FC BARCELONA (Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys)

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE, FC BARCELONA 2-1 SHAKHTAR DONETSK, ATTENDANCE: 41,409

Tonight I took the opportunity to head to Catalonia to pay a visit to a ground that, until this season, has been very rarely used for football since 2009.

Camp Nou, the iconic home of FC Barcelona, is being renovated so, for season 2023/24, Barca are playing their home games at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys. From 1997 to 2009 the stadium was home to city rivals Espanyol, before they moved to a purpose built stadium of their own. 

Ironically it was because of the previous tennants of this ground that tickets were easy to come by as many Barcelona supporters are supposedly boycotting games because they refuse to set foot in a ground that was once home to their bitter rivals. Indeed tonight was not a sell out and tickets were readily available to purchase at the ticket offices.

The stadium, originally known as Estadi de Montjuic, was built in 1929 for the World Exhibition and was also to be used as the main stadium for Spain's (unsuccessful) bid for the 1936 Olympic games. The stadium fell into a state of disrepair however when, in 1987, Barcelona were finally awarded the summer games for 1992, it was completely gutted, renovated and expanded, with just the original facade remaining.

The centrepiece of the 1992 Olympic games it was where Linford Christie (100 metres) and Sally Gunnell (400 metres) triumphed to win gold for Great Britain and also, famously, where Derek Redmond was helped around the track by his father after pulling up with a torn hamstring in the 400 metres semi-final.

Post Olympic games the stadium the stadium was used for both soccer and American football but has been has used sporadically since Espanyol left in 2009. In 2002 the stadium was renamed Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys after the president of the Catalan government during the Spanish Civil War, who was executed at the nearby Montjuïc Castle in 1940.

This evening Barcelona were hosting Shakhtar Donetsk in the group stages of the Champions League.

After finally finding my seat in the ground, as none of them appear to be numbered, I sat down to watch Barça consolidated their position at the top of Group H with a third win in three, almost ensuring qualification to the knockout stages, thanks to a 2-1 victory over their Ukrainian opponents.

Barca were in complete control of the game and had more than enough chances to win comfortably but almost threw it away towards the end, when the visitors nearly snatched an unlikely draw.

Barcelona's Goals came from Ferran Torres (28) and Fermin Lopez (36) with Georgly Sudakov (62) replying for Shakhtar.

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Prior to the big game in the evening, the equivalent youth game took place in the afternoon. The game was played at the Estadi Johan Cruyff, named in honour of the legendary player and coach, where around 600 spectators gathered to watch goals from Noah Darvich (15) and Juan Hernandez (85) ensure victory for the Barça youngsters.

WEST HAM UNITED (London Stadium)

PREMIER LEAGUE, WEST HAM UNITED 0-0 EVERTON, ATTENDANCE: 56,971

Today I made my way to that there London and my first taste of West Ham United's new home at the London Stadium (née Olympic Stadium). As it was my first ever first visit to E20 I thought I would add my two penneth worth by doing a brief write up on my day out.

This is The Hammers' debut season at their new surroundings after leaving their beloved, and intimidating, Boleyn Ground after 112 years at the end of the 2015/16 season.

I made my way to Stratford, from Euston via underground to Highbury & Islington then overground to Hackney Wick. The ground is a fifteen minute walk from here but, naturally, I went via the excellent Howling Hops Tank Bar and it's equally good next door neighbour, The Crate Brewery.

The London Stadium was built as the centre piece for the 2012 London Olympic Games and was obviously designed primarily as an athletics venue. Part of the post games legacy was the use for future events, with the stadium being converted into a multi-purpose stadium capable of hosting football, athletics and other non-sporting events. 

There was a bidding process to become the tenants of the London Stadium and West Ham were awarded, controversially in some eyes, a 99 year lease. The official capacity for football is around 60,000 (down from the original 80,000 capacity) but the club have currently capped this at around 57,000, of which approx 50,000 are season ticket holders. 

From the outside the ground is aesthetically pleasing and inside the views are unobstructed, there is plenty of legroom in the seats and the facilities are decent (even if they did run out of pies at half time).

However with the stadium still being an athletics venue, this has meant the installation of retractable seats to cover over the running track, this has created a huge gap between the supporters in the lower tier and those in the upper tier.

Today I was in the upper tier behind the goal, close to the back of the stand, and it felt like I was miles away from the action. My eyes are not the best anyhow so it was not a good match watching experience at all. Also with that aforementioned gap, the atmosphere was seriously affected, not that there was much to excite. 

The game was utter, utter dross. The Toffees did not register a shot on target in the entire 90 minutes. West Ham did create a few half chances, so they will probably more disappointed with the draw, but the match was not a good advert for the so called best league in Europe.

Post match I was directed towards Stratford station and, despite my best attempts to find the Tap East which is somewhere in the adjacent Westfield Shopping Centre, I soon made my way back Euston for a couple of more beers (in the Euston Tap and Bree Louise) before catching my train home.

Overall an enjoyable day in the capital, from a social perspective, but from a football point of view I didn't think much of the ground as a viewing spectator. Hopefully any future developments may improve things.

If I was a West Ham fan though I would feel very disappointed having left the Boleyn Ground for this place but that's modern football I suppose and I would imagine I am in the minority. I won't, however, be in any rush to revisit the London Stadium.

Cheers!