Off on my hols to Europe tomorrow and have been scanning the web for potential games in my vacationing vicinity. I was planning on SC Borea Dresden (formerly Dresden Nord) against Dynamo Dresden next Wednesday, but it clashes with my brother-in-law's weekly kickabout, and I still prefer to play than watch as long as I've got working legs. And I 'did' the Jaegerpark stadium (a generous depiction) a couple of years back when I saw Dresden Nord Reserves play FSV Zwickau, an afternoon no longer much talked about in Saxony footballing circles.

The following week there's Forfar vs East Fife on the Tuesday, and St. Johnstone against Burnley on the Wednesday. I likely won't get away with both, and the latter looks the more attractive fixture, if there is such a thing pre-season. On the other hand, although I went to Muirton Park 30 years ago and McDiarmid Park is there to be ticked off, it looks a flat-pack, unalluring structure. Station Park in Forfar looks better from an anecdotal point of view - that is, when I come back to DC and am mingling with hot young Capitol Hill interns in their 20s, saying I went to Forfar Athletic versus East Fife is sure to have the pol-chix wondering out loud and at length "how the bridies were".

The long term weather forecast for the Highlands is absolutely fucking miserable (11 degrees Celsius, "feels like" 8, on the day we get there), so I'll more than likely end up huddled up in front of a log fire roasting haggis, quaffing malt by the vat, and thinking that anyone who drives to Forfar on a freezing August night would have to be insane.

This may be of no use but The Corinthian Casuals are on a mini-tour of North Wales.

Sat 19/7/08 V Prestatyn Town
Sun 20/7/08 V Llangefni Town

I am attending cardiff V celtic in the algarve and man utd v espanyol at OT

Corinthian Casuals have an interesting tournament taking place pre-season...

Will probably go to Brackley Town vs Oxford United on Saturday. Hopefully it won't be the most exciting thing I do this weekend, but I suspect it will be.

The Heritage Classic looks like a must. Do the Old Etonians and Carthusians still have teams? Or is it a matter of rolling up at the Drones Club and asking if anyone wants a kick-about?

I'm pretty certain that Corinthian-Casuals could have listed themselves as former FA Amateur Cup winners (I think that Casuals won it once, pre-merger).

I'm almost certainly going to hatch a brilliant plan to go this.

They did, in 1936 beating Ilford. But, as we know, they're scrupulously honest and probably consider it bad form to claim an honour that occurred prior to the merger. If you go I humbly request comprehensive reports, including detailed kit descriptions, length of moustachios and whether a piece of string instead of a crossbar was used.

Wed 30th Jul, I will make my first trip to Brisbane Road to watch would could only surely be described as a Spurs XI (Spurs are away at Norwich on the Monday then playing in Holland on the Friday & Sunday) play Leyton Orient (probably something to do with our reserves playing at Brisbane Road).

Then on Sun 11th Aug, at WHL, I'll be watching Spurs play Roma.

Bury Town 0-3 Ipswich Town last night, you'll all be fascinated to know.

Dean Bowditch begins his last-chance-saloon season with a goal. He'll still be on loan at a Division 3 club near you before the end of September.

I'm hoping that we will get to see at least one game in Slovenija in August, though it is likely to be an official fixture, as their league programme starts early.

Italian pre-season friendlies are almost always dire beyond belief.

Anyone know of any German teams coming to Britain, or any other particularly interesting friendlies?

I don't think I'll be going to any friendlies as none of the ones Orient have seem tempting. Not even the Spurs one as we played them last year and it would be nice to have some other big club for a change. The rest involve trips to places like Aldershot.

Bignutz, from the list on Bwin.de , which is the most comprehensive one I could find quickly, it seems that all of the English/German matchups are going to be on the continent.

Incidentally, how mad is that people actually bet on pre-season friendlies?

Imp - Rangers are playing SC Pruessen Munster on sunday 13th, Sportfreunde Lotte on Wednesday 16th and Schalke on Sat 19th. I can pretty much guarantee that all of these games will be rotten and you'll watch them in the company of a large group of inebriated Scottish and Northern Irish soldiers however you may well get to see Demarcus Beasley play which should get the interns on Capitol Hill flocking to your side. The bridie story should be used as back-up in case this doesn't work though.