Groundhopper Daniel and the UEFA 55

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Groundhopper Daniel and the UEFA 55

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15/06/2026

I have been on several trips to Germany to watch football. 🇩🇪

When you live in Denmark, it is only natural to head south to take in some Bundesliga football and all the other good things that come with it. And plenty of Danes do exactly that.

German football culture is among the very best. Packed stadiums deep down in the divisions, constant singing, and fantastic atmospheres.

Add to that a steady flow of German draft beer and perhaps even countless Wiener schnitzels sizzling away on the grill, and you have the complete package.

The first time I watched football in Germany was in Hamburg, with FC St. Pauli on the schedule.

It is by no means easy to get tickets for their home matches at Millerntor, so we travelled with the Bundesliga bus organised by the company Groundhopping Tours.

On Sunday, 7 October 2018, St. Pauli defeated Sandhausen 3–1, and just like that, Germany was added to my stadium map.

Since then, I have also visited SV Babelsberg 03, Hertha BSC, Berliner Athletik Klub 07, and Lichtenberg 47 on trips to Berlin — a city where boredom is virtually impossible.

Germany is, and always will be, a country that every football fan should experience, along with everything that comes with it.

14/06/2026

Away fans are often placed in cages in Poland. 🇵🇱

That can certainly be the case even in the lower divisions, where you might not expect there to be much risk of crowd trouble.

Take RKS Garbarnia on the outskirts of Kraków, for example, where I watched my first match in Poland in early October 2019.

Resovia had brought a group of supporters who were thoroughly fenced in and closely watched by the police. Some of them either could not or would not pay the otherwise very reasonable admission fee, so they watched the match from outside the stadium fence instead.

The away fans were still able to shout their orders to the sausage vendor, who was busy working the charcoal grill.

They would then pass cash through the fence and receive their food through the bars in return. It is not exactly an unusual sight in Polish football.

The travelling Resovia supporters had plenty to celebrate, as their team scored twice without reply from Garbarnia. Both goals were even scored at the end of the pitch where the non-paying away fans could follow the action from outside the small stadium.

Another thing I remember is taking a huge detour around the stadium just to find the entrance. Had we started only a little further to the right, we could have avoided the entire walk.

But as every groundhopper knows, the goal is always to get the most out of the experience.

Since then, I have also visited matches involving KS Cracovia SA, Legia Warszawa and RTS Widzew Łódź during football trips to Poland.

The country comes highly recommended from me, both for football travel and for just about everything else as well.

13/06/2026

I watched SK Slavia Praha take on Sparta Prague in March 2020, just before the world shut down completely. 🇨🇿

The stadium was sold out, which is somewhat surprising given that no spectators were allowed to attend matches in the following round of the Czech league. But such was the timing of things. At least one derby managed to go ahead with a full crowd.

I was certainly grateful for that, as I had bought my ticket through a local fan. You cannot take it for granted that you can simply get hold of a ticket for a match of that magnitude.

There was a huge police presence, dressed in gear that looked as though it had come straight out of Star Wars, escorting the Sparta Prague supporters into the stadium.

I also vividly remember the spectacular tifo presented by the home fans before kick-off, complete with flames and pyrotechnics.

Prague is a magical and beautiful city with plenty of football on offer. Since I was travelling with my wife, however, there was only time for the main attraction — and the Prague derby certainly qualifies as one.

The match finished 1–1 after a late equaliser from Slavia. It was incredibly intense throughout, both on the pitch and in the stands. Exactly what a derby should be.

After the game, we headed to the shopping centre that is practically attached to the Sinobo Stadium to warm ourselves. There, we enjoyed something to eat and drink for a very reasonable price, especially by Danish standards.

Once we returned home, everything quickly became about COVID and lockdowns for a very long time.

But at least I managed to squeeze in one last taste of top-class football before the madness began.

12/06/2026

I ticked off Malta during a family trip in early summer 2022. 🇲🇹

My father and I made our way to the Ta’ Qali stadium, which was baking in the heat that day.

The stadium is often associated with the era of Muammar Gaddafi and Libya’s links with Malta, although the venue itself was opened in 1981 and serves as Malta’s national football stadium.

You immediately get the impression that the stadium was built well away from the coast in order to give visiting teams a particularly unpleasant heat shock.

It is usually European opponents who make their way to Malta Football Association - 1900 for European Championship and World Cup qualifiers.

On this occasion, however, Malta were facing a South American nation for the first time ever. Venezuela had come to town for a friendly, although at times the game felt anything but friendly.

Somewhat surprisingly, there was a decent contingent of Venezuelan supporters in attendance, creating a great atmosphere.

I could not quite understand it at first, as they had surely not travelled all the way from Venezuela for a relatively insignificant friendly against little Malta.

I asked one of them about it. The answer was simple: Malta is home to a sizeable Venezuelan community working on the island. That was not something I had expected.

The match produced just a single goal for the visitors, meaning their fans did not go home disappointed. Venezuela had a legendary Argentine coach at the time, although I cannot quite remember his name now.

Malta will probably never qualify for a European Championship or a World Cup — unless the tournaments are expanded even further. Much further.

Even FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s dream of a 64-team World Cup would probably still leave Malta on the outside looking in.

On the other hand, they get to enjoy a warm climate for most of the year and the steady income generated by the countless tourists who seem determined to wear the island down year after year.

11/06/2026

It was something of a low-hanging fruit when I ticked off Sweden as my 12th UEFA country on 9 July 2023. 🇸🇪

All it takes is a train ride across the bridge from Copenhagen. Suddenly, you are in another country and able to enjoy its football culture.

In Sweden, the league season begins in the spring and crowns its champion in the autumn.

As a result, league matches are played throughout much of the summer — precisely when the weather in the north is at its most inviting for spending time outdoors at a football stadium.

So, I made my way to Malmö on the other side of the Øresund. Malmö FF were hosting Mjällby that day. The visitors, who would later go on to become Sweden’s surprise champions in 2025, pulled off a highly unexpected 2–1 victory at Eleda Stadion.

Before the match, I treated myself to a Swedish hot dog topped with potato salad.

Apparently, the idea is that you eat it standing up and with your hands. In reality, though, it is almost impossible not to spill half the filling and end up with stains on both your clothes and your face. Still, I have to admit that it tasted great.

If you do not live in a northern country, it is probably difficult to imagine what a blessing it feels like when the short summer finally arrives.

This day in Malmö was a joy for both body and soul. Everything just clicked — except for Malmö FF down on the pitch.

Since then, I have returned to Malmö a couple of times to watch football. Those visits have taken me to matches involving FC Rosengård and FBK Balkan.
.. And yes. Zlatan Ibrahimovic once played for Malmö FF.

10/06/2026

Belgrade is definitely worth a visit. 🇷🇸

The former Yugoslav capital is colourful, vibrant, full of history, exciting, affordable, and packed with football — plus everything in between.

What’s more, Jacob and I even had the weather on our side when we visited what is now Serbia’s capital in the final days of September 2023.

We started by cycling out to the artificial island of Ada Ciganlija, where you can even enjoy a beach atmosphere right in the middle of the Balkans.

However, we were mainly there for a match in the local Belgrade league between Fk Torlak and Rad.

The visitors won 2–0. Along the way, there were so many treatment breaks for injured players that you quickly lost count.

The female physio received a big round of applause when, towards the end of the match, she got yet another player back on his feet and ready to continue on the artificial turf in the heat.

We feared this might be the pattern for all four matches on our weekend schedule, but it turned out not to be the case.

There was a small police presence around the ground, even though not many people seemed particularly interested in attending such a match.

We were told that we were only allowed to enjoy our beers near the adjacent kiosk. If the police have nothing else to do, they can always invent some rules to enforce.

Belgrade is easily explored on rented bicycles, even though the city is not particularly cycle-friendly. But coming from Denmark, you tend to happily set off on two wheels anyway.

We also watched matches with Milutinac, FK Crvena zvezda and OFK Zarkovo.

09/06/2026

It was a crazy and short trip to Bucharest in October 2023. 🇷🇴

The original plan was for me and my travel companion Rasmus to watch the Romanian national team play against Andorra at the national stadium in the capital.

I had therefore booked a hotel nearby. However, Romania later received a UEFA sanction, meaning that only women and children were allowed into the stadium.

A new plan had to be made — and so it was.

Futbology does not cover many lower tiers of Romanian football, so I had to start looking elsewhere for non league matches.

That detective work led to a really great — and free — triple-header of matches on the same Sunday, all from the fifth tier of Romanian football.

It all started at Club Sportiv Progresul Mogoșoaia just outside Bucharest in Buftea. On a pitch that was quite boggy in places, the home side won 4–0 against Voința Dârza. And it could have been 10–0.

There were some unusual scenes. For example, the referees arrived quite late. And when they finally showed up, basic preparations had not been made, which they loudly complained about.

The net in one of the goals did not meet standards, and the referees kept calling for assistance from outside. It was probably just some string or tape that was needed.

Nobody reacted, though. Well, except for one of the medics, who ran down towards the goal — although it turned out it was not a medical bag that was needed.

Afterwards, we travelled to two more locations in Bucharest by Uber. We also visited ACS Rapid FNG and AS Automatica.

08/06/2026

I spent exactly 24 hours in San Marino. 🇸🇲

Within that single day, I managed to watch Denmark scrape their way to a narrow and rather embarrassing 2–1 victory. No one in the stands was probably left in any doubt about my opinion of that performance.

San Marino is a wonderful little country tucked away inside another country — Italy. It is not as though you really notice when you cross the border. Suddenly, you are just there.

They do have euro coins featuring San Marino designs, though. Unfortunately, I did not manage to bring any home as souvenirs. They were apparently drunk away somewhere along the line — perhaps in the fan zone outside the stadium, where the travelling Danish supporters were in full swing.

I love those tiny microstates that you can practically walk across in just a few hours. In terms of my UEFA journey, I still have a few of them left to visit: Andorra, Gibraltar, and Liechtenstein.

San Marino also has some fantastic tourist attractions if you want to see something other than football.

As it happened, we saw little more than the main road between our hotel and the stadium — back and forth a couple of times.

The final trip back to the hotel was made in a thoroughly drunken state. Danes, you know.

07/06/2026

Sometimes you stumble upon a real hidden gem when you least expect it. 🇦🇹

I found myself in Vienna during the warm days of October 2023, when the weather clearly had not yet realised that autumn had arrived.

On this occasion, I headed to Austria’s second tier, where Floridsdorfer AC hosted Amstetten on a Friday evening.

There was a good crowd at the wonderfully cosy FAC-Platz, complete with the club anthem playing before the match and all the traditions that come with it.

You can immediately tell when you are at a stadium where people genuinely love spending a few hours, even if the football on display is not exactly top-tier.

Unfortunately, Floridsdorfer and Amstetten did little to reward the spectators with their performance on the pitch. The match ended exactly as it had begun: 0–0.

Curiously enough, my travelling companion Rasmus and I hurried off to another match in the same division later that evening, some distance away from Floridsdorfer. That game also ended with two rather uninspiring zeros on the scoreboard — 0–0.

Still, you cannot take away the authenticity and charm of Austria’s second-division stadiums.

More generally, Vienna is an incredibly charming and fascinating city to explore.

I can now personally confirm that Austria’s capital is also perfectly suited for a spot of groundhopping with everything that comes with it.

🏟🏟 During my trip to Wien I also visited Admira Wacker and SV Wienerberg 1921.

06/06/2026

There are always a few mouthwatering matches at the end of the season when a lot is at stake. ⚽️😋🇩🇰

That was the case today in RIF Fodbold, where the home side hosted Glostrup Fodbold IF32 in a direct showdown for promotion to the Danish 3rd Division.

A win for Ringsted would have settled the matter. The central Zealand side could have secured direct promotion from the Denmark Series to the 3rd Division.

But that was not how things unfolded.

Towards the end of the first half, a Ringsted player pulled the emergency brake with a professional foul. And that was that — off he went.

Playing 10 against 11 for more than half the match, things looked bleak for the boys in blue.

It did not get any better a few minutes later when Glostrup took the lead.

Trailing 0–1 at halftime, Ringsted faced a mountain to climb on this pretty hot summer Saturday, with plenty of sunshine and hardly a breath of wind.

Despite being a man down, Ringsted started the second half strongly.

Glostrup, meanwhile, looked to capitalize on their numerical advantage with counter attacks, and on several occasions they came close to doing just that.

However, the next goal did not arrive until late in the game. And it was the courageous ten men of Ringsted who found the equalizer.

The 1–1 scoreline held until the final whistle.

As a result, Ringsted have the upper hand going into the final round. A victory away to Avarta will secure direct promotion.

Glostrup, meanwhile, must beat Gørslev and hope that Ringsted bottle it.

That said, Glostrup still have the safety net of the playoffs if they fail to overtake Ringsted in the dying stages of the season.

It was a fine and captivating contest in the Danish summer, played in front of a good crowd number at the old Ringsted Stadium.

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