Licking lizards.




My words how time flys! Here we are about to hit December and Christmas will be upon us before we know it! 
I am happy to say that this time round "Paella and Bovril" is coming on the back of a Raith Rovers victory. It seems that a few extra heart beats are getting the team  going.
Sad times also in football this weekend with the passing of Gary Speed at the weekend. My thoughts are with his family and friends. 
PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL CLUB AND IT'S MATCH DAY PROGRAMME.

Paella and Bovril

Being a fan a one of the smaller clubs could be described as riding roller coaster every season. Will you go up, will you go down, will you get a wee cup run and now we have Can we pay the bills? to contend with. Clubs for sale, stands closing, players not being paid are now all too familiar in football all over the world. It is a ride every football fan wants off of!  At times like these you can find yourself wondering why? But what we need to do at times like these it get motivated!  It is a vicious circle to get caught up in. If the team loses the fans get down. If the team continues losing, the fans get on their backs. If the fans turn against the club then we all end up feeling a bit flat and deflated.  Not a good thing for anyone.  Troubling times for all involved. Does it get better or is it just going to get worse?
A few weeks ago Levante UD topped La liga, for the first time in the clubs history! I was intrigued, their seemed to be a wee story behind this club so I decided to investigate a wee bit more, well when I say investigate, I asked my local barca fans about this “wee” club over a cup of coffee. They came up a few seasons ago and survived in 14th last season so no-one’s expecting them to be at the top of the league and for them to have a victory over Real Madrid under their belts.  This from a club that had a nightmare season 2008-2009.  The team seemed in free fall, 18 million owed to the players, players refusing to move for several seconds at the kick off for games, lower division football guaranteed with several games to go! Not a pretty picture.  Players were even going to strike against the club at the fixture with Real Madrid. Not the best press for the Spanish game.
However the strike was averted when the players agreed to a game against a team made up of other top league players with the proceeds from the match going to paying the players who had not been paid in a long time.  
The team had a few season to re-group and came back up to top-flight football in 2010.  Not bad for a club that a few seasons previous could not get its own players to play for it.
This season has a long way to go and, who knows, Levante UD may plummet down the table and the high that their fans felt will be long forgotten, but they did get to the top, they survived!  
Yes ok, I understand that the club was dealing in the millions and are playing in a league where money appears to be no object, but trust me this dream league does have its problems.  Levante UD may have survived but could they survive again and what about the clubs in the lower division are they going to be able to survive? Girona FC were playing a derby match in their almost 10,000 seater stadium but only over 4,000 fans show up. Barcelona are on the tele, a wee cerveca in the bar with mates watching Messi and co, or a wet night watching Girona play Sabadell.  Every week you can watch either Barcelona or Real Madrid. These clubs are huge and getting bigger whilst the smaller clubs are fighting to get the scraps off the table. Can small clubs survive in this Spanish crisis? Maybe Spanish football has got to big for its fancy coloured boots?  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Formulaic fun

Image
The festive season is creeping up on us and there feels like no escape. We can only hope that the weather is kind to the Scottish football grounds. A few weeks ago the topic came up "what would you change about the scottish game". This wee serving of Paella and Bovril gives you an idea of what I thought. What do you think? This was first seen in the Programme of the Scottish Cup tie with Deveronvale on Saturday 1st December. Raith went thru to the next round with a 2-1 win Paella and Bovril It seems that every 5 minutes somebody somewhere wants to sweeten the Scottish game it by changing it’s structure. Mix this division with that league, add a dash of grass roots, stir them about and voila! -the perfect cocktail of football. Well that is what they keep promising to serve up to us. What would give Scottish football the perfect flavour? Regional divisions or fewer teams, maybe bigger leagues; but what about the actual 90 minutes? On a recen...
Read more

The wheels on the bus go round and maybe more £s

Image
To quote a great Mr Simpson "see you in spring toes"! It is the festive "fat-up" here in Barcelona. I am in the middle making my THIRD Christmas dinner in less than a week! In 2013 I think I will be staying out the kitchen for a few days and running a wee bit! This serving of Paella and Bovril comes from the Fife Derby against Cowdenbeath on the 29th December. After a being 2 goals down at half time Raith came back to get a point. Enjoy. PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR MATCHDAY PROGRAMME. Paella and Bovril When I was a wee teenager I would regularly be found on a football terrace. Being a pupil at Balwearie High, just behind the railway stand here at Stark’s Park, meant that I could use my “study” periods to come watch one of the reserves games that used to be regularly played.   Of course you do not expect a large crowd at these matches, I am sure that at some of these games I was the only supporter there. But it was a reserves match ...
Read more

day out at the football!

Image
The calm before the excitement Monday morning has never been my favourite period of the week. This Monday, I have to admit I feel a little tender.  I decided that cause Raith were having a big day at Stark's Park, I would have a "big" day in Barcelona. But I did not think that this was going to happen. Scottish football ain't a big crowd pleaser in Catalunya so trying to find a host for my day out was tougher than I thought. This serving from Paella and Bovril comes from the Scottish cup game against Celtic at Stark's Park. Raith played well and the 3-0 defeat does not reflect the performance.  PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL TEAM Paella and Bovril Unthinkable to believe that Stark's Park has never played host to the miles of cables and the numerous cameras that come with live games. The ground's previous live TV outing was seen in Iceland when we played host to Akranes.   How exciting today the stadium will ...
Read more