About Me

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Hammersmith, London, United Kingdom
I'm a director of Maidenhead United Football Club. For ten seasons one of my roles at the club was to produce the match programme. The aim of this blog was to write football related articles for publication in the match programme. In particular I like to write about the representation of football in popular culture, specifically music, film/TV and literature. I also write about matches I attend which generally feature Maidenhead United.

Sunday, 24 February 2013

The Football Grounds of Funchal

A recent short break in Funchal, Madeira led to me discovering two football grounds of contrasting import. The first revealed itself as we took a cable car ride from the sea front up to Monte. It came into view just after we took enough and may well belong to a school but is a suitable addition to the series of obscure grounds seen from unusual viewpoints which began in Lindos in 2011 and continued in Rye last year.
Later that day I took a short walk from our hotel to take a look at the more famous home of CS Maritimo, Dos Barreiros. Although currently under reconstruction you can only wonder at its magnificent setting.
Cranes battle floodlights in one corner whilst another accompanies the club.
When buying tickets you can choose between the hillside or seaview.
A couple of days later we passed through the village where Cristiano Ronaldo grew up. I have a feeling the hilly environment must have helped hone his dribbling skills. They've already built a statue next to the Cable Car station.



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