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The Irish Sun
16 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Inside the strangest football stadiums in Europe including one beside Hitler's bunker and another with a STEAM TRAIN
FANCY WATCHING a game of football on the side of an active volcano? Or maybe you would prefer the 90-minute experience of sitting high up a mountain pass, perched on a slender goat trail? 25 Amazing football stadium in Henningsvaer in Norway Credit: Getty - Contributor 25 Mountains rise about the Reine Stadion in Norway Credit: Leon Gladwell The thing about new grounds these days is that while they cost billions of pounds to build, more often than not they all look the same and lack uniqueness or character. There is something thrilling and wonderful about watching a match played in bizarre or strange surroundings – locations far removed from the pristine, copycat comfort of the Premier League. Author Leon Gladwell went on a two-year voyage to discover and photograph 100 of Europe's wackiest and strangest venues, travelling more than 130,000 miles across 71 trips. He has collected them all into a glossy new book European Football's Greatest Grounds. READ MORE IN FOOTBALL And SunSport has put together 10 of the most remarkable, bucket-list places on the continent where you can go and watch the Beautiful Game . Campo di Calcio Zuel (Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy) The Trampolino Olimpico, a ski jumping hill in the Dolomites, was opened in 1923 and was used as a venue during the 1956 Winter Olympics. The faded Olympic Rings are still visible from the bottom of the 49-metre high launch ramp. Yet there is no chance of Eddie 'The Eagle' flying over the goalposts because the jump has been closed for 35 years. Most read in Football BEST ONLINE CASINOS - TOP SITES IN THE UK During the summer months, when the snow has melted, the area below is used for junior football , thanks to the installation of a football pitch by Serie A giants It also has a key place in movie history – it was the scene of a famous ski jump by James Bond in the 1981 film For Your Eyes Only. 25 The ski jump at Cortina d'Ampezzo at the 1956 Winter Olympics Credit: Hulton Archive - Getty 25 The ski jump now has a summer football pitch at the landing area Credit: Leon Gladwell 25 AC Milan were behind installing the pitch in the beautiful Dolomite mountains Credit: Leon Gladwell Campo Gerini (Rome, Italy) Italian stadiums might look old and rundown but that is part of their charm and romanticism. Anyone who grew up watching the Italia '90 World Cup on TV will instantly recognise some of the famous yet tired arenas that hosted the world's best footballers 35 years ago. One of the nation's quirkiest grounds can be located in its capital Rome, eleven kilometres south-east of the Colosseum, in the second-largest urban park in Europe . Campo Gerini hosts various football factions seven days a week, from junior sides right through to senior matches in Italy's ninth tier. Some of the pitches are located next to a decaying aqueduct built in 50 BC during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Yet the future of the area is in doubt after 40 hectares of land (the equivalent of 60 football pitches) were sold to private individuals, including a supermarket entrepreneur, in 2023. 25 Footballers play in the shadow of an ancient aqueduct Credit: Leon Gladwell 25 The historic ruins were built in 50BC Credit: Leon Gladwell Eriskay (Scotland) Eriskay is a remote island in the Outer Hebrides and is barely four kilometres in length. With a population of just 143, it is one of the smallest regions to support a football club. And Barnet's old uphill slope is nothing compared to this imperfect playing surface. The bumpy, bobbly Cnoc Na Monadh pitch, with his wobbly touchlines, has a 'wee hill in the corner' and as such, one of the corner flags is as high as the crossbar. Occasionally, stray sheep might make a beeline for the centre circle and after every winter , groundstaff have to painstakingly remove all the local wildlife's POO. Fifa's World Football Museum gave Eriskay worldwide recognition in 2015, branding it as one of the eight most remarkable places in the world to play football. Post-match drinks can be enjoyed in the island's only pub, Am Politician, which is named after the celebrated shipwreck. 25 The bumpy, bobbly Cnoc Na Monadh pitch Credit: Leon Gladwell 25 The remote island is a remarkable spot for a football ground Credit: Leon Gladwell Feldstrasse (Hamburg, Germany) Hamburg's historic SC Hansa 11 club has a unique claim to fame – it is next door to a gargantuan Nazi-built Second World War BUNKER. Two artificial pitches in this inner-city sports ground are flanked by the astonishing Flakturm IV. This air raid shelter was built in the 1940s under orders from An anti-aircraft gun has long gone from the imposing concrete blockhouse tower and it has since been converted into a public rooftop terrace, which doubles up as a live music venue. On the other side of the ground is the Millerntor-Stadion, which is home to Bundesliga side, FC St. Pauli, a must-see destination for all football hipsters. 25 The stadium is overshadowed by a Nazi-built anti-aircraft fortress Credit: Leon Gladwell 25 The bunker is now a a public rooftop terrace Credit: Alamy Grigoris Lambrakis Municipal Stadium (Athens, Greece) The best stadiums are not really the ones located off a motorway, far out of town, next to a shopping centre, with ample parking spots. The most interesting ones exist within a deprived community, perhaps next to a housing estate, in a hustling, bustling city, which has been dwarfed by the skyward creep of urbanisation. Athens Kallithea FC's ground, known locally as El Paso, is one such neighbourhood spot and some lucky fans can watch action in Greece's top division from their apartment block windows. Otherwise punters can perch on limestone cliffs that roll around half the pitch, standing behind coils of barbed wire and iron railings. In the mid-1960s, Sergio Leone's spaghetti-western classic For a Few Dollars More, starring Clint Eastwood, was released in Greece under the name Duel in El Paso. Kallithea used that nickname and to this day, they run on to the pitch to the dustbowl strains of Ennio Morricone's haunting score. 25 Athens Kallithea FC's ground is overlooked by appartments and cliffs Credit: Leon Gladwell 25 It was built in 1970 on the site of a former quarry Credit: Leon Gladwell Gryluvollur (Hveragerdi, Iceland) There is no danger of flooding or soggy pitches for That is because underneath their hillside ground are boiling underground rivers hot enough to cook an EGG . Situated on the slopes of the Grændalur volcano, fumarole vents near the touchline and in neighbouring backyards belch plumes of sulphuric steam into the air. A Gryla geyser lies dormant just 70 metres from the pitch and until the late 1990s, it would often shoot boiling jets of water up to 12 metres high during matches. At least for those who live in this alien landscape in the little village of Hverageroi (which translates as 'hot spring garden'), players can use the gases to steam-dry their match-day kits. 25 A geyser erupts spectacularly in Iceland Credit: Getty 25 The scenic pitch is situated on an active volcano Credit: Leon Gladwell 25 Hot steam rises above the pitch of FC Hamar Credit: Leon Gladwell Janosovka (Cierny Balog, Slovakia) Ideally, a football ground needs to have good, reliable transport links – but there is one in Slovakia which takes that concept to its extreme. One slumberous village in Cierny Balog actually has a STEAM TRAIN that passes directly by, just metres from the pitch and only a few feet from one of the grandstands. A busy logging railway used to haul timber up and down the valley for more than 80 miles of narrow gauge track for almost 75 years. These days, it is a heritage railway for tourists but the line goes straight through the ground of this semi-professional club. There are no confirmed accidents involving trains at the ground but the chairman often jokes that a few of his wingers should hop on and off to get them up the line a bit quicker. Yet anyone planning a Rory Delap-style long run-up for their throw-ins might think again… 25 Janosovka's ground has a vintage train line running alongside Credit: Leon Gladwell 25 The train line runs between the pitch and the main stand Credit: Leon Gladwell Kvarlis Tsentraluri Stadioni (Kvareli, Georgia) Kvareli Duruji FC in Georgia's fifth division play football inside the walls of a medieval CASTLE . The rural 17th-century fortress, which has an iron-studded entrance gate, has wooden grandstands and can house up to 2,500 fans. Legend has it that a player once went down headfirst into a sinkhole that emerged during one match in 1978. That has since been filled in and bricked over but underneath the pitch are tunnels and rooms that were built to store earthenware vessels used for the fermentation and ageing of local wine . When Gladwell went there, a special friendly match was arranged in his honour and his son Noah was allowed to play – even though he ended up missing a key penalty. 25 The pitch is inside an 17th Century castle in Georgia Credit: Leon Gladwell 25 Legend has it a player once fell down a pot hole into a tunnel Credit: Leon Gladwell 25 The castle is in the centre of the city of Kvareli Credit: Leon Gladwell Valloyran (Sandavagur, Faroe Islands) Those who live in the Faroe Islands can get to church on time on a Sunday – and then, after their prayers, have a little kickabout next door. One of the country's 26 grounds – in the seaside fishing village of Sandavagur – is overlooked by a beautiful red-roofed wooden church and cemetery. There are so few seats that it is essentially standing room only around this tiny football field – but you could choose to watch from your car given how close you can park behind one of the goals. The artificial pitch ensures few games are called off but spectators have to wrap up warm in the face of the fierce Faroese weather . 25 The picturesque ground is overlooked by a red-roofed church Credit: Leon Gladwell Yenisehir Stadyumu (Gumushane, Turkey) The city of Gumushane, which is 3,970ft above sea level, lies on the ancient Silk Road, the historic trade route from China to Turkey . To reach their football club, you have to endure a hair-raising zig-zagging journey along the Zigana Pass in the Pontic Mountains. Fans can either watch from the grandstands or, to avoid buying a ticket, find a spot up on the uphill goat paths. Pity the poor groundsman who has to work with a pitch that sees little sunlight due to the towering walls of red rock that encircle the ground. It is one of the most remote places to visit in Europe , several hours outside of Black Sea resort Trabzon, but also one of the most special. 25 The Yenisehir Stadyumu is 3,970ft above sea level Credit: Leon Gladwell 25 It is cut into the mountains alongside the ancient Silk Road, the historic trade route from China to Turkey Credit: Leon Gladwell 25 Leon Gladwell's new book For Instagram follow
The Irish Sun
21-06-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Ian McLauchlan dead at 83: Lions legend dies as tributes pour in for ‘almost indestructible' star
FORMER British and Irish Lions legend Ian McLauchlan has died at the age of 83. The former Scotland captain represented his country 43 times as well as playing for the Lions on eight occasions. 1 Ian McLauchlan has passed away aged 83 Credit: Hulton Archive - Getty Scottish rugby confirmed McLauchlan's passing in a statement that revealed the legend died on Friday. McLauchlan didn't just captain Scotland during his playing days, but also acted as the SRU President from 2010-2012 before stepping away from the board in 2019. The Tarbolton-born prop earned his first cap for Scotland back in 1969 at Twickenham. MORE TO FOLLOW... READ MORE IN RUGBY THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY.. The Sun is your go to destination for the best football, boxing and MMA news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video . Like us on Facebook at
Hindustan Times
20-06-2025
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
HT Archives: Kapil's heroic 175 helps keep World Cup dream alive
Indian captain Kapil Dev lashed a record-breaking unbeaten 175 to lead his team out of a crisis and beat Zimbabwe by 32 runs in an exciting World Cup Group B match in Tunbridge Wells on Saturday. India batsman Kapil Dev hits out during his innings of 175 not out during the 1983 Cricket World Cup finals Match between India and Zimbabwe at Tunbridge Wells on June 18th, 1983 in Tunbridge Wells, England. (Hulton Archive) India collapsed to 17 for five in the first 13 overs against pacers Peter Rawson and Kevin Curran, and were later reduced to 78 for seven, before Kapil Dev's breathtaking rescue lifted the score to 266 for eight in the 60 overs. Zimbabwe, struggling at one time at 113 for six, made a late burst through Kevin Curran, who hit a brilliant 71, to total 234 in 57 overs. Kevin at one stage raised his side's hopes of another victory by the sheer nature of his aggression. Of his eight boundaries six came in the last 45 runs. He was caught brilliantly by Shastri on his second attempt off Madan Lal, who had come in for a heavy battering in the previous over. All-rounder Kapil Dev's hundred was the first by an Indian in the competition and beat the previous Cup highest of 171 not out by New Zealand's Glenn Turner against East Africa in the inaugural 1975 tournament. India's skipper dominated with key partnerships, putting on 60 for the sixth wicket with Roger Binny, who made 22 and 62 for the eight-wicket with Madan Lal, who contributed 17. The revival reached its peak in Kapil Dev's unfinished ninth wicket partnership of 123 with Syed Kirmani, who scored 24. Kapil hit 17 fours and six soaring sixes. India made a disastrous start, losing five wickets for 17 runs in 12.5 overs. Peter Rawson, the Zimbabwe paceman, snapped up two of the wickets and Kevin Curran got the third, with the aid of a brilliant catch by Ian Butchart. With the last ball of the first over Rawson trapped Gavaskar LBW without a run on the board. Gavaskar had returned to the side after missing the previous two games. In the fifth over Rawson struck again with a fine delivery which came back at Amarnath, caught the inside edge and was snapped up by wicketkeeper Houghton. There was obviously movement in the wicket for the bowlers and in the sixth over Srikkanth drove at Curran, skied the ball and Butchart ran from mid-off to extra cover to take a brilliant catch. India lost her fourth wicket at nine off the last ball of the tenth over when Patil, trying to turn Curran down the leg side, became Houghton's second victim. Yashpal turned Rawson to the square leg boundary and then on-drove Curran for three, but in the 13th over he edged one to Houghton. India's hopes flicked for the first time as skipper Kapil Dev and Roger Binny survived to take them to 77 in the 27th over, when Binny swept at Traicos and was lbw. One run later, in the next over, Shastri drove at Fletcher and was caught at cover by Pycroft. From 106 for seven at lunch Madan Lal and Kapil took the score to 144 before Madan was caught behind off Curran at 17. However, nobody outside the stadium watched the innings, with the BBC prioritising other games.
New Statesman
05-06-2025
- Politics
- New Statesman
Will we ever be free of Brexit?
Photo by P. Floyd / Daily Express / Hulton Archive / Getty Images On 5 June 1975 – 50 years ago today – voters went to the polls in Britain's first national referendum. Just two years after joining the European Community, they were voting on whether to leave, a decision that would shape the UK's economic, political and diplomatic strategy for decades to come. For the first time in British history, a front-rank political question had been taken out of the hands of Parliament and passed directly to the electorate. The Sun thought this 'a constitutional monstrosity'. The new Conservative leader, Margaret Thatcher, called the referendum 'a device of dictators and demagogues', and refused to confirm that she would accept the result. As the first election of the modern era to be fought outside the established party system, the referendum carried the debate into the most unlikely places. In the churches, bishops preached sermons on the religious arguments for membership. In Northern Ireland, terrorist organisations published earnest articles on the implications for the port of Belfast. Tesco issued carrier bags saying 'Yes to Europe', while campaigners mobilised sports-stars and celebrities ranging from Agatha Christie and Barbara Cartland to Captain Mainwaring and Paul McCartney. Looking back on that referendum after the 2016 vote offers both eerie similarities and clanging dissonances. As in 2016, the vote was triggered by a crisis in the governing party; in this case, a Labour government led by Harold Wilson. Like David Cameron, Wilson was a reluctant European, convinced with his head rather than his heart of the case for membership. Like Cameron, he led a party that was bitterly divided on Europe, with a wafer-thin majority, at a time of growing Euroscepticism in the country. And like Cameron, his solution was to renegotiate the terms of membership and put them to the country in a referendum. If the recipe looks familiar, the ingredients could hardly have been more different. In 1975, the most pro-European party was the Conservatives. Ted Heath, its former leader, blazed across the campaign trail like a meteor, arguing for membership with a drive and charisma that had entirely evaded him in office. His successor, Margaret Thatcher, stumped the country demanding a 'massive Yes' to Europe, resplendent in a jumper knitted from the flags of all the member-states. Labour was more divided, with figures like Tony Benn and Michael Foot excoriating the Community as a capitalist project. Papers like the Sun, the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph all backed staying in, while only the Spectator and the Communist Morning Star endorsed withdrawal. Opinion in the constituencies was also very different. The young were more Eurosceptic than the old, women more hostile than men, and the most pro-European nation of the United Kingdom was unquestionably England. Places like Essex and Lincolnshire – bastions of the Leave vote in 2016 – registered votes for membership of 68% and 75% respectively. The nightmare for Unionists was that England would vote to stay in, while Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to Leave – a direct reversal of the situation decades later. If voting patterns were very different, so too were the issues on which they were founded. Immigration, which loomed so large in 2016, was barely mentioned. There were only nine member-states in 1975, and no one thought West Germans or Belgians would be hurrying to the United Kingdom in search of work. Food prices, by contrast, were central to the campaign, at a time of serious anxiety about Britain's ability to feed itself. Memories of war hung heavy across the campaign, for 1975 was closer to the end of the First World War than 2016 to the Second. Poppies and doves of peace featured prominently in campaign literature, while posters reminded voters: 'Forty million people died in two European wars this century. Better lose a little national sovereignty than a son or daughter.' Another war – the Cold War – also loomed large. Heath claimed that a vote to withdraw 'could lead to a Soviet invasion of Europe', while Out campaigners warned of Communist influence in France and Italy. In the aftermath of Watergate, Vietnam and the impeachment of Richard Nixon, there were doubts about whether the United States could or would defend Europe. Harold Wilson told the cabinet in 1974 that 'American leadership had gone'; Europe would now have to do more for its own defence. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe If one issue dominated over all others, it was a mood of economic crisis. Inflation was above 20 per cent, unemployment was rising and an oil shock in the Middle East had seen power-cuts and shortages across industry. The Chancellor, Denis Healey, thought the economic situation in 1974 'the worst which had ever been faced in peacetime', while the Industry Secretary, Tony Benn, wrote optimistically that 'the final collapse of capitalism might be a matter of weeks away'. No democracy had ever survived such sustained levels of inflation, fuelling concerns that spiralling prices might destroy democratic institutions in the 1970s as surely as in Germany in the 1930s. Not surprisingly, the 'In' campaign focused heavily on economic risk, warning of total economic collapse if Britain voted to Leave. Yet it paired that message with more positive arguments, centring on peace, prosperity and patriotism. Pamphlets and leaflets were peppered with Saltires, Union Jacks and Welsh dragons, while posters featured the England cricket captain Colin Cowdrey, the racing driver Jackie Stewart, and the heavyweight boxer Henry Cooper. There were pro-European messages from football managers like Sir Matt Busby and Jock Stein, who had won the European Cup with Manchester United and Celtic. Crucially, these were not just celebrities: they were national champions who had competed in Europe and won. By contrast, the 'Out' campaign was underfunded, poorly led and bitterly divided, staffed by people, in the words of one official, 'who would not want to be seen dead in the same coffin'. They included some of the most talented figures in British politics – Tony Benn, Enoch Powell, Ian Paisley and Barbara Castle – but these were all quite polarising figures who found it impossible to work together. Benn had called Powell's 'Rivers of Blood' speech 'evil, filthy and obscene', accusing him of raising the flag 'that fluttered… over Dachau and Belsen'. Powell labelled Benn 'the enemy within', one of those 'who hate Britain and wish to destroy it'. It was not particularly helpful to the 'Out' campaign that the IRA, the National Front, the Communist Party of Great Britain and the Democratic Unionist Party all backed leaving, in a striking demonstration of the unlikely alliances that emerged across the campaign. With lavish donations from business and finance, the 'In' campaign had more money left over at the end of the referendum than the total spend of 'Get Britain Out'. It used that to build a multi-vocal campaign that targeted different messages to different audiences. There were idealistic messages for the young, commitments to women's rights for feminists, talk of jobs and investment for industrial workers and an emphasis on peace for the wartime generation. Groups like 'Actors for Europe', 'Christians for Europe', 'Lawyers for Europe' – even, for one glorious moment before the leadership intervened, 'Wombles for Europe' – built a kaleidoscopic case for Europe that could speak to different ideologies and interests. The contrast with the mono-vocal campaign of 2016, with its solitary emphasis on risk, is stark. The result was a landslide for the 'In' campaign. At the start of the year, polls had shown strong majorities in favour of withdrawal; yet when the votes were counted, there was a two-to-one majority for staying in. Every part of the UK had voted for membership, with the exception only of Shetland and the Western Isles. On the morning of the result, Harold Wilson told reporters that the European debate was now closed. 'Fourteen years of national argument,' he declared, 'are over.' Like most prophets in the wake of extraordinary political events, Wilson was mistaken. His own party would go to the country in 1983 promising to leave the European Community, without a further referendum. Pro-Europeans like Roy Jenkins and Shirley Williams would spin out of the Labour Party and into the SDP, while Margaret Thatcher would take a flame-thrower to the 'Yes to Europe' jumper she had worn in 1975. In 2016, the decision reached four decades earlier would be dramatically reversed, vindicating Powell's prophecy that a judgement to stay in could only be 'provisional'. Yet the 1975 vote mattered. It secured UK membership for more than 40 years, with profound consequences for how Britain's laws were made, who it traded with, what food Britons ate and where they went on holiday. From 1975 to 2016, membership of the European Community/Union was perhaps the most important fact about British history and the central pillar of Britain's economic, diplomatic and geopolitical strategy. As 2016 demonstrates, the results of referendums – like general elections – are not irreversible. Half a century after that first vote, the UK finds itself again in an age when European security is under threat, when the US alliance is in doubt, when the world is fracturing into trade blocs, and amid a pervasive sense of economic decline. In such a context, the arguments of the 1970s seem more relevant today than they did a decade earlier. Where that might lead is impossible to predict. As Harold Wilson knew, and Keir Starmer is surely finding out, the past and the present are full of surprises. [See also: The warning of VE Day] Related
Newsweek
29-05-2025
- Sport
- Newsweek
The Memorial: Jack Nicklaus Details Epic Hole Out with President Ford
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Muirfield Village Golf Club is one of Jack Nicklaus's greatest designs. Its prestige has been solidified by hosting 50 editions of the Memorial Tournament, as well as other premier events, including the 1987 Ryder Cup and the 1998 Solheim Cup. Naturally, Nicklaus knows the course like the back of his hand, having designed it and played it countless times. The Golden Bear even has a favorite hole among the course's 18, where he had the opportunity to show off in front of a former U.S. president. "I suppose if there's one hole on the golf course you ask me about, I would probably say 14," Nicklaus said. "Yeah, I think 14 is a really challenging hole, it's an easy hole, it's a dangerous hole, it's a pretty hole. It's got all the elements there that you could want. I made three 3s on that hole -- or three 2s on that hole." "And I don't know any other hole that I've holed three shots from off the green to make 2s anywhere in the world. But, you know, none of 'em during the tournament, of course." "One in a pro-am playing with Gerald thought it was a good shot. [Laughing]." American golfer Jack Nicklaus and former US president Gerald Ford at the Bob Hope Classic Golf Tournament on Pebble Beach, California. American golfer Jack Nicklaus and former US president Gerald Ford at the Bob Hope Classic Golf Tournament on Pebble Beach, California. Getty Images/Hulton Archive The 14th hole at Muirfield is currently a par 4 and measures 368 yards. The main difficulty lies in a creek that bisects the fairway and continues to the right of the green. Like most occupants of the Oval Office, President Gerald Ford was an avid golfer. There are no records of his handicap during his youth, but it reached 12 after the end of his presidential term. Ford was also the first former president to join the United States Golf Association (USGA). He is said to have once outdriven Arnold Palmer and Gary Player, which is no small feat. Nicklaus played in 33 editions of the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield. He made 25 cuts, won twice, and had four other top-10 finishes. His best round at this course was a 66, which he shot on the first day of the 1986 tournament, when he finished tied for fifth place. At 57 years old in 1997, Nicklaus still managed to card two 69s, which helped him to secure a tie for eighth place. More Golf: Collin Morikawa Refutes PGA Tou Pro's Claim of Players Cheating
