The Last Crusade: Kosovo v England, Prishtina, Kosovo

European Championships Qualifier 2020
Group A
Kosovo v England
Fadil Vokrri Stadium, Prishtina, Kosovo
17 November 2019

There was no official programme for England's first ever fixture away in Kosovo but this pirate copy is a damn good effort

The Kosovo FA (FFK) allocated England only 752 tickets which was the smallest since I have been following England away. The cap cut off was 56, luckily I snaked in with 56. Mrs H smashed it on 54 caps when the original allocation was increased by 82, so 100% success after the 2nd ballot.

This is the first time that England have ever visited Kosovo and only the second time we have faced them following the 5:3 victory in Southampton.

The Fadil Vokrri Stadium in Prishtina has a 13,000 capacity and is home to FC Prishtina and the Kosovo national team

Kosovo 0 v England 4
Attendance: 12326

We arrived at Prishtina airport on the morning of Friday 15 Nov 19. My first visit back since the war.

On arrival we are greeted with a pleasent poster

The Kosovars has never forgotten the British military intervention which helped stabilise the country in the aftermath of the destructive withdrawal of the Serbs in 1999

The 'Thinking of You' exhibition in the old Prishtina stadium was an art exhibition portraying 5000 dresses donated by Kosovar men and women in memory of the thousands of Albanian women that were raped by the Serb paramilitaries.

Our digs on Rruga Zagrebi; 5 minutes from the stadium

'Shadowplay' by Tim Marshall,

an excellent read about the war in Kosovo

Comfy bed

View from balcony towards the stadium

The chimneys will become a reference point
for future late night taxi rides

The Great Hammam (Turkish bath) of Prishtina is one of the few Ottoman era monuments in the city.

Sahat Kulla (Clock Tower) dates back to the 19th C. The original bell was brought to Kosovo from Moldavia but was stollen in 2001. It was replaced by French KFOR troops with an electronic device but given the electricity breaks in Kosovo it struggles to keep the time.

Mosques are everywhere. This one marks the spot of the best restaurant in Prishtina.

The Great Hammam (Turkish bath).

Monument in the name of Yugoslav Brotherhood and Unity. This was erected in 1961 and each point represents the Serbian, Albanian and Montenegrin ethnicities. After the Kosovan war an attempt was made to blow it up because it was deemed to be a Serbian monument.

The Zivkovic sculpture at in front of the statue was built to commemorate the partizan fighters of WWII who were mainly Serbs, but since the war in Kosovo it has ben painted with the colours of the nations which supported the liberation of the ethnic Albanians from Milosovich's Yugoslav forces. History in this region is crazy.

Fruit and Veg shops are everywhere

Tat shops on Nene Tereze (Mother Theresa)

Kosovo really are rolling out the red carpet of respect

Monument to the estimated 20,000 Albanian women

that were raped during the conflict.

The Newborn statue in front of
the hideous 'Youth and Sports Palace'.

Craig Mac is still alive

First night out with the usual suspects

Party time

The start of day 2 and we have sobering walk through the city to the bus station for our excursion to Prizren.

Nice bit of street art on a disused railway

embankment near the stadium

First close up glimpse of the stadium

TV crews are here already

Alternative view 😂

Sue revisiting a scene from last night

The Newborn was unveiled with independence on 17 Feb 2008. The statue gets a repaint every year on its birthday

Heading down Bill Clinton Boulevard

Meat Grill - Prishtina style

The Bill Clinton Statue was unveiled in 2009

The former US President attended the opening ceremony and said a few words

The bus to Prizren took 2 hours and cost €4.50 each way

The flags of Kosovo and Albania

On arrival at Prizren we make a beeline to the old town and begin the steep ascent to the fort

The Holy Sunday Church of St Nicholas nestles against the castle walls. Like all Orthodox churches it requires a guard but it was vandalised in 2004 during the riots.

The Serbian Orthodox church of St Saviour was damaged by the ethnic Albanian mob during the riots of 2004 after German KFOR troops left the site.

View from the castle of the Sinan Pasha Mosque

and the 16th C stone bridge

On top of Castle Prizren

Time for a beer

Prizren Castle

Taxi has just arrived

Entrance to Sinan Pasha Mosque

The project is called '7000 Embroidery Trees' and is an initiative from the women of Prizren to protect and promote the nature and culture of the city

It's Peja time

View of the South Bank

A great view of Orthodox Church of St Saviour on the hill the Sinan Pasha Mosque in the foreground. What a tragedy that the ethnic tolerance could not be sustained

Sinan Pasha Mosque

KLA fighter

Old tractor laden with cabbages is a common sight in Kosovo

On arrival back in Prishtina the atmosphere is building

Bill in lights

They're Partying on the streets...

Check out my nails💅

A view of Paradise

Sue - Rocking the Casbah

The tissue dance

Day 3 is match day and once again we find ourselves strolling around the stadium like desperate autograph hunters

Fadil Vokrri is the father of Kosovan football. He was a player for FC Prishtina and the Yugoslav national team. He later became the president of the FFK. He served from 2008 until his death in 2018.

View across the road

The Mother Theresa Boulevard is adorned
with St George's Crosses. A nice touch👍

Ibrahim Rugova was the first president
of Kosovo (1992-2000)

Skenderbeu was an Albanian military commander (1405-1468) that led a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire across Albania, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia

National Theatre of Kosovo

The Statue of Mother Theresa is hidden away by trees in a little park off the Boulevard of her name

Culture done. Let's party😎

Beer with the boys

The Dardane are the Kosovo ultra group and was the name of an ancient Roman province that covered much of central Balkans region.

Kosovo tat is selling like hot cakes

Scarf selection

Football tat everywhere

Fan Park

Pre match beers done and its off to the stadium

Posing with the Boys

The Kosovo Kittens

Back of the South Stand

Panoramic of the Fadil Vokrri

Total Respect and an incredible rendition of the Kosovo

national anthem by a live violinist

West Stand (Main Stand and partially covered)

East Stand (uncovered)

During GSTQ the Kosovars turn the clappers around to display the St Georges Cross

I've never felt so humbled at a football stadium

A poignant reminder of why

The North Stand

There is nothing much riding on the game as England have qualified as group winners and Kosovo are in the play offs no matter the result, but this was more than a football match.

Kosovo start well but Harry Winks opens the scoring on 32 minutes with a great bit of running and a precision finish to the keepers right.

With the score still at 0:1, I get caught on TV which proves rather embarrassing when I return to work

West Ham Paul's attempt at a selfie

are well and truly scuppered.

A high ball is crossed in from the right following a deflection and who is there to smash it in on 79 minutes. Harry Kane.

Rashford makes it 0:3 with a sublime move that ends up with a neatly taken goal in the in the bottom left corner on 83 mins

As Kosovo tire England go through the gears

Mason Mount makes it 0:4 with his

first goal for England in the 91st minute

The successful England team applaud the 700+

"Follow England Away"

Party time in the Bamboo Club with the Kosovo Ultras

I must have been pissed as I swapped a replica 1966 WC winners top for an Ultra's black hoody😎

Kosovo has a new recruit

The Bamboo Club rocks

Day 4 starts with a brunch at the

excellent local restaurant 'Liburnia'

Lamb on a bed of fried yoghurt washed down with red wine

The Youth and Sports Palace is also known as 'Boro Ramiz' and is reminiscent of a rack of lamb and covered by a poster of rebel icon Adem Jashari. Boro and Ramiz were two partisans, one Serb and one Albanian who fought and died during WWII. In the Yugoslav spirit of 'Brotherhood and Unity' they were joined for life in the Youth and Sports Palace. Basketball is played here.

Prishtina's Catholic Church dedicated to Mother Theresa.

The foundation stone was only laid in 2007.

For 1€ you can take the elevator up to the clock tower

for some impressive views of Prishtina.

There hideous National Library is located in the heart of the university campus. It was voted one of the top ten ugliest buildings in the world.

View to the South

View of the Stadium and the Youth and Sports Palace.

Mother Theresa's church from the university.

Downhill from the library is the unfinished Serbian Orthodox Church that was started in the1990's and destined to be the largest Serb church in Kosovo. Construction was stopped in 1999 and the future of the building is still controversial.