England v Senegal, City Ground, Friendly, Nottingham, 10 Jun 24

Friendly 

England V Senegal

City Ground, Nottingham

10 Jun 25

This friendly against the men from West Africa took place in the City Ground, Nottingham, oddly not one of my favourite venues. The last time we played the 'Lions of Teranga' was in the Rd of 16 at the 2022 Qatar World Cup resulting in a 3:0 victory to England, but these boys are out for revenge

With the City Ground having a modest capacity of just over 30,000 and the ESTC membership being over 31000, it was fairly obvious that the cheaper 'Home End' tickets would sell out rapidly. Like many members I was in meetings at work when they went on sale, so missed the £20 tickets and ended up paying £45 in the Brian Clough Stand 😢

Passing the all too familiar Bridgford Stand, where part of the lower tier is the usual away end

Just around the bend is the Brian Clough Stand which was built in 1980 after success in Europe, adding 10,000 seats and lots of hospitality

Pano taken from the corner of the Brian Clough Stand towards the Trent End. On the left is the Main Stand (Peter Taylor Stand) which dates back to 1965 

England 1 Senegal 3

Attendance: 26,322

England captain Harry Kane had put the home side ahead early in the first half, instinctively finishing after Édouard Mendy spilled Anthony Gordon’s shot but strikes from Ismaila Sarr, Habib Diarra and Cheikh Sabaly turned the game on its head to see the African side claim an impressive win and seal England's first defeat to an African nation.

Senegal had the first effort on goal in the 2nd min, but Idrissa Gana Gueye’s effort was easily dealt with by Dean Henderson, who then kept out Nicolas Jackson’s low drive with a smart save courtesy of his left boot three minutes later.

The afternoon starts well. The sun is out, on the plot early and Millwall Dave has just arrived and my lift back to London is secure, so onward travel to Bratislava via Stansted for my 1105 flight is also looking good. The current plan is that tomorrow me and CM get picked up from Bexley by another Millwall and U21 legend 'Des the Fez'.

Team photo at Lady Bay, Nottingham 

Another perspective

The Bridgford stand where those illusive cheap tickets were snapped up within minutes of going on sale

Trent End and Peter Taylor Stand

Bridgford Stand

Bridgford Stand

England take the lead as Harry Kane nets after 7 mins

More pressure on the Senegalese goal but they hold out and manage to equalise before HT

Seat 194, Block T, Row 7 of the Brian Clough Stand has been officially  zapped by DCFC

The 2nd Half is under way but England can't seem to get a foot hold. This is not going to end well. 

Morgan Gibbs White has a strike well saved and Jude Bellingham's equaliser is ruled out by VAR and the female Ref for a debateable  handball. England threw men forward but are caught out in injury time. Well done Senegal but England were a shambles!