FLASHBACK - MATCH 460 - 20 June 1990

SEASON 1989/90

FIFA WORLD CUP FINALS

Venue: STADIO DELLE ALPI

BRAZIL 1  SCOTLAND  0

Scorer: Muller

Attendance: 62.500

My final match at Italia 90 and it is a match against the Brazilians although not a vintage Brazil team nonetheless it was fantastic to see them at a World Cup Finals.

The venue this time was Turin and there was meant to be a carnival atmosphere by the time we got there but due to torrential rain, it felt more like summer in Troon and all festivities were off.

The match looked to be heading for a goalless draw but with 7 minutes to go Brazil found the winning goal.

After the match we headed into Turin for a party but everything was closed so had to wait in Turin's train station to catch an early morning train back to Rimini.

Match report: 

Personal note:

• The 4th match I attended at Italia 90 World Cup
• It was also my 5th time seeing a match on mainland Europe
• This was my 18th time seeing Scotland overall and 2nd time seeing them play Brazil

FLASHBACK - MATCH 459 - 19 June 1990

SEASON 1989-90

FIFA WORLD CUP FINALS - ITALIA 90

Group D

Venue:  Stadio Renato Dall'Ara

YUGOSLAVIA  4  UNITED ARAB EMIRATES  1

Scorers:  Susic, Pancev(2), Prosinecki;  Thani

Attendance: 27,833

It was always the intention to get to another match at Italia 90 other than one involving Scotland so I took a train trip to Bologna to watch a random one between the old country of Yugoslavia and the Arab state of United Arab Emirates.

Yugoslavia had some of the finest footballers of European football at the time including Dragan Stojkovic, Darko Pancev and up and coming stars Robert Prosinecki and Dejan Savicevic. So it was well worth the trip from Rimini to see a few stars of European football and they didn't disappoint scoring four goals.  Carlos Alberto Parreira was the manager of UAE at the time.  At the next World Cup he would manage Brazil to their 4th World Cup win.

Italy's set up for the World Cup was excellent for the travelling fans.  As soon as you got off the train there was bus link direct to the ground of Renato Dall'Ara.

Match report: 

Personal note:

• The 3rd match I attended at Italia 90 World Cup Finals
• This was the 4th match on mainland Europe that I have attended
• This was the 2nd time seeing Yugoslavia having seen them at Hampden Park, Glasgow during the qualification stage for the 1990 World Cup.

FLASHBACK - MATCH 458 - Saturday 16 June 1990

SEASON 1989/90

FIFA WORLD CUP FINALS - ITALIA '90

Venue:  Stadio Luigi Ferraris

SWEDEN  1  SCOTLAND  2

Scorers: Stromberg; McCall, Johnston

Attendance 31,823

On this day in 1990 I was at the FIFA World Cup in Italy watching a clash between two Northern European countries Scotland & Sweden.

Like the first World Cup match the venue was Genoa which meant another 10 hour round trip by coach from our base in Rimini.  

Many of the Swedish fans were also based in Rimini and mixed brilliantly with their Scottish counterparts. 

This time Scotland recorded a rare World Cup finals win.

Match report: 

Personal note:

• This was the 2nd match I attended at the 1990 World Cup Finals
• This was the 17th Scotland match I had attended 
• 3rd match attended on Mainland Europe

FLASHBACK - MATCH 457 - Monday 11 Jun 1990

SEASON 1989/90

FIFA WORLD CUP FINAL - ITALIA 90

GROUP C

Venue: Stadio Luigi Ferraris

COSTA RICA  1  SCOTLAND  0

Scorer: Juan Cayasso 

Attendance: 30,867

On this day in 1990 I attended my first game of Italia 90 FIFA World Cup Finals.  The match was played in the North-west of Italy, Genoa.  Our base for the two week stay in Italy was Rimini which is on the opposite coast so it meant a 6 hour trip by coach to the game that I'm not sure many were expecting.

Pre match there was a great atmosphere in the city and it was everything you would want to be - a great football festival.

The match did not go as well as expected though as Scotland suffered what was considered a shock defeat at the hands of their Central America opponents who were competing in their first World Cup finals.

Personal note:

• Overall this was the 16th Scotland match that I had attended but the first one not at Hampden Park.
• Outside of Bonnie Scotland this was the 16th match I attended.
• This was the 2nd match I attended on mainland Europe.  

Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa

FLASHBACK - MATCH 1191- Wednesday 17 May 2006

 SEASON 2005/06

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL

Venue:  STADE DE FRANCE

BARCELONA  2  ARSENAL  1

Scorers:  Eto'o, Belletti; Campbell

Arsenal in their first UEFA Champions League final suffered an early blow when their German goalkeeper Lehmann was sent off leaving them to play over 70 minutes with 10 men.  Remarkably though the 10 men took the lead before half time against the much fancied Spanish giants.

It wasn't until the latter stages of the match and the introduction of Henrik Larsson that Barcelona eventually found the goals to take the final away from Arsenal and to win their second European Champions title.

The stats from the match:

Barcelona: Valdes, Oleguer (Belletti 71), Marquez, Puyol, Van Bronckhorst, Deco, Edmilson (Iniesta 45), Van Bommel (Larsson 61), Giuly, Eto'o, Ronaldinho.

Subs Not Used: Jorquera, Motta, Xavi, Sylvinho.

Booked: Oleguer, Larsson.

Arsenal: Lehmann, Eboue, Toure, Campbell, Cole, Pires (Almunia 20), Silva, Fabregas (Flamini 74), Hleb (Reyes 85), Ljungberg, Henry.
Subs Not Used: Bergkamp, Van Persie, Senderos, Clichy.

Sent Off: Lehmann (18).

Booked: Eboue, Henry.

Att: 79,500

Ref: Terje Hauge (Norway).

Match report: LINK

Personal note:

• The 4th time I attended a Champions League final - the 2nd involving Barcelona
• The 2nd time I attended a match in Paris

Highlights:

MATCH 2072 - Saturday 23 May 2026

 SEASON 2025/26

141st SCOTTISH CUP FINAL

Venue:  HAMPDEN PARK

CELTIC  3  DUNFERMLINE ATHLETIC  1

Scorers:  Maeda, Engels, Iheanacho;  Cooper

Attendance:  49,613

The 141st Scottish Cup Final was contested between Martin O'Neill's Celtic and his former player, Neil Lennon's Dunfermline. In contrast to the full season it was a comfortable win for Celtic to win their 43rd Scottish Cup.

Match report: LINK

Personal note:

• This was the 3rd time attending a Scottish Cup Final between these two clubs
• In total this the 9th time attending this fixture in the Scottish Cup since 1983
• Overall I've now attended this fixture 62 times - the first was 1982
• I've now attended 21 Scottish Cup Finals including 20 involving Celtic

MATCH 2071 - Saturday 16 May 2026

SEASON 2025/26

SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Venue: CELTIC PARK

CELTIC  3  HEARTS  1

Scorers: Engels, Maeda, Osmand;  Shankland

Attendance: 60,000

TITLE DECIDER

A dramatic day at Celtic Park for the final league match of the season as both sides had a chance to win the league, Hearts only needed to avoid defeat to win a rare championship while Celtic needed nothing less than a win.

In a tight first half, Hearts took a late lead but there was still time for Celtic to find an equaliser to go into the dressing room at 1-1.

As the second half progressed into the final few minutes it looked like Hearts were going to achieve their objective of winning the league but Celtic scored with only three minutes to go and then deep into time added on scored another to secured three points, the league title and to make them champions once again.

Match report: LINK

Personal note:

• The second time attending this fixture this season
• This was the 105th attending this fixture in the league
• Overall this was the 122nd time attending this fixture
• My 28th time visiting Celtic Park this season

MATCH 2070 - Wednesday 13 May 2026

SEASON 2025/26

SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Venue:  FIR PARK

MOTHERWELL  2  CELTIC  3

Scorers:  Watt, Gordon;  Maeda, Nygren, Iheanacho 

An eventful night in North Lanarkshire as Celtic win a five goal thriller with the last gasp winner coming from the penalty spot after a VAR review.

Motherwell played in a new kit (a plain dark blue strip) to mark their 140th year since their formation.

Match report: LINK

Personal note:

• 4th time attending this fixture this season - all in the league with 2 at Fir Park
• This was my 40th time attending a Celtic match of the season 
• This was my 58th time seeing a match at Fir Park

MATCH 2069 - Sunday 10 May 2026

SEASON 2025/26

SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Venue:  CELTIC PARK

Beautiful Sunday

CELTIC  3  RANGERS*  1

Scorers:  Yang, Maeda(2);  Moore

Glasgow's greens and blues under a perfect blue sky and played on an excellent green pitch in the wonderful month of May.

Celtic had to came from behind to go into the dressing room level at half time and then produced a rousing second half display to come out worthy winners in the final Glasgow derby of the season.  

Celebration in the Celtic End

The aftermath - the calm after the storm

Match report: LINK

Personal note:

• The 4th time attending this fixture this season - the 2nd at Celtic Park with the others at Hampden and Ibrox.
• This was the 17th time attending this fixture in the league since 2016
• Overall this was the 29th time attending this fixture since 2013

MATCH 2068 - Saturday 9 May 2026

SEASON 2025/26

ENGLISH FR PREMIER LEAGUE

Venue:  STADIUM OF LIGHT

SUNDERLAND  0  MANCHESTER UNITED  0

Attendance: 47,233

With both clubs objectives achieved for the season perhaps it wasn't completely surprising this game ended in stalemate.  Although both teams had chances, especially the home side you got the feeling early into the second half that it would end goalless.

While the game was a little disappointing the atmosphere was fantastic as both sets of fans gave their sides great support.

It was a horrible day in the north-east of England.  Cold for the month of May with a constant drizzle from the grey sky and unusually for the Stadium of Light I was siting in the lower tier and in the second row.

Match report: LINK

Personal note:

• My 3rd visit to the Stadium of Light this season, overall it was my 34th visit for football
• It was the 6th time attending this fixture all at Sunderland and all in the league 
• The 225th game I have attended outside of Bonnie Scotland