Leyton Orient Football Club

As I was living near London, I seized the chance on the 18th of October to go and watch Leyton Orient Football Club play a home game against Milton Keynes Dons.

I have always looked out for the Leyton Orient results over the years as my long since gone Grandfather grew up in that area of London and supported the club throughout his life. Due to the connection between Leyton and my grandfather, the visit was more of a homage than a simple game of football. It was special to walk down streets he was familiar with during his life.

To add further interest, some relations of the family still live in the area and were able to pass on some of their fading memories of my grandfather. He would have been immensely pleased to know that I had set foot in Brisbane Road Stadium, home of Leyton Orient.

Leyton Orient v MK Dons

After the game, relatives who I met for the first time (Ed and Michael) kindly took me to the Leyton Orient Supporters Club for some post match beers. I was made very welcome.

Unfortunately, the quality of football on show was not great. It was clear that Leyton Orient were some way below MK Dons in terms of quality, and that was proven to be the case at the end of the season when Leyton Orient were relegated whilst MK Dons gained promotion.

Thanks, Ed!

A truly great day out in London visiting a place that was fondly remembered by my grandfather.

J League Football - FC Tokyo v Shonan Bellmare

Clara suggested going to watch an FC Tokyo game a few days ago, and I have to say, I'm glad she did. We had a great day out at FC Tokyo's Ajinomoto Stadium. Yesterday was a perfect autumnal day, the home crowd were in good voice (including Clara), and the final result sent us all home happy.

Despite living in Japan for a number of years, and despite enjoying a good game of football, I have never quite managed to get to a J League game. I've often talked on a number of occasions about going to watch FC Tokyo, but it never quite happened. After yesterday's game, I'm eager to see more. Great fun!

In spite of FC Tokyo being a mid ranked team over the last few years, I thought they performed really well. I certainly believe the quality of football on show was better than that in the Scottish Premier League.

Stadium starts to fill up

During the first half, FC Tokyo dominated the game but could not score the opening goal. After going behind in the second half, they were galvanised and scored twice, the winner coming during injury time, or lost time, as they say in Japan.

The final goal was worth waiting for, a cooly taken shot by the Tokyo number 32, Vucicevic from Serbia. When that goal went in, Clara and I were jumping around, exchanged a hug, and plenty of high fives. A great finish to a match of good quality. I think I have caught the J League bug.

Passionate FC Tokyo fans

Clara seems to really enjoy watching the football. She is now quite familiar with most of the FC Tokyo chants and enjoyed being part of the crowd - it seems she has a new hobby.

FC Tokyo celebrate

An excellent day with Clara at the football. It is now less than 1 month till our trip to Scotland and I guess there will be a lot to organise before we leave on the 21st December. The final FC Tokyo game this season will be held on 7th December, so perhaps we can squeeze in another game before our holidays begin.

2-1 to FC Tokyo!

Japan v Scotland - Yokohama Stadium

We had a great time at the football game yesterday (Saturday 10th October), despite the final score. I assumed the role of proud ex-pat Scot and wore the kilt to the game. The kilt often gets a lot of attention when I have cause to wear it in Japan and therefore sometimes I avoid it so that I can blend in to the background a bit more. However, the overwhelming opinion of my Facebook friends clearly required a bit of kilt wearing action and I was happy to oblige.

It was quite a long journey to Yokohama Stadium and we had to take 3 different trains, each of them progressively busier than the last. The kilt was obviously a point of interest for many of my fellow travelers as they were sneaking frequent looks and mentioning it in conversation.

The journey to Yokohama was generally uneventful until we got on our last train. A couple of meters from us were 4 members of the Tartan Army who had obviously travelled all the way from Scotland for the game. They were generally a genial bunch, if however slightly pissed up. Yuki and I really enjoyed listening to their thick Scottish accents but I was glad that the other passengers on the train had no chance to understand some of their jokes. Not for the faint hearted! Yuki and I got off at a different stop and I exchanged pleasantries with them as we got off the train.

When we reached the station in Yokohama, we walked about 15 minutes to the stadium through large crowds of Japanese fans. There were no other signs of Scotland fans and it seemed that there would only be a handful of Scots at the game. However, as we got closer to the stadium, the sight of kilts became more common and I realised that there was a fairly respectable contingent of my countrymen at the game. We all enjoyed the game despite it ending in defeat for the Scots. I decided to make an addition effort to mark myself as a Scot by consuming as many cans of lager as possible throughout the occasion and I managed to put away a good few before full time. Clara was angry with me for much of the game as I was joining in the Scottish chants and created a few of my own when a Japanese the irritating Japanese fan in front of me decided to contribute. Each time he opened his mouth, I would drown him out, which has resulted in me gaining a rather hoarse voice. Although the final score was not a big surprise as Scotland were essentially playing their B team, I was surprised to see so many Japanese people in the Scotland end wearing Scottish tops and scarves. I can only assume many of them have lived in Scotland before and decided to support Scotland instead.

A a great day out and a rare chance to have an excuse to be drunk and with a tad faux bellicose. Looking forward to the next time Scotland come calling.