Late-night sports panel desk in a TV studio

November 2, 2026 · 7 min

Twelve hours by bus to see ninety minutes in the cold

The fans who cross the country every other weekend, and what they told me about the club they love and the fixtures they don’t.

Press conference table with a row of microphones

Next issue: Monday 16 November

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This week’s issue

Lunes de potrero: what a muddy pitch taught a whole league

Forty thousand people watched a ball that would not bounce, and the best passage of play came from a side that stopped trying to pass.

No. 156 · Nov 9, 2026 · 9 min read

Floodlit stadium seen from high seats at night

It rained from the first minute. By the second half the centre circle was a puddle, and the only team that looked comfortable was the one that had trained that week on the patch of dirt behind the club.

This week I go through the goal that decided it, talk to the groundsman who told me at ten in the morning it would be a draw, and make the case that the pitch deserves a place in the match report.

Plus: your messages about the new kick-off times, a short note on the commentary booth’s worst chair, and the one tackle I still cannot decide about.

Read: Lunes de potrero: what a muddy pitch taught a whole league