Cheers. Was that before the clubhouse fire?

#OnThisDay in football, 21 April

1905 - Boca Juniors played its first match 🇦🇷

1917 - Kilmarnock ended Celtic's record unbeaten run in the league (63)🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

1991 - John Harkes became the first American to play in a Wembley final 🇺🇸

Birthdays: Isco (1991) 🇪🇸, Mikel Oyazabal (1997) 🇪🇸, Xavi Simons (2003)🇳🇱

Correct, must have autocorrected - reposting...

As someone who lived in Spain, those types of Brits are just embarrassing. And, of course, they're the first to complain if someone doesn't speak English here.

Luckily, most Spanish people can tell the difference between us and appreciate those foreigners who do speak the language, or at least try.

Non-League Adventures: The Rocks Derby In the Kentish spa town of Royal Tunbridge Wells, a local rivalry has grown in recent years and can draw crowds of 1,000-plus. It's a derby forged from rock...

NEW POST 🗞️

Non-League Adventures: The Rocks Derby

The royal Kentish spa town of Tunbridge Wells has a derby day all of its own.

Read on…

#NonLeague #TunbridgeWells

open.substack.com/pub/outsidew...

Exactly. I'm sure the Benidorm expats would be confounded if a Spaniard told them something was 'pan comido' (eaten bread = easy)

Have you listened to this week's podcast on Scottish ultras yet?

✅ History
✅ Inspirations
✅ Future?

@derekwatson89.bsky.social and @footballheritage.bsky.social join me to discuss all this and more... 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 📣 🔥

Download/listen wherever you get your podcasts.

#ultras #SPL

Sad news as Boavista's Estádio do Bessa goes up for auction

Asking price - €37 million-plus

More...
www.abola.pt/noticias/est...

I was there last month. Love that club's kit, so gutted about how things turned out 🏁

Coming up this week on Outside Write

NOW - 🎙️ Podcast: Scotland's ultra scene 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

21/4 - 🗞️ Non-League Adventures: The Rocks Derby (Tunbridge Wells v Rusthall, SCEFL) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

23/4 - Irish Rebel Footballers ☘️

Sub/follow 👉 outsidewrite.substack.com

📸 Motherwell ultras sticker / Chris Lee / Bohemian FC

...I always said Br*xit couldn't survive, demographically.

Under 40s (at the time) didn't want it.

Brauhaus - Restaurant - Veranstaltungen Kölsches Brauhaus und Biergarten direkt am Kölner Dom mit vielen Veranstaltungsräumen. Nebenan ein exklusives Restaurant mit gehobener Küche von FRÜH.

Früh Brauhaus does brilliant food and brews beer on-site

www.frueh-am-dom.de

LOCAL ELECTIONS 2026 HAVE YOUR SAY Register to vote by 23:59 MONDAY 20th APRIL 2026 VOTE GREEN THURSDAY 7TH MAY Green Party Promoted by Chris Williams on behalf of The Green Party, both at PO Box 78066, London SE16 9GQ

⌛️ The deadline to register to vote on 7 May is midnight tonight!

Don't lose the chance to have your say. Register to vote now ⤵️

Next up at Champion Hill 👀

The London Senior Cup Final. Join us next Tuesday night for our final game of the season, with silverware on the line 🏆

Guarantee your spot, get your match tickets ⬇️

www.intix.co.uk/event/london...

#OnThisDay in football, 20 April

One for the goalkeepers' union 🧤

1968 - Dino Zoff made his debut for Italy 🇮🇹

1976 - Shay Given was born - happy 50th! 🇮🇪

Thanks! 🙌🏼

NEW PODCAST 🎙️

We’re looking at Scotland’s ultra scene today with @derekwatson89.bsky.social (Motherwell), and Rory Bryce from @footballheritage.bsky.social 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Download it wherever you get your podcasts 🎧

Here on Spotify:
open.spotify.com/episode/2S1u...

Here's a taster... #ultras #scotland

Pleasure speaking with Chris as always.

Scotland's Ultras scene is at a crossroads. The best way to nurture and grow this burgeoning subculture is by working collaboratively, not criminalising people for having pyro.

The scene here is great. We shouldn't take it for granted.

Football Travel: Unió Esportiva Sant Andreu Step away from the top-flight clubs in Barcelona, and there’s a whole exciting new world in the barrios. I went along to Sant Andreu to experience something totally different.

Congratulations to UE Sant Andreu for clinching promotion back to the third tier for the first time in over a decade!

Here’s more on UESA, who *literally* wear their catalanisme ❤️💛 #UESA

open.substack.com/pub/outsidew...

Citeh’s run-in might not make it quite the title race the shoe-in everyone thinks it is.

All the best to Arsenal, hoping they can pick up some form.

Football Clubs Named After Famous People There are many clubs around the world that are named after either real people or fictional characters. I’ve made a list…

#OnThisDay in football 19 April

1925 - Colo-Colo founded 🇨🇱 One of many clubs named after famous people. See this week's history long-read for more 👇

1958 - Welsh legend Billy Meredith died aged 83 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

1978 - Gabriel Heinze born 🇦🇷

open.substack.com/pub/outsidew...

NEW PODCAST 🎙️

We’re looking at Scotland’s ultra scene today with @derekwatson89.bsky.social (Motherwell), and Rory Bryce from @footballheritage.bsky.social 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Download it wherever you get your podcasts 🎧

Here on Spotify:
open.spotify.com/episode/2S1u...

Here's a taster... #ultras #scotland

Dropping tomorrow 🎙️

@derekwatson89.bsky.social and @footballheritage.bsky.social join me on the podcast to discuss Scotland’s #ultra scene 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 📢

Sub/catch up wherever you get your pods

Thanks 🙌🏼

I only had limited space so used a catch-all term

Ultras - Trailer | In Select Cinemas 24 April YouTube video by Bulldog Film Distribution

Yeah, it’s cinematically impressive and the director visits four continents so it’s a proper global perspective.

Here’s the trailer

m.youtube.com/watch?v=CgvH...

Football History: The Ultrà Movement in Europe They’re everywhere, from the southern Balkans to the West Coast of Ireland, but what is the ‘ultrà’ movement and where did it come from?

…and if you’re interested in a brief history of the ultra movement in Europe, check out my post 👇🏼

open.substack.com/pub/outsidew...

I went to the UK premiere of this new film about Ultras.

Cinematically impressive. Global scope. Plenty of behind-the-scenes access on tifo preparation, interviews about run-ins with the police, and covers tough topics like the Port Said tragedy.

Would have liked to have seen more on history.

a blurry picture of a soccer player kicking a soccer ball into the goal . ALT: a blurry picture of a soccer player kicking a soccer ball into the goal .

#OnThisDay in football 18 April

2007 - 19-year-old Leo Messi scored a Maradona-esque goal for Barça v Getafe, rounding five players

2021 - plans for a European Super League were announced, prompting a huge backlash

Birthdays: Upson (1979) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, Szczęzny (1990)🇵🇱, Origi (1995)🇧🇪, Dumfries (1996)🇳🇱,

Ten lost years. Just rejoin, for god’s sake

I went to uni in Coventry - three years in the 90s, when City were in the Prem first time around (and it cost £15 at Highfield Road)

I won’t say I enjoyed my time there, but fair play to Cov for getting back to the top flight.