Introduction
I have had this site for a while to test some of the technology that is used on the main ibo site, but was conscious that the sheer number of pages on the main site was getting to be unmanageable. The easy answer was to strip out the non-Saints related stuff, the 2012 European Championships and the 2014 World Cup, which are not an inconsiderable number of pages in their own right. The number of pages that needed re-writing was the very thing that was putting me off doing anything about it. There was always something better to do than wade through the content and I was put off by the sheer amount of time that would be involved.
What eventually pushed me into doing something about it was that I had been talking to Spot51, one of the IBO regulars about how we would cover the 2016 European Championships. So, rather than make an already cluttered site worse, I decided to move the Euro 2012 and World Cup 2014 content and add the Euro 2016 and World Cup 2018 content.
Channonite
January 2016
(updated July 2019)
World Cup 2018
This section covers the World Cup held in Russia during the Summer of 2018.
Click on the map to see a bigger version. Click on the X in the top right to close when you are ready, then click on the button below the map to take you directly to the IBO World Cup 2018 section.
Channonite
June 2018
The 2014 World Cup
Because of the sheer size and complexity of these pages, they will probably be the last to be moved across. Initially there will not be a huge amount of stuff on here and I will put a link back to the original pages on the world Cup section here, as a temporary measure.
Even now, looking back, I break out into a cold sweat at the thought of having to cover several matches a day in the early stages. None of this would have been possible, if it were not for the regular members of the IBO Forum stepping up to the plate and producing match report after match report.
A huge thank you to them all.
Channonite
March 2016
2024 European Championships
The competition in Germany starts with six groups of four teams in a league format before proceeding to a knockout phase. The matches, each offering a unique atmosphere, will be held in ten different cities across Germany: Berlin, Cologne, Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich and Stuttgart. The final will be held in the Olympiastaden, Berlin, on the 14th of July.
The qualifying teams are:
- Group A - Switzerland, Germany, Scotland, Hungary
- Group B - Albania, Italy, Spain, Croatia
- Group C - Denmark, England, Serbia, Slovenia
- Group D - Austria, France, Netherlands, Poland
- Group E - Ukraine, Belgium, Romania, Slovakia
- Group F - Turkey, Portugal, Czech Republic, Georgia
channonite
June 2024
The 2021 European Championships
This was a competition like no other. Firstly, it was not in one, or even two countries, instead it was spread out across 11 countries including England and Scotland. As in 2016 the competition was composed of four countries in six groups - 24 in all. This compares to the 16 teams that there were the first time we covered the Euros back in 2012. Of course the most noteable thing was that this was supposed to have taken place last year, but was postponed due to the worldwide COVID pandemic, which is still ongoing as the but that is another story.
The qualifying teams are :
- Group A - Italy, Switzerland, Turkey and Wales
- Group B - Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Russia
- Group C - Austria, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Ukraine
- Group D - Croatia, Czech Republic, England, Scotland
- Group E - Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden
- Group F - France, Germany, Hungary, Portugal
There are four Saints players involved, Ché Adams and Stuart Armstrong with Scotland, Jannik Vestergaard with Denmark and Jan Bednarek with Poland.
The whole competition has a 'last minute' feel to it, but I am sure everything will be sorted by the time we get to the knockout 'last 16' stage.
Channonite
June 2021
The 2016 European Championships
Once again IBO will be covering a major football extravaganza, this time UEFA's Euro 2016, which will be hosted by France from the 10th June to the 10th July.
The last time the Euro's were held four years ago, there were 16 teams spread over 8 venues in Poland and the Ukraine. This time there will be 24 teams in 10 venues. So, there are eight more teams and two more venues.
The qualifying teams are :
France (as host), Albania, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Northern Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Wales.
So, we will have a fair amount of Saints related interest, with players involved with six, or seven countries.
In a while Spot's preview articles will start appearing, so keep an eye on the site as it develops. I will be posting a heads up on the IBO Forum when we get to the preview stage.
Channonite
March 2016
The 2012 European Championships
This was IBO's first attempt at covering one of the major championships and proved very popular at the time. It has to be said that this was down to the drive and determination of one of IBO's Forum regulars, Spot51.
We were both feeling our way at the time and I am afraid that the website became a bit disorganised and dysfunctional towards the end. What we have is an interesting record of the competition four short years ago. It is interesting to read through the reports at mentions of now familiar names, and some not so familiar.
To get started just click on the ‘Euro 2012’ button underneath, or the link at the top of the page.
Anyway, go and have a wallow in nostalgia and contrast it with how the 2016 Championship unfolds this summer.
Channonite
January 2016
