North London Red

I believe we're joint second longest serving along with Preston and QPR. Cardiff were in the premier league in 2018-19 and Reading have just been relegated.

They’ve conceded more goals than Chelsea in the league so far this season. Their defence isn’t good enough (yet) to win the league, and I don’t think Saliba’s absence alone explains that.

Luton are also a valid answer to this question, at least for now. Like Notts County they were relegated from the top flight in the season (1991-92) that preceded the first premier league season, and haven’t been back in the top flight since.

Beat the reigning European champions in their own back yard just a couple of weeks ago. Beat the 2018 World Cup finalists (and 2022 World Cup semi-finalists) in England's last two competitive games against them. Beat the world's number 1 ranked team in a competitive game in October 2020. Beat Spain in Seville (extremely few teams beat Spain in their own back yard). Beat the champions of Africa comprehensively in Qatar.

Haven’t been on here since just after the England v Iran game but now fully back in the UK and preparing for the West Brom game in considerably cooler temperatures than the games I saw in Qatar. Ended up seeing the five England games plus Australia v Tunisia, South Korea v Ghana (Antoine sadly didn’t make it onto the pitch), Morocco v Canada and Brazil v Cameroon. Saw games at 7 of the 8 stadiums; unfortunately I couldn’t get a ticket for Stadium 974. A few pictures to follow. I’ve seen plenty of comments about empty seats in the grounds - I honestly couldn’t see many in the games I went to (and I don’t think many are visible in the pics below).

Pougatch and Walton also missed this. The ref gave a free kick to Tunisia as a result, didn’t he?!

The Khalifa looked and felt full once the issue with the ticketing app (which meant many missed kick off) was resolved. Don’t believe it holds 68k. Think it was at capacity today.

Yes, I was on board the MSC World Europa for 2 nights, but am downgrading for the USA and Wales games. It has been great so far. Fans from all parts of the world are staying on the two ships. Absolutely loads have travelled from Argentina, Mexico and the US. Plenty of Welsh too. Haven’t seen any German fans yet but am sure they’ll be arriving soon. There’s a microbrewery on the ship and a (very decent) pint is €12.50.

Match day. Heading towards the stadium in the next hour or two.

I'll be at the England games for as long as England stay in the tournament. Also have tickets for four other group games. Flying about half way tomorrow morning from London, and then onward to Doha on Saturday afternoon.

Yes, very true. I was just responding to some earlier posts asking about the availability and / or pricing of alcohol. If Budweiser is the only choice and if it's going to cost £12, I'll happily go without.

That's not allowed, sadly! All luggage is scanned on entry to Qatar, and any alcohol would be confiscated. Only permanent residents of Qatar are allowed to buy takeaway alcohol from the (relatively few) shops with an alcohol licence. Alcohol will be available in the fan zones and at the stadiums, and in certain hotels, for consumption on the premises.

Yes, flying out at the weekend. It'll be my 6th world cup. Have got tickets for all of England's games for as long as England stay in, plus a few other group games including one of Ghana's (so might get to see Semenyo). I definitely won't be richer by the end of it!

Someone on the England fans' forum posted the other day that it is going to be QAR 50 for a can of Budweiser in the fan zones and at / outside the stadiums; there was a picture which appeared to confirm this. At current FX rates that's between £11 and £12 per can. It might be possible to buy alcohol more cheaply in hotel bars; hopefully that will be the case, and hopefully it won't be Budweiser. I'll find out in a few days.

In terms of the England football team, it was played at full time after the Germany game at the Euros last summer. I don't recall it being played at an England game before then, but whoever was in charge of the Wembley PA then decided to play it again just before the teams came out for the semi-final against Denmark, at full time after the semi-final, and again before the teams came out for the final against Italy. At £11 for a can of Budweiser I strongly suspect many fans in Qatar won't be drunk at all!

It was hotter for some of the games in Russia than it will be in Qatar. Volgograd, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara (all 2018) and Manaus (2014) were more uncomfortable temperature wise than Doha will be.

Not sure if it has been mentioned elsewhere, but why was music being played over the PA during stoppage time? It added a slightly surreal air to the end of a thoroughly depressing evening.

Saw that on the England fans’ forum earlier. This response made me laugh: ‘Of all the horror stories about this World Cup, confirmation that the band will be there has to be the worst’.

We had the Czechs in our qualifying group for the last Euros (although admittedly it was Czechoslovakia rather than the Czech Republic who won the Euros). I’d have preferred the groups Scotland and Wales are in from a travel perspective. Just hoping Italy away isn’t in Milan or Turin.

Currently on the tarmac at Heathrow waiting to take off. First time at the San Siro for me tomorrow…looking forward to ticking off a new ground but fearing the worst result wise (hope I’m wrong).

That late corner was infuriating. Bentley had just got the nod from Pearson to go forward for it and was just across the half way line when we decided to take it short instead (and it came to nothing). In general our set pieces were poor tonight. Think almost every corner or free kick we had was cleared or blocked by a yellow shirt. Contrast that with Norwich’s third goal - easy header from a corner we could have prevented (think it was Naismith who played their runner onside by being 3-4 yards behind the rest of the defence when Norwich were counter attacking).

Are you sure? Their website claims 2018 was the first time they'd been relegated or promoted in their 144 year history, and it was also reported by the BBC at the time: https://www.gainsboroughtrinity.com/club/about https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43864014

They were relegated for the first time in their history in 2017-18. It’s a remarkable stat for a former league club. Until then they’d only ever changed divisions as a result of not being re-elected, or divisional reorganisations within the non-league pyramid.