I had planned a triple for today and woke up very excited, only to find out that my camera hadn’t charged properly and was about to die. I was disappointed but wasn’t going to change my plan, so I headed towards Keramikos. Rouf Stadium is a 10-minute walk from the metro station, and, being one of the few grounds in central Athens (like Alepotripa), it’s home to quite a few teams. Colonos FC is one of them. They’re a club from the Kolonos district of central Athens, one of the least privileged neighbourhoods of the city. Kolonos also borders Peristeri, an area in the west side known as the most populated area of Athens outside the centre. Naturally, it’s home to many sports clubs too, with Foinikas Peristeriou being one of them.

Although I’ve known about it for a long time, it was my first time visiting this stadium. I felt that in a way, it reflects the industrial character of the area. Probably it’s the metallic stand or the train that passes behind it, which I thought was quite cool. The ground is primarily home to PAO Rouf, the local team, hence the red graffiti.

But today I was here for Colonos vs. Foinikas. The atmosphere was very relaxed; not many people had turned up and no one was shouting. I didn’t know anything about the teams’ current form, apart from the fact that Foinikas is a few places above Colonos in the standings. The whistle blew and only three minutes in, the away side scored a beautiful goal. What was even more iconic though, was the celebration of the scorer, who lifted his shirt and facing the crowd, pointed at his beer belly. Foinikas continued pressing and scored once more. Colonos seemed completely incapable of reacting. In the second half, the game followed the same pattern and the visiting side left with a relaxed 5-0 win. My friend and I set off for the next game, but unfortunately I don’t have any footage as my camera died.