Colin Peel

@boshobinna @tobyasky It's a paradigm shift, for sure. I've seen Brentford play in the third and fourth tiers, that's their 'natural' historic level, but the TV money dwarfs matchday income. I think even Wolves would have reached Conf League Final this year if they were in it.

@Wobs67 @tobyasky Hmmm Well, you might be right. It's just mind blowing a mid table team like Brentford has more financial power than Sevilla, just shocking.

I honestly thought about this today. I looked up the wage bill of every player in Freiburg, the goalkeeper is on 20k per week😭😭😭 How about signings? Freiburg’s record transfer is 15 million euros, like in their history, that’s the record. These other leagues cannot compete. They better learn marketing and sharing formula from the premier league, else, they’ll keep blowing them away. Like, you’ll see Forest, a small team in England can spend more than Porto, champions of Portugal, and pays players more than them😭

@boshobinna @tobyasky They try, but their domestic markets are not as 'mad for it' as the UK is for top flight football. In short, UK consumers value the product more highly, and demonstrate this by actually paying for it either themselves or through pubs/clubs.

@Wobs67 @tobyasky That's the thing Why can't the other leagues do the same?

@boshobinna @tobyasky I think it stems from extracting the full value for TV rights, especially at home but also abroad. Value way more than France, for example. And then the TV money is distributed more evenly, making the league more competitive overall compared to, say, Spain or Germany.

@tobyasky I don't understand how the PL managed to build such a massive financial gap to other leagues.

@JackJmatt @BBCNews Strike pay probably, which is not taxable.

@BBCNews How have the striking workers paid their bills if they haven't been working?

Birmingham council leader to make statement on year-long bin strike bbc.in/41YPv5u

@MikeFloate @redcartownfc @NorthernHop2026 I visited just over 20 years ago and this was the only pic I took, as the ground was undeveloped. Nice to see they seem to have the same goalposts!

Thank goodness for clubs like @redcartownfc Over the past five years the club have done the old-fashioned thing of using their skill and ingenuity to develop both ends of their ground. It’s a shame so few clubs do work as well as this nowadays. Visit by @NorthernHop2026 in 2027?

@groundhopper23 Looks like a braw bricht moonlicht nicht, as I believe they say in Hutchison.

Game one of a busy Scottish weekend, Hutchinson Vale v Whitburn Juniors, East of Scotland League Premier Division #2526

@paul_gtastic Crewe (pic by Bob Lilliman 1978)

Which of the famous old ends was your favourite? The Fulwood End, Holte End, Hillsborough Kop, The Shed all seen here - or another one? Read about these iconic 'Ends' and what happened to them in the post-Taylor cull, in our latest issue, GT124. Order: groundtastic.co.uk

@steveb2307 @CheshireFL @WiganTownFC @Sandbachtownfc Saw a game here in 1986 - College FC were in the North Lancs Lge. The pitch (now the 3G) was surrounded by a small cinder track and there was a block of 50 open seats on the west side.

Second game of the day was a basement battle in the @CheshireFL. @WiganTownFC v @Sandbachtownfc is on my #groundhopping blog stevebthegroundhopper.blogspot.com/2026/02/wigan-…

@PeterRMiles Did you go up the mound visible behind the covers? Always wondered what the view is like.

📅 Saturday December 20th 2025 ⏰ KO: 1.30pm 🏆 South Challenge Cup 5th Round 📍 Valefield Park 💷 £8 📖 None Kilbirnie Ladeside 2 (Hughes 24, McCloy 45) Cumbernauld United 6 (McCormick 23,62, Sheridan 33,90+4, McFarlane 40, Taylor 88) Att:186

@groundhopper23 Nice to see this one with an upgrade. Here it is looking a bit 'tired' back in 2003.

Yorkshire this afternoon for Garforth Rangers v Farnley Sports in the depths of the Yorkshire Amateur League Division 2 #2509

Rare Aston Villa shirts on sale from The Football Cabin (A51 in Lichfield, WS13 8JA, inside Plant Pot Centre) this weekend #AVFC Retro 1960s shirt in heavy cotton, size L The excellent 1997/98 away shirt, size 46-48 (Large, essentially). Both are (were) official product.

@paul_gtastic Originally the sports ground of (Joseph) Lucas Industries. Their annual Sports Day in 1967 drew an estimated 30,000 visitors. The football team of Lucas in Birmingham only played in the Works AFA.

Sunday 7 December 2025 The Pavilion, Moor Lane, Birmingham Birmingham FA Sunday Amateur Cup Oscott Drakes Drum 1-11 MGR Albion Rovers Att: 10

@steveb2307 This pitch used to be the cricket field of Palethorpe's, the sausage maker. The adjacent primary school was built over their football pitch. There was even an open-air swimming pool. In Tipton!

Saturday morning football in the West Midlands. LBC v Excel NIS is on my #groundhopping blog stevebthegroundhopper.blogspot.com/2025/11/lbc-v-…

@paul_gtastic If this is the design they chose, I'd love to see the ones they rejected.

Too late for the news in GT123, but Birmingham City have released images of their planned new 62,000-seat stadium; part of a new 'Sports Quarter' in the east of the city. The stunning design features 12 chimney-form towers in a nod to the city's brickworks heritage. Pic: BCFC

@paul_gtastic There used to be 11 clay pits and brickworks within a half-mile radius of St Andrews but lots of cities needed nearby brickworks because the UK was essentially made of brick. Anyway, I instinctively dislike the design, it looks so heavy. Even steampunk?

@PeterRMiles The ground in 2007

📅 Sunday November 2nd 2025 ⏰ KO: 2pm 🏆 Women’s National League Northern Premier 📍 Walton Hall Park 💷 £8 📖 Online Liverpool Feds 0 Derby County Ladies 1 (Ward 21) Att:149

@boundarymike @paul_gtastic It was on the east side of Henderson Ave at the junction with Doncaster Rd, so quite a prominent position. When first used it was surrounded by farmland and the town grew up around it.

@Wobs67 @paul_gtastic Out of interest where in Scunthorpe was the Old Show Ground? Would have loved to have gone to this ground

MORE LOST LEAGUE GROUNDS (11) Old Show Ground, Scunthorpe United Notable for its groundbreaking cantilever roofed stand, the ground was sold off to a supermarket chain in 1988. Around 450 grounds are featured in BEFORE THE CEMETERY END. groundtastic.co.uk/before

@MikeAmosBlog @crooktown_afc @NonLeagueCrowd @Groundtastic @paul_gtastic The stand in 2005 when it was 'only' 80 years old.

HBTY! HBTY! Happy Birthday to Crook stand - 100 today. @crooktown_afc @NonLeagueCrowd @Groundtastic @Paul_gtastic. Read more on mikeamosblog.wordpress.com

@Luke73072657 @FarnhamTownFC @suttonunited @EmiratesFACup @BBCiPlayer @BBCSport Here's why: On 90 mins the 4th official signalled minimum SIX mins. Between the 90:00 and 92:00 mark there was NO FOOTBALL PLAYED due to the cramp and sub. Therefore the 98th minute was in fact the sixth of the original additional minutes.

@FarnhamTownFC @suttonunited @EmiratesFACup @BBCiPlayer @BBCSport Really don't know why the ref has felt the need to play an extra two minutes

⏱️ 90+8’ | @FarnhamTownFC 3-3 @suttonunited Tow minutes beyond the allotted, Sutton equalise. 🏆 @EmiratesFACup | #UpTheTown 📺 @BBCiPlayer, Red Button & @BBCSport website