PHOTO DIARY OF A FOOTBALL SEASON – FEBRUARY/MARCH

February 2020 was a strange month of football watching, a month which began and ended on a Saturday, both of which were football free. The football matches sandwiched inbetween were quite good though.

My first football match of the month saw Linfield get a win over Dungannon Swifts to go top of the table, and then cement their place with a win at Warrenpoint Town the following Saturday.

The following weekend, I spent my birthday in Ballymena. Grim, I know. It wasn’t all bad, as Linfield secured a 4-1 win.

Four Goal Fridays continued the following weekend, as Linfield hammered Crusaders 4-0 live on TV.

Usually, these photo round-ups cover one month at a time, but I only got to go to one match in March 2020 because of you know what, a trip to Taylor’s Avenue to see Linfield beat Carrick Rangers.

Leaving Taylor’s Avenue that day, looking forward to the match against Larne the following weekend and the title run-in, unaware of what was to follow.

March was still a better month than April, not a single football match attended. Not even a single photo taken, football or otherwise.

Or May …. Or June.

I had anticipated being at Euro 2020, instead I was stuck indoors as my football watching for the season was officially confirmed as over, and I have no idea when i’ll be in a football ground again.

Be positive, you have to. I’ve already booked to do a Dublin/Bray break to try and blag a ticket for the Last 16 match of Euro 2021 in Dublin.

As I won’t be going to Edinburgh in August, i’m hoping to do a mini tour of Scotland towards the end of the year. I may take in a game while i’m there.

The problem is, waiting to see when crowds are allowed in, I can’t book any football specific trips. When the fixtures are released, I immediately jump in to book a trip to Old Trafford knowing i’ll get a good price. There’s no point booking if I don’t know if i’ll get in.

So, that was 2019-2020, ended prematurely in exceptional circumstances.

Usually, I sign off Photo Diary Of A Football Season by saying i’ll continue to take photos the following season.

There’s no guarantee of that, but as soon as i’m allowed back into a football ground, you know i’ll be taking photos.

Linfield v Dungannon Swifts

Warrenpoint Town v Linfield

Ballymena United v Linfield

Linfield v Crusaders

Carrick Rangers v Linfield

PHOTO DIARY OF A FOOTBALL SEASON – JANUARY

A new year, but same old football related photo adventures.

Thankfully, a home game to see in the new year (didn’t really fancy the 212 on New Year’s Day) against Institute, and a 3-0 win for Linfield.

My first Saturday game of the year saw me visit a new ground for the first time. The less said about Linfield’s trip to QUB, the better.

Things got a bit better on the pitch, the weather less so, as I headed to Solitude nine days later in the middle of Storm Brendan to see Linfield go top of the League with a 2-1 win against Cliftonville.

Linfield’s inconsistent form continued with a 0-0 draw at home to Dungannon Swifts the following Saturday.

The following midweek saw my first football trip of the year, to Old Trafford to see United lose to Burnley.

While I was there, I was able to take in another match, Salford City v Accrington Stanley in the EFL Trophy, which meant I was able to visit another new ground for the first time, the second of the month.

The following Saturday, I headed to Windsor Park to see Linfield hammer Glenavon 8-1.

That was then followed by a trip to Larne the following midweek, my first visit to Inver Park since 2005, to see Linfield lose 3-1.

Linfield v Institute

Queen’s University v Linfield

Cliftonville v Linfield

Linfield v Dungannon Swifts

Salford City v Accrington Stanley

Salford City v Accrington Stanley Photo Album

Manchester United v Burnley

Manchester United v Burnley Photo Album

Linfield v Glenavon

Larne v Linfield

PHOTO DIARY OF A FOOTBALL SEASON – DECEMBER

I had to wait seven days for some football watching, heading to Windsor Park to see Linfield take on Cliftonville.

That was followed by a road trip to Warrenpoint to see Linfield get a 2-0 win.

The end of the month got a bit busier heading to Windsor Park to see Linfield draw with Crusaders. The following Saturday saw me head to Coleraine to see Linfield get another draw.

Sandwiched inbetween that was the traditional Boxing Day game against Glentoran, this season held at The Oval. The less said about that, the better.

Linfield v Cliftonville

Warrenpoint Town v Linfield

Linfield v Crusaders

Glentoran v Linfield

Coleraine v Linfield

PHOTO DIARY OF A FOOTBALL SEASON – NOVEMBER

November’s football watching began with a trip to Windsor Park to see Linfield take on Carrick Rangers.

That was then followed by a first trip of the season to Old Trafford to see Manchester United take on
Partizan Belgrade.

The following Saturday, came another football trip, but it was a relatively short one Foyleside, to get some photos of the abandoned stadium at Drumahoe, and then Linfield’s match against
Institute.

After that, it was a dash back to Belfast on the 212 to see Northern Ireland play Holland in aEuropean Championship Qualifer.

The month ended with Linfield’s matches against Glenavon and Larne.

Linfield v Carrick Rangers

Manchester United v Partizan Belgrade

Manchester United v Partizan Belgrade Photo Album

Drumahoe

Drumahoe Photo Album

Institute v Linfield

Northern Ireland v Holland

Northern Ireland v Holland Photo Album

Glenavon v Linfield

Linfield v Larne

PHOTO DIARY OF A FOOTBALL SEASON – OCTOBER

October began with a disappointing trip to Seaview to see Linfield lose to Crusaders.

It got better the following Saturday, with a 4-1 win at Dungannon Swifts.

That was then followed by two quick trips to Windsor Park, to see Linfield beat Ballymena United 2-1, and then hammer Warrenpoint Town 7-0, before the month ended as it started, with a disappointing away defeat for Linfield, this time at Coleraine.

Crusaders v Linfield

Dungannon Swifts v Linfield

Linfield v Ballymena United

Linfield v Warrenpoint Town

Coleraine v Linfield

THE FRIDAY FIVE – 26.6.2020

1. Ellie Goulding – Power
2. The Clause – Murder On The Dancefloor
3. Haim – 3am
4. Mae Muller – I Don’t Want Your Money
5. Izzy Bizu – Faded

MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : MATCH – 22.7.1989

Mo Johnston is the cover star of Match as Match asks how good he is.

This was prompted by a claim by Rangers manager Graeme Souness that Johnston was the best striker in Britain, so Match organised a poll to end the arguement once and for all.

Match also revealed that Johnston predicted in 1982 that one day he would sign for Rangers.

Another big summer signing was Chris Waddle of Marseille, who tells Match that money wasn’t a factor in his move.

Also moving to the Continent was Alan McInally, who hopes his move to Bayern Munich will earn him a place in Scotland’s squad for the 1990 World Cup if they qualify.

Match looks at the race for promotion to Division One, asking players from clubs promoted in 1989 (Chelsea, Manchester City, Crystal Palace) who they think will go up in 1990, the general consensus being Leeds.

Some footballers are without a club, and Match writes about those top flight players looking for a club.

If they end up at another top flight club, you’ll know how much it will cost to watch them, as Match does a chart of admission prices at Division One clubs, apart from Southampton and Liverpool, who didn’t provide information.

PHOTO DIARY OF A FOOTBALL SEASON – SEPTEMBER

It took a week for September’s football watching to start, with a trip to Solitude to see Linfield beat Cliftonville on their return to domestic action after their European exploits.

That was followed 48 hours later (well, 52 hours and 44 minutes later, to be precise) with a trip to Windsor Park to see Northern Ireland take on Germany in a Euro 2020 Qualifier.

It was Windsor Park again the following Saturday to see Linfield beat Glentoran, before a nine day wait to see Linfield take on Carrick Rangers on a wet Monday night live on TV.

The month ended with a goalfest, as Linfield hammered Glenavon 7-0.

Cliftonville v Linfield

Northern Ireland v Germany

Northern Ireland v Germany Photo Album

Linfield v Glentoran

Carrick Rangers v Linfield

Linfield v Glenavon

PHOTO DIARY OF A FOOTBALL SEASON – AUGUST

August’s football watching began in dramatic fashions with three games in the first three days of the month.

The 1st of the month saw me head to Windsor Park to see Linfield take on HB Torshavn in the UEFA Cup.

The following day, I headed to Edinburgh for a short break. It would have been rude not to take in some football.

On Friday 2nd, I headed to see Dunfermline Athletic take on Dundee, while on Saturday 3rd, I went to see Hibernian take on St Mirren.

The rest of the month was a residency at Windsor Park, seeing Linfield’s League matches against Institute and Coleraine, and their UEFA Cup matches against Sutjeska and Qarabag.

Linfield v HB Torshavn

Dunfermline Athletic v Dundee

Dunfermline Athletic v Dundee Photo Album

Hibernian v St Mirren

Hibernian v St Mirren Photo Album

Linfield v Institute

Linfield v FK Sutjeska

Linfield v Coleraine

Linfield v Qarabag

MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : MANCHESTER UNITED – AUGUST 1995

Lee Sharpe is the cover star of Manchester United’s official magazine during what would turn out to be an eventful summer at Old Trafford.

As you open the magazine, there is a poster of Paul Ince and Mark Hughes, who left United that summer.

Meanwhile, Eric Cantona would have an eventful return from suspension, an Old Trafford date against either Liverpool or Manchester City, depending on wether Sky Sports would move the game against Liverpool back to October 1st.

A United fan was fined £500 for producing Manchester United branded aftershave without the club’s consent.

Gary Neville was the subject of a brief interview after a breakthrough year where he broke into United’s team and made his England debut.

There was a fixture list for 95/96, while an advert appeared to reveal United’s new away kit would be unveiled on 1st August. It turned out the be the infamous grey kit.

There was six pages of coverage of Paul Ince and Mark Hughes departures, looking back at their time with United.

There is a four page profile of the forthcoming European competitions, as United aimed to win the UEFA Cup for the first time. They went out in the 1st Round on away goals to Rotor Volgograd.

There is a double page feature on United Supporters Clubs around the world, in countries such as Wales, USA, Germany and Belgium.