u/AniMeshorer

Lens is, like Lille, not too far from the Belgian border, and when I was groundhopping in Mouscron end of last season, I noticed the pub at the corner of the street where the stadium was had its walls covered with RC Lens scarves, shirts, etc.

I was wondering if RC Lens has a fan club in Belgium that organised transport to games, or individuals who often attend games there and who may want to do a carpool.

Getting there is easy with the train, but for an evening game, getting back in Belgium is a tough one.

Friends of mine stimulate me to install Futbology (be it the free version or the paid version). Initially, I was like "I'll do them a favour even though I've been groundhopping for almost 30 years without it and it worked out fine". But then I did start to see some advantages for myself too. I'm not sure if I should go with the free or paid version.
Or... there is also Europlan-online, which has the big advantage of a lot of pictures of grounds worldwide, even the most obscure ones (I recently stumbled on info on football grounds in Nikel and Vorkuta in the Russian High Arctic -- that shows how obscure grounds can be and still be included in Europlan-online.de ).

So I was curious: which of these apps do you guys use? Or do you use multiple apps?

What I like and like less in a groundhopping app:

1. Keeping a memoir of football games I've attended, from Champions League level to "Sunday league" teams or league games in the 10th tier. Preferably I could export that list of games attended in an Excel or PDF file on my hard drive as a back-up on my laptop.

2. In addition to attending games (groundhopping), I also visit a lot of grounds without games (technically this is groundspotting). To me these are valid ground visits, as the ground is equally important as the club playing there.

There are some grounds which I want to have seen with a game involved: Arbroath FC, Bodø/Glimt, Red Star Paris, CE Europa, Tromsø IL, FC Sever Murmansk, Dulwich Hamlet, Stonewall FC, Forest Green Rovers, the Luxembourg national stadium, amateur sides like IJsselmeervogels and AFC (Netherlands), ...

However, there are also grounds where the team playing there doesn't particularly interest me or where I wish to stay away due to the hostile atmosphere or Ultra elements being too noisy and rough. Those are grounds and stadiums I still want to visit, but I don't need to really see a game there. This can very from Lazio Roma, Celtic FC, Rangers FC, ... to amateur grounds such as Tenstar Melle, SK Erembodegem or RU Auderghem (all in my home country Belgium). I want to have seen the ground but am not too bothered to also attend a game there.
But to me those ground visits without game count as valid groundhops (or groundspots as you wish). Ideally I could log both visited grounds/stadiums with and without games included.

3. I am not so interested in which club I have seen playing most often, which grounds I have been to most often, and who has been to a certain club/ground most often. Statistics like that can make it look like a race or competition. I'm not too interested in that. Such statistics can be included if easy to ignore.

4. Sending PM's to other users is very interesting to me: this way you can look for carpools to games, or exchange information on certain clubs, get info on how you can get tickets, ... So sending DM's to other users is important to me.

5. If you are at a game and you can see if any other users are there too, this can be interesting just to say hi, and if there is a good connection exchange email or WhatsApp with the aim of future carpools to games.

6. Uploading photos of the ground/stadium (or a short 1 minute video) should be possible.

7. A calendar of "favourite clubs" so that you can see when they are playing would be vary handy.

8. Not necessary but handy: seeing an overview of games going on within a circle of for example 30 to 50 km of where you are at the moment.

9. I'd like to log all games I visited in the past too, not just the last couple of years but also further in history. Been groundhopping since 1996.

Which app do you recommend? Or is a combination of several apps more interesting?

The title speaks for itself.

Do you know of any Belgians (be it individuals or a fanclub) who regularly travel to nearby Lens for a football game and may have an option to carpool?

I would like to attend a European home game of RC Lens, getting there by train is not an issue, getting back however is very hard. I'd either need to carpool with someone, or find a place open all night (a pub, bar or hotel lobby) where I can wait in safety until the first train back to Lille leaves in the morning, and from Lille head back to home in Belgium.

I'm sort of hoping that maybe I could carpool along with someone. Does anyone know?

So recently I found out that Belarus ("Europe's last dictatorship") is suddenly getting in the spotlights for positive reasons. Molchat Doma (Молчат Дома), a band from Minsk, seems to be breaking through across Europe and even in the USA. That is very unusual to begin with for a Belarusian band, especially when not singing in English (not sure if they are singing in Belarusian or Russian). Apparently Молчат Дома means "The houses are silent", refering to the anonimity of the bleak Soviet architecture.

Now I see in articles they are mostly described as a mixture of postpunk, darkwave and coldwave. Now I do like Goth music and darkwave a lot. And I am very interested in Soviet history ; also I find the Soviet apartment blocks ("commieblocks") strangely fascinating and to me, despite being very monotome, they are not exactly ugly. Whenever I see pictures of the likes of Tiraspol, Murmansk, or other not very touristic cities where the architecture is more or less the same as 40 years ago, I am like "once safety allows it, I want to visit".

So this sounds like a match to me. However, I then often read that they are popular amongst "doomers".

Now, I happily admit that I am not really up-to-date with modern music. So I'm not sure what a "doomer" is ; is that someone who just laments about everything in life constantly, or more someone who warns for all things going wrong in society and around the world as a warning (but with the hope it can change for the better)?

What are their songs about?

I did find some English translations of their lyrics. One indeed has a death wish explicitly but that was not their own song, it's a poem from someone else they put to music. Their other lyrics sound more like dark poetry, maybe a sense of alienation, but not exactly what I would associate with the thoughts of someone who thinks life is nothing but misery. So I'm not sure what the "doomer" connection is.
I have to say I based the above on the translations of about 7 or 8 songs I could find, which I realise is not much.

As for Goth and darkwave bands I like: Bauhaus, Siouxsie & The Banshees, London After Midnight, some songs by She Past Away, Sophya, some songs by The Breath Of Life and Clan of Xymox, Silke Bischoff aka 18 Summers (especially their earlier albums), ...
Not sure if these have any (mild) comparison with Molchat Doma.

So recently I found out that Belarus ("Europe's last dictatorship") is suddenly getting in the spotlights for positive reasons. Molchat Doma (Молчат Дома), a band from Minsk, seems to be breaking through across Europe and even in the USA. That is very unusual to begin with for a Belarusian band, especially when not singing in English (not sure if they are singing in Belarusian or Russian). Apparently Молчат Дома means "The houses are silent", refering to the anonimity of the bleak Soviet architecture.

Now I see in articles they are mostly described as a mixture of postpunk, darkwave and coldwave. Now I do like Goth music and darkwave a lot. And I am very interested in Soviet history ; also I find the Soviet apartment blocks ("commieblocks") strangely fascinating and to me, despite being very monotome, they are not exactly ugly. Whenever I see pictures of the likes of Tiraspol, Murmansk, or other not very touristic cities where the architecture is more or less the same as 40 years ago, I am like "once safety allows it, I want to visit".

So this sounds like a match to me. However, I then often read that they are popular amongst "doomers".

Now, I happily admit that I am not really up-to-date with modern music. So I'm not sure what a "doomer" is ; is that someone who just laments about everything in life constantly, or more someone who warns for all things going wrong in society and around the world as a warning (but with the hope it can change for the better)?

What are their songs about?

I did find some English translations of their lyrics. One indeed has a death wish explicitly but that was not their own song, it's a poem from someone else they put to music. Their other lyrics sound more like dark poetry, maybe a sense of alienation, but not exactly what I would associate with the thoughts of someone who thinks life is nothing but misery. So I'm not sure what the "doomer" connection is.
I have to say I based the above on the translations of about 7 or 8 songs I could find, which I realise is not much.

As for Goth and darkwave bands I like: Bauhaus, Siouxsie & The Banshees, London After Midnight, some songs by She Past Away, Sophya, some songs by The Breath Of Life and Clan of Xymox, Silke Bischoff aka 18 Summers (especially their earlier albums), ...
Not sure if these have any (mild) comparison with Molchat Doma.

Big fan of everything Norwegian here, including all Norwegian clubs playing in Europe as well as the Norsk national team.

I attended Union SG-Bodø/Glimt in the away end and had a fantastic time socialising with the Bodø fans. Would love to actually see those people again and repeat that fun night. Nijmegen is not too far out from Belgium, but I don't have a driver's license and getting back home after the game is impossible without a car due to the total lack of night trains in Belgium.

Is anyone from Belgium making the trip and fancying a carpool?

Does anyone know what happened to Noisettes? Their last release has been quite a long time ago, and since then their website hasn't even been updated at all. I saw them live about 12 or 13 years ago in Belgium, they were absolutely brilliant, talked to the band afterwards and they're great people. Would be such a shame if this band would disband permanently. Despite solo projects ongoing, it seems they never announced they've split up... So hopefully this is just a bit of time off to focus on other projects while making future plans for Noisettes?

Shingai and Dan, I'll never forget you.
Please return to the studio and stage!

I have a paid package (the 36€ per year package) that needs to be renewed shortly. I signed into my account and didn't find any button to pay for the renewal, otherwise I'd have already paid for the next year.

Am I correct that payment is done automatically on the day the account needs to be renewed?

I probably read it before when I opened my account, but cannot recall.

Very satisfied user!

Hei!

I am Belgian, residing in Oostende. I have been fascinated by Norway and everything Norsk since childhood, Norway was like the country of my dreams. Especially the North of Norway. I also support all Norwegian football clubs in Europe. I even attended Belgium-Norway twice and on both occasions supported for Team Norway. :)

I was at the Union-Bodø/Glimt game in Oostende, in the away end. It was great to socialise with the Glimt fans before and during (and after!) the game, such friendly people! And the atmosphere at the game was great!

Now the final step before the Champions League is NEC. Nijmegen is in our neighbouring country The Netherlands, but sadly enough train traffic at night is extremely poorly organised in my country. Getting back home after the game would be a huge problem.

I was wondering, do you know anyone who would drive from Belgium to Nijmegen and back and would be open to carpooling? I did see some other Belgians in the away end during the game against Union, of whom some were indeed rooting heavily for Bodø. Some of them, but maybe not all of them, were Club Brugge fans who had friendly connections with Glimt fans they met during an earlier European game. Maybe there would also be Norwegians living in Belgium who would drive to Nijmegen for the game coming Wednesday?

Would you know anyone that drives from Belgium to Nijmegen and back for the game? I don't have a driver's license myself, sadly enough. And night trains run to some extent in the Netherlands, but sadly enough not in Belgium. Getting home without a carpool back would be extremely hard.

Ik was op 4 augustus in Oostende aanwezig voor de wedstrijd van Union tegen Bodø/Glimt. Voornamelijk omdat ik al sinds kinds af gepassioneerd ben door alles wat met Noorwegen te maken heeft. Een beetje "country of my dreams", zeg maar. Ik steun dan ook alle Noorse clubs in Europa, en ook de Noorse nationale ploeg.

Ik was in Oostende dan ook in het bezoekersvak aanwezig, want ik ging duidelijk om voor Glimt te supporteren. Heel fijne dag gehad, lekker gesocialiseerd met de extreem vriendelijke mensen uit Noorwegen ook.

Nu, in het bezoekersvak waren ook een paar mensen aanwezig van Club Brugge. Club-supporters die blijkbaar sympathie hadden gekregen voor Bodø/Glimt na een eerder onderling Europees duel.

Ik vraag me af of iemand weet wie die mensen zijn, en of zij naar Nijmegen carpoolen voor de Champions League play-off qualifier tussen NEC en Bodø/Glimt?
Ik zou zelf erg graag richting Nijmegen gaan, maar helaas heb ik geen rijbewijs. Maar mocht ik weten welke de Club-fans waren die in Oostende aanwezig waren en duidelijk sympathiseren met Glimt, dan zou ik hen wel willen vragen of ze toevallig naar Nijmegen rijden voor die wedstrijd daar van Bodø/Glimt komende woensdag. Tickets voor het bezoekersvak zijn vrij eenvoudig te regelen. Misschien kan er een carpool van gemaakt worden?

The title of this post says it all. Is BlueSky financially stable and backed by sufficient funding to assure the app will stay around for the long haul?

I am actually feeling quite confident in this, that BlueSky is here to stay. But I read some articles and discussions in webzines and other discussion forums that insinuate that without large advertisers or paid subscriptions the app would be in danger of long-term existance. I've always felt quite confident, but anyways, it would be nice to know for sure. :)

Keep up the good work!

I've been a groundhopper for 28 years and I try to attend 2 or 3 games each week. On top of that, whenever I am somewhere I've not been before, I try to visit the local ground, even if there is no game going on (especially in the lower leagues, gates to the grounds are open if there is a training going on, or sometimes in the really low divisions grounds don't have a gate and you can just take photos).

I consider those ground visits without games to be genuine groundhops.

If I want to use Futbology to keep track of the grounds I've already visited, it would be handy to also include those grounds that I visited without any game going on. Is there a specific option for this?

I know some people will select the ground and then add a new game in which the club playing at the ground is listed as home team and the visiting team is listed as "ground visit". If no more specific option is available, I'd be fine with that. I hope such entries aren't removed though. To me it is about visiting grounds, with games if possible but not necessarily ; I've visited some really nice grounds without games and those are full groundhops to me.

Just a question about the comparison between .com and .org. I have found some older posts about this in this very subreddit so I hope it's OK.

I am not a very tech-savvy person. I just want to write articles (that can contain images as well) that are published as static pages or blog posts (to the blog posts I like to receive comments).

Some things to keep in mind:

1. I want to work on my site/blog on my own. Thus I don't want people who leave a comment to a blog post to be able to gain a certain user role with rights to add/edit/delete static pages or posts. I also prefer that nobody can register at my site (commenters to blog posts should be guests or subscribers at most). I am a bit worried about accidently missclicking a wrong option that would lead to others gaining rights to create/edit/delete pages or blog entries. The more impossible it is that this would happen, the better.
2. I am not really used to working with plugins. Now, I know plugins are optional. However, I also think about security. Is it the case that wordpress(.com) actually does all maintainance and security updates for you, while you can just focus on writing pages and posts? Is it easy enough for a not very tech savvy person to keep a site using wordpress(.org) secure, or does this require some manual actions that require a certain knowledge?
3. If you decide to go with wordpress(.com) but at a later point you want to move on to wordpress(.org) hosted at a webhosting provider of your choice... Is it easy to move your site? At the .com version you can easily download a backup of your site. I heard contradicting things: some say you can easily use that backup to move your site/blog to a wordpress(.org) website/blog, while others say that such move is not that easy (especially if you have static pages and blog posts that contain both text and images). So how easy is it to move from .com to .org?

I hope this question is allowed. I did see in Google search results that some older topics about this exist (but old enough that it may be wise to create this one, things can change over time) so I hope this one is also allowed.

Thanks for your feedback.

Just a question about the comparison between .com and .org. I have found some older posts about this in this very subreddit so I hope it's OK.

I am not a very tech-savvy person. I just want to write articles (that can contain images as well) that are published as static pages or blog posts (to the blog posts I like to receive comments).

Some things to keep in mind:

1. I want to work on my site/blog on my own. Thus I don't want people who leave a comment to a blog post to be able to gain a certain user role with rights to add/edit/delete static pages or posts. I also prefer that nobody can register at my site (commenters to blog posts should be guests or subscribers at most).
   I am a bit worried about accidently missclicking a wrong option that would lead to others gaining rights to create/edit/delete pages or blog entries. The more impossible it is that this would happen, the better.

2. I am not really used to working with plugins. Now, I know plugins are optional. However, I also think about security.
   Is it the case that wordpress(.com) actually does all maintainance and security updates for you, while you can just focus on writing pages and posts?
   Is it easy enough for a not very tech savvy person to keep a site using wordpress(.org) secure, or does this require some manual actions that require a certain knowledge?

3. If you decide to go with wordpress(.com) but at a later point you want to move on to wordpress(.org) hosted at a webhosting provider of your choice... Is it easy to move your site? At the .com version you can easily download a backup of your site. I heard contradicting things: some say you can easily use that backup to move your site/blog to a wordpress(.org) website/blog, while others say that such move is not that easy (especially if you have static pages and blog posts that contain both text and images).
   So how easy is it to move from .com to .org?

I hope this question is allowed. I did see in Google search results that some older topics about this exist (but old enough that it may be wise to create this one, things can change over time) so I hope this one is also allowed.

Thanks for your feedback.