Sporting Gijon B v Real Oviedo

Segunda B or not to be?

Sporting Gijon B 0-0 Real Oviedo (26:09:10)

Planning any football trip to Spain from abroad is of course a logistical nightmare. Matches in the top two divisions are only pinned down to a day and kick off time 10 (ten) days beforehand. And if its games lower down the football pyramid you're after seeing, then just 5 (five) days prior notice is given. I can only conclude that the wine and nibbles at the Spanish FA must be so good, the men in suits like to assemble every seven days, no less.

Gathering any information is another minefield. And don't for un minuto think several daily football newspapers will help. Yes, of course up to ten photos of Jose Mourinho and CR7, but no danger of any actual dates and kick off times for anything below Xerez in Segunda Division. And if you do support Xerez - don't hold your breath - you'll get two lines at most.

Anyway, enough of the ranting. Despite this debatable debarcle throwing up the odd Monday night nightmare - it can occasionally land you with a jackpot. So it was then that 24 hours after watching Sporting Gijon tackle Valencia in La Liga, I was back at El Molinon for this Asturian local derby between two teams that - lets be honest - don't like each other very much.

Normally, Sporting Gijon B play their games in the 3,000 capacity Instalaciones de Mareo, he said checking his new Spanish bible the Guia de la Liga 2010-11 - comfortably the best €4 I've ever spent. However, with this match deemed to be Grade A - or whatever mark is attached to a fixture that gets hooligans excited - it was switched (at the last minute obviously) to El Molinon.

You'll never walk alone? The approach to El Molinon along the Playa de San Lorenzo is surely one of the best in football.

I'll have a 'T' please Bob.

200 Real Oviedo fans with their newly purchased 'Puta Gijon' (bitch/slag Gijon).

Puta Oviedo.

These are dark days for Real Oviedo. A few days before this derby they were beaten 1-0 at home to Mirandes. They didn't have a single shot on target. Worst still, only 4000 fans turned up in a stadium that holds over 30,000, and that was with an offer of free tickets to friends of season ticket holders. What must Sid Lowe - their most famous fan - be making of all this?

Hang on a minute, talking of Sid Lowe, he was very much the talk of the town between the Sporting Gijon fans and I prior to this match. Sid is really well respected in Gijon and this article goes a long way to explaining why he is in the running for the key to Gijon, and that despite his allegiances lying 15 minutes down the road in Oviedo. Sid was at this fixture last season, but sadly he couldn't make it for this one.

The older fans of Sporting Gijon prefer to talk about Real Madrid as being the main rivals. Talk to any younger fan though, and its Real Oviedo that brings them to the boil.

Sadly, only 200 away fans bothered with the short journey north. They were bused in and out with the minimum of fuss. Aside from a destroyed toilet block in the Grada Norte, the match passed of without incident despite a fractious build up of tension beforehand - mainly in the local media. Futbol, canticos y sin incidentes que lamentar (Football, singing and no incidents to report) declared La Nueva España the following morning.

With this being Gijon, I started the day with a stroll along the Playa de San Lorenzo and sat down for a hearty lunch with the wife before meeting up with the local fans. You can throw away the Lonely Planet guide in this town. Its foodie heaven, and you simply can't go wrong. All-sorts of fish, bull and horse (horse) meat, strong local cheeses and ciders were all downed in La Tabacalera and El Requexo respectively.

First impressions as you pitch up at El Molinon aren't too favourable. Currently - from the outside - it looks like a building site. In fairness, this is Spain's oldest stadium, and rather than move. they're renovating parts of it bit by bit. The temporary ticket office (actually a tent) and the club shop (actually closed) are set aside over the road from the ground. Inside, its a perfect fusion of red and white seats, there's no running track and the acoustics are spot on. It gets very loud when the fans get going, and boy do they get going - for the whole game.

Your probably wondering why I've rattled on for the thick end of a thousand words without mentioning the actual game. That's because there wasn't much to talk about. The fans were of course brilliant. I sat next to the Real Oviedo supporters who - despite being few in number - were fantastic. The home fans raised their voices in response, and if anything the atmosphere here was better than the previous days La Liga match. 6103 was the official crowd. It sounded more like 61000.

Fuera Fuera Fuera?

Si, es verdad.

Gavin Henson had a good view of the match.

Yeees! Pechu was back back back. See previous report from the Sporting Gijon v Valencia for more on this legend. Apparently, he has his own Facebook appreciation society. I'm signing up for that and no mistake.

The main talking point was the red card issued to Oviedo's Aitor Sanz in the first half. It was a very soft dismissal for a push, and that ruined the game as a spectacle from thereon in. Aerbitro mamon is the phrase you're looking for I believe. The most pressing issue for the Sporting fans afterwards though was the fact that they all have to lose weight. Why? Because their shirt manufacturers will be Kappa next season. They're not very forgiving on those with a slight problem in the belly department. And every Sporting Gijon fan wears their colours on match days. Chorizo sales are set to dip accordingly.

What else? Ah, yes. Note to those who spin the wheels of steel on a match-day in the stadium: We football fans DO NOT want to hear Black Eyed Peas version of I gotta feeling at every single match we attend. That song is the curse of mod€rn football. Give me strength, or better still, pass me another bottle of that local Asturian cider. After a few of those you'll be swinging a fast shoe to anything - aside from the Black Eyed Sodding Peas obviously.

So that was the end to my Spanish footballing marathon. Four live games spread out over three weekends and I loved every single minute - as you might have gathered. I'd seen Sporting Gijon first and second teams in action, and they'd scored a total of nil goals between them, nada. But, I came away loving and embracing the club. If you want to sit in silence at the Bernabeu watching football, that's fine. If you want passion, a riot of colour and deafening noise with your football then choose El Molinon, choose Sporting Gijon.

Is this the longest team bench in football? It spreads the whole length of the pitch.

Ahora mas que nunca (now more than ever) we are Sporting.

Apart from these chaps obviously.

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Sporting Gijon

Cider with Rojiblancos

Sporting Gijon 0-2 Valencia (25:09:10)

I've been in like with Sporting Gijon for years. Primarily, they reeled me in with their name (he-hon) which I take great delight in saying, and in recent years they've won me over with their fans - the best in Spain. They're one of the very few clubs in La Liga whose supporters travel in huge numbers to away games, and sing vociferously for 90 minutes.

To get myself in with the Rojiblancos, I introduced myself on the clubs fan forum a few weeks before this match with Valencia. After an initiation ceremony - in which I was asked my views on bullfighting, and more importantly if I preferred my Spanish tortilla with or without onion - I was made very welcome. Juan - a fan of 30 years - was to take me under his wing and be my guide for the weekend.

The region of Asturias is legendary for its food, and with good reason. The portions are enormous, but that doesn't detract from the quality. After arriving in town, my wife and I pitched up at El Pozu L'Arena - a local Sideria (ciderhouse) for miners, and a place so good it was to bookend our weekend in Gijon. We had a four course meal in here for €12 which included every culinary delight you could dream of, and free wine. Woof.

Juan had invited EFW to Bar Texas near to the El Molinon stadium a couple of hours before the game. The atmosphere is explosive around the ground on match days, and you won't go far wrong in any of the bars - all of which have Sporting Gijon memorabilia adorning the walls, and I love that. After learning a few mandatory new phrases; Puxa Sporting, Puta Oviedo and aerbitro mamon (Up Sporting, Bitch [Real] Oviedo and the referee is a w@nker) we were flying.

It was a relief to be in the pub at all to be honest. Hours earlier I'd found myself locked in the stadium - the oldest Spain. I can think of worse places I suppose. As my hotel was just around the corner, I thought I'd try and find a 'magic door' for the standard EFW on the pitch snap. I found it without any problems, eased myself onto the pitch, and got one of the television crew to take the photo. Job done, and feeling quite chuffed, I went to get out again only to find the same door had been locked. Twenty minutes of feeling slightly sheepish followed until eventually, a bemused security guard set me free. And relax.

On the pitch - tick. Now how do I get out?

Pre-match outside Bar Texas with my new pals.

Valencia CF have arrived to the crease this season having to bat away a much publicised mountain of debt, the loss of their best players Villa and Silva, and a new stadium that's ground to a halt halfway through the building process. In the face of all that adversity, they've started this season like a team on fire, which is fairly apt, as they love a fire in Valencia.

Fans of novelty items in football grounds would have rejoiced as the two teams took to the pitch through two enormous inflatable bottles of cider. Ah, cider, more of that later.

And so to the game itself. It was total football from La 'naranja mecanica' (clockwork orange) early on. Topal opened the scoring in the 6th minute with the 100th goal of this La Liga season -he said casually throwing in a very impressive statistic - and three minutes later Soldado added Valencia's second, and his first league goal for the club, he said adding another.

I couldn't help but notice a chap behind me in the crowd. He'd been on his feet the whole game giving frightful abuse to everybody. Juan giggled and told me his nickname is Pechu (the chest), and he's famous in these parts. If you're ever within a country mile of the Grada Norte on a match day, you won't fail to notice him, and learn a few hundred new swear words in the process.

The two sides emerge through the cider bottles - as you do.

Topal scores La Liga's 100th goal of the season, and I will surely collect a prize of some-sort for taking this award winning (?) photo.

Pechu wasn't best pleased. Obviously.

The Valencia fans were loving it though. All 20 of them.

Roared on by the home support - even at two goals down and being slightly outclassed - Sporting Gijon fought back like caged tigers in the second half, but to no avail. Diego Castro caught my eye for the home side. A player in the mould of Paolo Di Canio, and one I'd pay to watch every week. For Valencia, it was all about Manuel Fernandez. The Portuguese international - who has had a couple of brief spells on loan at Everton - was immense.

Valencia's support was pitiful. Twenty fans for a club of that size is pathetic. I don't care how many excuses you want to come up with, I simply couldn't believe they would bring so few fans. Lewes FC take more than that to away games, well sometimes. Anyway, at the end of the game, Juan and his friends made a beeline for those fans that had made the journey. A bit harsh having a pop I thought, but I needn't have worried. They simply shook their hands and wished them luck.

Fair play to those Valencia fans that did travel though. They had the time of their young lives, and looked to have been on the local sidra (cider) all afternoon. Well, when in Gijon as they say.

As well as its food, Asturias is renowned for it's scrumpy-like cider, a small bit of which is poured from a great height into a large, finely-blown glass. to be drunk straight away, before it loses its 'fizz'. In other words its a recipe for getting snot-flying drunk in a very short space of time. At €2 for a large bottle, its cheap and very moreish. As usual here at EFW, we couldn't help ourselves, and we spent a very long night drinking cider with the Rojiblancos. A perfect night.

The EFW guides for the weekend. Cheers lads.

And if you know your history. They've been playing here since 1908.

Bootiful. The local police watch on in their fancy footwear.

Don't mess with tradition. Cider poured from a height. And then downed in one. Refreshing.

Sporting Gijon are a very different club in terms of Spanish support. They like to think of themselves in terms of a Liverpool. I'll go with a West Ham. Tremendous, vocal fans that regard themselves as a tight-knit family.

Next up for Juan and co. was a trip to Zaragoza. Over 20 supporters groups were organising travel, and over 2000 fans were expected to make the trip. Bad results and performances have no affect on the loyalty of Spain's best fans - the Gijonesas. If you're thinking of travelling with them to an away game, then mark down the visit to Deportivo La Coruna in your notebooks. They take up to 9,000 fans to that game. We're up for it if you are? Adios.

El Molinon.

The Ultra Boys.

Scarves o'clock.

Puxa Sporting!

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