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

Friendly 

England V Senegal

City Ground, Nottingham

10 Jun 25

A one off friendly against the men from West Africa took place in the City Ground, Nottingham which funnily enough is not one of my favourite venues. The last time we played them was in the Round of 16 at the Qatar World Cup in 2022 resulting in a resounding 3:0, but tonight they were 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 joined the virtual queue late 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

The afternoon starts well. The sun is out, on the plot early and Millwall Dave has just arrived in his car. Therefore my lift back to London is sorted, meaning onward travel to Slovakia via Stansted Airport is also looking good, as getting picked up by another Millwall legend 'Des the Fez' from CMs house.

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 minutes

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

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. 

Diarra puts Senegal into the lead on 62 mins.  Morgan Gibbs White has a strike well saved and Jude Bellingham's equaliser is ruled out by VAR and the Ref for handball. England throw men forward but are caught out again in injury time when Sabaly makes them pay with a cool finish. Well done Senegal but England were a shambles!