and Crystal Palace are all premiere league teams based out of London.

[jetsorbust]

Aug 22, 2014 12:18:26 GMT -6 cheswick said:

Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal, QPR, West Ham and Crystal Palace are all premiere league teams based out of London.

The only problem with that is I believe the premiere league only plays on Saturdays from what I'm reading. And I will only be in Europe for 2 saturdays:

Jan 17 - I will be on Scotland. Thus no Barclays premiership games I don't believe?
www.premierleague.com/en-gb/news/news/2014-15/jun/fixture-list-for-2014-2015-season-released.html

Jan 24 - I will be either in South of France or Italy. However, this appears to be an off-week with no games at all in the Barclay's premiership.

I would be fine with a Scottish (SPFL) game as long as it was in a big stadium with a good atmosphere (like Celtic). I also understand the Rangers are the other big team, but have fallen on hard times and were relegated out of the SPFL.

Anyways, if I'm reading the SPFL schedule right (http://spfl.co.uk/premiership/fixtures/) Celtic plays on the road Jan 17 in Hamilton, which is a 6000 seat stadium according to wikipedia.


Maybe it's just not meant to be, which isn't the end of the world. I just assume if I knew enough about European soccer that as I spend roughly a week in Scotland/London, then a few days in France and close to a week in Italy that I would end up near a big game somewhere.

[Lions67]

well u can still get the big game atmoshphere in either France ( league 1) or Italy ( Serie A)

where in France, and where in Italy will you be?

[jetsorbust]

As far as France goes I'm really not too sure yet, we are probably just going to Paris for 1 day, 1 day touring Vimy Ridge (not sure where we will stay the night that day though) and then the South of France for 2 or 3 days.

So around Jan 23 we should get to the South of France for a couple of days. After that we will spend about 1 week in Italy - probably Venice first for a day or two and then work our way to Rome which is our final destination.


Thanks for the advice - not knowing anything about soccer it's kind of hard to figure out where to look into going to games. But I will definitely check out League 1 and Serie A then when I get a chance.

[Sam]

If you're in London on the 17th (and you should be, if you leave Edinburgh early enough you shouldn't have a problem), then there's 3 games in London on the Saturday;

West Ham vs Hull City (one you probably want to avoid, because it'll be boring a Crap )
Spurs vs Sunderland (not bad)
QPR vs Man United (not bad, although it is United who are looking very poor this season. And QPR are pretty woeful).

It's worth keeping an eye out because the fixtures are likely to change (due to TV), so some games will get moved to the Sunday and even Monday. I'll let you know when the revised fixtures are released.

Obviously, there's the Championship which is the league below the Premiership, and they've got Millwall, Watford, Fulham, Brentford and Charlton within the London area. If you WERE gonna go, I'd go to a Millwall, Charlton or Fulham game.

Edit: That weekend Fulham are playing Reading at Fulham, and that would actually be a game worth watching. Both are Premiership regulars, with both of them getting relegated within the past 2 years. Fulham will probably be going back up next season too. Watford are also playing Charlton at Watford, which is still in the Borough of London so it's not too far out (London derby, too); and Millwall are playing Ipswitch. Probably avoid that one. Atmosphere would be decent because it's Millwall, but the quality of football will be shocking.

[Sam]

Also, here's a list of fixtures in January for...

Serie A - www1.skysports.com/football/competitions/serie-a/fixtures/january-2015

Ligue 1 - www1.skysports.com/football/competitions/ligue-1/fixtures/january-2015

Hope it helps

[jetsorbust]

Aug 25, 2014 17:58:40 GMT -6 Sam said:

If you're in London on the 17th (and you should be, if you leave Edinburgh early enough you shouldn't have a problem), then there's 3 games in London on the Saturday;

West Ham vs Hull City (one you probably want to avoid, because it'll be boring a Crap )
Spurs vs Sunderland (not bad)
QPR vs Man United (not bad, although it is United who are looking very poor this season. And QPR are pretty woeful).

It's worth keeping an eye out because the fixtures are likely to change (due to TV), so some games will get moved to the Sunday and even Monday. I'll let you know when the revised fixtures are released.

Obviously, there's the Championship which is the league below the Premiership, and they've got Millwall, Watford, Fulham, Brentford and Charlton within the London area. If you WERE gonna go, I'd go to a Millwall, Charlton or Fulham game.

Edit: That weekend Fulham are playing Reading at Fulham, and that would actually be a game worth watching. Both are Premiership regulars, with both of them getting relegated within the past 2 years. Fulham will probably be going back up next season too. Watford are also playing Charlton at Watford, which is still in the Borough of London so it's not too far out (London derby, too); and Millwall are playing Ipswitch. Probably avoid that one. Atmosphere would be decent because it's Millwall, but the quality of football will be shocking.

Hmm... thanks for the advice, much appreciated!

I will keep Fulham in mind for sure, and try to remember what you said about fixtures possibly being revised.

I did look at the Saturday (Jan 17th) games but I don't think it would work, since we land in Edinburgh so late on Wednesday it's really Thursday (Jan 15) morning, so we will likely stay there until at least Saturday night.