UEFA EURO 2016 (Nice)

Wednesday 22nd June 2016
UEFA Euro 2016 Group B
Stade de Nice
Sweden 0-1 Belgium
Attendance: 34,011

My French adventure came to it's conclusion on the Cote d'azur with a visit to the brand new home of Olympique Gymnaste Club de Nice. After waking up, and opening my window, to stunning views of palm trees and the clean blue water of the Mediterranean Sea, it was a lazy afternoon, mostly drinking Belgian beer in a place called Belgian Attitude, before heading to the ground.

The ground, opened in 2013 and replacing the old Stade Municipal du Rayand, is eco-friendly, drawing more than three times its own energy requirements from more than 4,000 solar panels. The ground has its own geothermal installation for heating and rain water channelled from the roof is used to water the pitch.

To contradict this though, the best way of reaching the ground, which is 13 km outside the city centre, is by car as the train stop for the stadium is yet to be completed. Tonight's match is the penultimate game at this ground, with England v Iceland scheduled here for next Monday before it hosts Rhianna on her world tour on 15th July.

Belgium struggled to overcome Sweden, who at least managed some efforts on target in this game. The game was decided six minutes from time when Radja Nainggolan's stunning 25-yard strike secured Belgium's place in the last 16 of Euro 2016 and eliminated out Sweden. Fabrique Belgique as they say.

As well as being my last game at Euro 2016, it was also the last international game of Zlatan Ibrahimovic as he had announced that this tournament would be his Swedish swansong, no doubt I will be seeing him at Goodison Park next season after Manchester United sign (for) him!

That is my lot for 2015/16, the journey around France was a brilliant way to round off another season of groundhopping, even if the actual football was largely forgettable. Thanks to everyone involved, and indeed over the course of the past 11 months. Hopefully I will see you all soon. Enjoy your summer!

Goodbye, au revoir!

UEFA EURO 2016 (Toulouse)

Friday 17th June 2016
Stadium Toulouse
UEFA Euro 2016 Group E
Italy 1-0 Sweden
Attendance: 29,600

After a few late beers in Paris, and a bit of a hairy journey to my hotel due to a lack of shuttle buses and taxis, it was an early start for a flight south to Toulouse. This was effectively the beginning of my trip that had been planned since last summer, when the first batch of tickets went on sale, when the idea was to take in 6 grounds in 6 days.

I was undertaking this journey with three others so I met up with them pre-match before walking the 40 or so minutes to the ground.

The Stadium de Toulouse was originally built for use in the 1938 World Cup. It has a capacity of 33,000 and the locals used to call the ground "little Wembley" as it bears a resemblence to the Old Wembley stadium (minus the twin towers though). I can see their thinking. The ground is actually built on an island in the river Garonne, which is the main river that flows through the city.

Walking to the ground the Swedish fans were in fine voice and their yellow shirts made a colourful sight. I did wonder where the Italian fans were as all I could see was a sea of yellow. 

The game was utter dross and seemed to be heading to a goalless draw until a fine strike from Eder, in the 88th minute, won the match for the Italians. Despite the presence of Zlatan Ibrahimvoic, Sweden never managed a shot on target during the game.

Eder is mobbed by his teamates after netting the winner.

LANDSKRONA BoIS (Landskrona Idrottsplats)

SWEDISH DIVISION 1 SÖDRA, LANDSKRONA BoIS 0-0 NORRBY IF, ATTENDANCE: 1,494

After yesterday's double in Copenhagen, today I crossed the border into Sweden. About an hour by train from Denmark's capital is the Swedish town of Landskrona. The trip involved crossing the famous Øresund Bridge, the setting for the drama series The Bridge.

I spent the afternoon visiting the Citadel in the town, which is very well preserved having been built between 1549 and 1559.

Landskrona Boll och Idrottsällskap or, if you prefer, Landskrona Ball and Sports Society, is not as old as the Citadel but is celebrating it's centenary this year. Landskrona were founded members of Allsvenskan in 1924 but were relegated in 1933. They returned in 1970 and had a decade in the top flight, finishing 3rd in 1975 and 1976, before being relegated once more in 1980.

Landskrona had a brief soujorn back in the top flight in 1994 before returning once again in 2002 for another spell. They were relegated in 2005 after losing the play off with Göteborgs Atlet- och Idrottssällskap (GAIS). They are playing this season in the Swedish 3rd tier, having been relegated from the Superattan last year.

Landskrona Idrottsplats was opened in 1924 and has a capacity of around 11,000. The ground has a large main stand along one touchline, with two other sides of the ground terracing, but the terrace behind the goal was not open today.

Entrance to the main stand was 130SEK, which is just over £10. The barbecue was doing a roaring trade when you could get a burger and beer for around £5 (70SEK). Not a bad price all things considered.

I was speaking  to a couple of home fans (one whose team in England was Everton) who told me Landskrona play better away from home. They hadn't won at home since August 2014 and had only scored one goal at home in their last five games. This did not bode well!

The first half was largely forgettable but in the second half the home side dominated proceedings and did everything but score, however Mergim Krasniqi in the Norrby goal had one of those days where he was unbeatable, man of the match by a country mile. However it meant that Landskrona's current home malaise continued and I rounded off my season of groundhopping with a goalless draw.