Footy On The Med

It’s a trip to Marseille for FOTM and a fixture to make the mouth water: OM v Monaco. It didn’t disappoint. From the tumultuous noise of the Stade de Velodrome to eccentric, and dramatic, refereeing decisions, not to mention a smasher of a Marseille goal and some slick Monaco attacking, this game was action-packed from start to finish. So much so that John, Alex and Young Trafford forgot both their SCORE and FOULS acronyms. No matter because, apart from thoroughly enjoying their outing to Marseille, they came up with the title of Alex’s next book: A Season on the Bed in the Shed. Marseille 2 Monaco 2 was recorded at the Stade de Velodrome on Saturday 27 January 2024.

It’s a Happy New Year from him, and a Happy New year to him, as John and Alex catch up after Footy on the Med’s festive hiatus. Alex is again marooned in a frozen land (England), but John is still roaming the Mediterranean or, at least, Menton. John updates Alex on key French football happenings. Alex tells John about Joey Barton’s crusade to rid the world of female football pundits. And then a strange thing happens. It is a poem. About Mr Barton. And it’s here, on FOTM 54.

At last! Footy on the Med made it to Italy. Not to John and Alex’s home from home, the wonderful Stadio Luigi Ferraris, but to one of their other favourite grounds, the Stadio Communale in Sanremo. It may have taken half the 2023-24 season to get an Italian sortie under their belts but this was great little outing, thanks especially to a fine pre-match lunch at the nearby Tiki Taka restaurant and a combative, sometimes niggly, game of football. There was no Malaguti but Young Trafford was in situ too; John and Alex had to spare his young eyes from some of the challenges. Sanremese 0 Chieri 0 was recorded at the Stadio Communale on Sunday 10 December 2023.

FOTM Rewind. It's not unusual for John and Alex to watch a game of football. It's not unusual for them to watch a game in a bar. But it's very unusual for Tom Jones to join Footy on the Med. Enjoy again the bizarre time when the greatest Welshman of all, and best singer of all time, turned up at La Vittoria in Menton for England 3, Wales 0 in late November, 2022.

With Stan By Me in town, the omens had to be good. Could John and Alex get to the cursed Allianz Riviera stadium and actually see OGC Nice play, without a hitch? The fearless duo went forth, the wise Stan at their side and, for good measure, the youthful vigour of Young Trafford also present. And lo! They made it! They got to Nice v Toulouse before the game, had what passed for a hot dog and finally witnessed the beautiful Mefi the Eagle. With second-placed Ligue 1 outfit Nice having only scored 13 goals all season, the odds of a goal-fest were long. But no matter. This was a decent game, with some killer facts to savour and great performances by Dante and Thuram. Nice 1 Toulouse 0 was recorded at the Allianz Riviera on Sunday 26 November 2023.

Flashback to April 2023 to when John and Alex conspired to surprise Hammer Donna in Pisa Tuscany with tickets to that afternoon's Pisa Vs Bari match. Donna was caught completely off-guard by John's theatrics, ably aided and abetted by Donna's long-time partner-in-crime and fellow Hammers fan, Clarent & Sue.

Pisa, Sunday 23 April 2023.

It’s a special edition of Footy of the Med as QPR diehard Alex takes himself – and fellow sufferers – to Loftus Road for QPR’s clash with Bristol City. Both teams have new managers but the home side’s form is by far the worse. Can new Hoops boss Marti Cifuentes work a Loftus Road miracle, in the form of the club’s first home win for what feels like a decade? Spoiler alert: no. But sometime pod contributor Ricardo speaks Catalan, forges a friendship with Cifuentes and takes John’s Footwear Colour Observation slot to a new high, while Lifelong Fan Sam and Socials Esme add their thoughts on the Shepherd’s Bush experience. Perhaps, though, it’s best summed up by London Gent Ian. QPR 0, Bristol City 0 was recorded at whatever QPR’s ground is now called on Saturday 11 November 2023.

Rewind two-years-and-one-day ago. Alex drives to Nice airport to pick up John. He waits. And he waits. John's plane is late, and then suffers from a lack of stairs. There's nothing for it: once again, Alex must push on without his pod partner.