FIFA World Cup 18
European Qualifying Group F
Stadion Antona Malatinskeho - City Arena
Trnava, Slovakia
09 September 2016
Day 1 - Eurovea and Old Town. Eurovea is a classy shopping mall with apartments above, one of which we stayed in courtesy of Alexandra at AirBnB
View of the Danube from the Appt
View to left
The Lion and Statue of M R Stefanik in front of Eurovea
20 metres from the Appt
A nice litre of Golden Pheasant (Zlaty Bezant) in the Main Square
Slovak National Theatre
Pavlov Hviezdoslav - The Square is named after the Poet
Hviezdoslav Square
'Cumil' - The peeping Tom sewer worker
'Schone Nach' - Real name was Ingac Lamar and he lived in Pressburg at the end of the 19thC, he was a poor man that dressed well and gave out flowers to random women.
'Hubert' - One of Napoleon's soldiers who fell in love with a local girl and deserted from the Army in 1805
Old Town Hall
Maximillian Statue (1572) with Roland on top
Marian Column, Franciscan Square
Fountain, Franciscan Square
St Michael's Gate
Venturska Street & SNP Bridge facing South
Bratislava Castle to the West
Posing at the top of Michael's Gate
Entering the Old Town
Our Man in Bratislava
Bratislava Breakfast
Zlaty Bazant v Krusovice
"Na zdravie"!
The Coronation Route leading to St Martin's Cathedral
SNP Bridge and UFO Restaurant
Bratislava Castle
Gardens at the castle
Bronze Statue of 'Women with Magpies'
Ticket Machine - Bratislava
No 5, right on time
Zimny Stadion - Ondrej Nepal Arena. The home of Ice Hockey team, HC Slovan Bratislava. It's capacity is 10000
Junior Club - BCT Bratislava
Lunch at Kujchajda Lake
Stadion Pasienky is the main Stadium in Bratislava and has been the temporary home of Slovan Bratislava since 2009.
It holds 11591and is the former home of FK Inter Bratislava who have since plummeted down the leagues and who now play in the 3rd tier of Slovakian football; in the Bratislava Regional league.
PT time on the Danube
What's good for the goose
Irish Hen night in the UFO restaurant
The view from the top
Night cap and then bed
Day 3 - Walk along the Danube and Castle Devin.
Left to right: Smithy, Tommo, Sue, me, Gary and Jamie
Wall surrounding the Stadium
Slovakian ladies posing with scarves
Matchday at the City Arena
Queues at the England end
Nice bit of overtime
England's World Cup campaign is under away
09 September 2016
The Slovakian FA produced a full 36 page A4 programme with great articles about passed encounters, including the FIFA WC game in 1970 in Guadalajara, Brazil (England 1 Czechoslovakia 0) and the 1982 encounter in Bilbao (England 2 Czechoslovakia 0). Sadly it is all in Slovakian
England had not visited Slovakia since 2002 so the appetite for this game was quite good despite the debacle in Nice, still fresh in most people's memories. The Slovakians had issued the FA with 1739 tickets and there were just under 2500 that had applied, so as always it paid to be a 'Top Capper'.
This is Big Sam's first game in charge of the Three Lions and also the first qualifier for the World Cup in Russia
Tehelné pole was the venue that England played in the last time the teams met in Bratislava (2:1 to England). This crumbling stadium is now demolished.
The new location for the national team is the City Arena in Trnava just over 30 mins by train from Bratislava. It is the home of Spartak Trnava and has a capacity of 18,200. It first played host to the national team on 24 April 1996 against Bulgaria and has been the first choice venue since, until the new stadium is built at Tehelne pole in Bratislava in 2019
Slovakia 0 England 1
The Sting
England would win the game in extra time after scoring a disallowed goal a minute or so before. This made it one win from one game for Big Sam and that was how it would remain after Sam Allardyce was caught in a sting operation from the Daily Telegraph and subsequently sacked by the FA. He left with a 100% win ratio so he wasn't all that bad.
Day 1 - Eurovea and Old Town. Eurovea is a classy shopping mall with apartments above, one of which we stayed in courtesy of Alexandra at AirBnB
View of the Danube from the Appt
View to left
The Lion and Statue of M R Stefanik in front of Eurovea
20 metres from the Appt
A nice litre of Golden Pheasant (Zlaty Bezant) in the Main Square
Fountain at the Primate's Palace
Day 2 - Old Town, Castle, Slovan Bratislava and the UFO
Slovak National Theatre
Pavlov Hviezdoslav - The Square is named after the Poet
Hviezdoslav Square
'Cumil' - The peeping Tom sewer worker
'Schone Nach' - Real name was Ingac Lamar and he lived in Pressburg at the end of the 19thC, he was a poor man that dressed well and gave out flowers to random women.
'Hubert' - One of Napoleon's soldiers who fell in love with a local girl and deserted from the Army in 1805
Old Town Hall
Maximillian Statue (1572) with Roland on top
Marian Column, Franciscan Square
Fountain, Franciscan Square
St Michael's Gate
Venturska Street & SNP Bridge facing South
Bratislava Castle to the West
Posing at the top of Michael's Gate
Entering the Old Town
Our Man in Bratislava
Bratislava Breakfast
Zlaty Bazant v Krusovice
"Na zdravie"!
The Coronation Route leading to St Martin's Cathedral
SNP Bridge and UFO Restaurant
Bratislava Castle
Gardens at the castle
Bronze Statue of 'Women with Magpies'
Ticket Machine - Bratislava
No 5, right on time
Zimny Stadion - Ondrej Nepal Arena. The home of Ice Hockey team, HC Slovan Bratislava. It's capacity is 10000
Junior Club - BCT Bratislava
Lunch at Kujchajda Lake
Stadion Pasienky is the main Stadium in Bratislava and has been the temporary home of Slovan Bratislava since 2009.
It holds 11591and is the former home of FK Inter Bratislava who have since plummeted down the leagues and who now play in the 3rd tier of Slovakian football; in the Bratislava Regional league.
PT time on the Danube
Irish Hen night in the UFO restaurant
The view from the top
Night cap and then bed
Day 3 - Walk along the Danube and Castle Devin.
Slavin War Memorial
Ludovit Stur Statue
Traditional Slovakian cultural street market
Devin Castle
Castle grounds
Steve 150 - Sue Nil
Special coaching still couldn't change the outcome
The Meeting of the Danube and Morava
Slovakian lunch
Back at Bratislava and the street market is in full swing
All day concert at the Old Town Hall
Old Town Hall
Grassalkovich Palace
EF signing-in point
Going off piste to get to the Slavin Memorial
View over the city to the East
Slavin Memorial is a memorial to almost 7000 Soviet soldiers who fell liberating the city of Bratislava in April 1945
The SNP Bridge and Castle are directly to the South
Pub and Micro Brewery -Bratislavsky Mestiansky Pivovar
Primate's Palace, Old Town
The party goes on...
Day 4 - Trvana and Match Day
Ludovit Stur Statue
Traditional Slovakian cultural street market
Castle grounds
Steve 150 - Sue Nil
Special coaching still couldn't change the outcome
The Meeting of the Danube and Morava
Slovakian lunch
Back at Bratislava and the street market is in full swing
All day concert at the Old Town Hall
Old Town Hall
Grassalkovich Palace
EF signing-in point
Going off piste to get to the Slavin Memorial
View over the city to the East
Slavin Memorial is a memorial to almost 7000 Soviet soldiers who fell liberating the city of Bratislava in April 1945
The SNP Bridge and Castle are directly to the South
Pub and Micro Brewery -Bratislavsky Mestiansky Pivovar
Primate's Palace, Old Town
The party goes on...
Day 4 - Trvana and Match Day
Bratislava Main Train Station
Trnava Station is reached after a 46 kme journey and €2.18
Our modest home in Trnava
Holy Trinity Statue
Main Square
Pizza Kitty
City Tower in the background
Medieval Wall that surrounds Trnava
Trinity Square
St Nicholas' Cathedral
Trnava Station is reached after a 46 kme journey and €2.18
Our modest home in Trnava
Holy Trinity Statue
Main Square
Pizza Kitty
City Tower in the background
Medieval Wall that surrounds Trnava
Trinity Square
St Nicholas' Cathedral
Left to right: Smithy, Tommo, Sue, me, Gary and Jamie
Wall surrounding the Stadium
Slovakian ladies posing with scarves
Matchday at the City Arena
Queues at the England end
Nice bit of overtime
England's World Cup campaign is under away
Slovak end
The 1st Half is terrible
England end
When you arrive late you can't be too picky
Can you spot Shrek?
Michelle
England's injury time disallowed goal
England's injury time (+) allowed goal
Souvenir hunting at Spartak Trnava's Club Shop
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