100 Grounds: 100 Memories 

 

During Covid, I decided I wanted to become a groundhopper. I had wanderlust and wanted to see the world, via football stadiums. 3 short years later and I’ve been to 100 football grounds. I admit, I had visited a few prior to Covid but here are the 100 grounds I’ve been to, and the memories I’ve formed in doing so. I’ve tried to do this without looking up the reviews individually because if I’ve got nothing, I want to be authentic about it! 

 

Ground 1: Victoria Ground (Bromsgrove). I grew up watching Bromsgrove Rovers. They were my childhood team and I still consider myself a fan, even though the club is long gone. My favourite Bromsgrove memory is Mark Whitehouse firing home as we beat Wycombe Wanderers, Martin O’Neill and all, 1-0 the season they went up. Also, the pain of FA Cup defeat to Barnsley in R3.  

 

Ground 2: Adams Park (Wycombe). Vividly remember chanting “OFF” at a player for a foul right in front of us and later seeing myself doing it on video tape. First ever away trip and I remember a female fan saying that if anyone called her a Brummie she was kicking off. 

 

Ground 3: Anfield (Liverpool). Euro ‘96. I remember Karol Poborsky doing Paolo Maldini and the Czech Republic giving Italy the shaft. A great day out.  

 

Ground 4: Molineux (Wolves). Steve Bull got sent off! Paul Simpson scored a screamer. 

 

Ground 5: Goodison Park (Everton). Everton had a bunch of chances but the visiting team (Wigan?) almost scored at the death and it finished 0-0. Great save by Tim Howard. 

 

Ground 6: Lye Meadow (Alvechurch). First game after Covid. May 2021. It was hot as shit. I got sunburn. Jason Cowley scored an insane goal from waaaay downtown. I had to go to work afterwords! I turned up in a Leipzig shirt and sunburned.  

 

Ground 7: The Rec (Fairfield Villa). Has ruined my Futbology stats because the ground isn’t on there. I’m forever one game out. Probably the last game I’ll go to with my Dad. Which makes me very sad. 

 

Ground 8: Castle Vale Stadium (Romulus). First time I saw a mate after Covid, Tannoy Tom! A wayward clearance nearly wiped out a pint of Carling I was nursing. Maria trapped a wasp in an overturned cup.  

 

Ground 9: Sixways (Worcester Raiders). I walked there after work, down the canal. It’s the first game Josh had been to since he was a child. I fucked up the pour on my beer at the self serve gimmick.  

 

Ground 10: Lamb Ground (Tamworth). It absolutely pissed it down. Me and Josh were dodging these massive puddles on the way to the ground.  

 

Ground 11: Ricoh Arena (Coventry). Cov’s first game back there in 3 years. Tom drove. We tried to get food afterwards, at Pizza Hut, and couldn’t even get in the door. Josh had vertigo from how big the ground was!  

 

Ground 12: Claines Lane (Worcester City). Josh went to get me a beer and came back with something non-alcoholic because he “panicked”. I think it was Becks.  

 

Ground 13: Aggborough (Kidderminster). Left in stoppage time and Kiddy scored. Have never left early again since.  

 

Ground 14: Kenilworth Road (Luton). First game with Mike.  

 

Ground 15: Craven Cottage (Fulham). Brinkley wore shorts to this and it pissed it down!  

 

Ground 16: Vale Park (Port Vale). My first pitch invader! Called “shug” by the girl on the bar and have used it relentlessly ever since with colleague Gina.  

 

Ground 17: War Memorial Athletic Ground (Stourbridge). Also a cricket pitch with a pavilion.  

 

Ground 18: Johnny Rocks Stadium (Cheltenham). Introduced to the magic of the Ben Tozer long thrown. Got stuck behind a mobility scooter going down the main road on teh way out. Josh almost had his head taken off by a clearance. Literally parted his hair. 

 

Ground 19: Hawthornes (West Brom). Traffic. Endless traffic going in. Horrible islands. Missed 15 minutes of the game. Still saw all 6 goals. 

 

Ground 20: Castlecroft (Wolves Women). Josh was real sick after having his Covid jab the day before. It’s fucking miles from the centre and Wolves played the same day, so it was also really busy.  

 

Ground 21: New Lawn (Forest Green). Could see sheep from inside ground. Vegan nuggets and mayonnaise were dreadful. Vegan mayo should be illegal.  

 

Ground 22: Plough Lane (AFC Wimbledon). Cracking crowd. Great comeback win. Hayden the Womble an elite mascot. His bin-banging antics put him at the pinnacle of the mascot pyramid.  

 

Ground 23: Townsend Meadow (RC Warwick). Why does such a pretty town have such a dog ugly football ground? Black cage of death. Huge gob of spit on the urinal. Just a vile shithole. 

 

Ground 24: Cardiff City Stadium (Cardiff/Wales). Saw Gareth Bale in full-on ‘argue with all the refs’ mode. Went out on the piss afterwards with Wabz and Alex and drank like 10 cans of Fosters at the apartment too.  

 

Ground 25: The Bescot (Walsall). Visiting Mansfield fans extremely rowdy. My mate James lobbing torn up newspaper in the air when Walsall scored.  

 

Ground 26: City Ground (Notts Forest). One of the last games before Steve Cooper took over. Chris Hughton had a shocker. I assumed they would go down, they got promoted. Wonderful ground. Mike’s first Midlands weekender.  

 

Ground 27: Damson Parkway (Solihull Moors). No parking. Like, at all. We had to park at a mate’s house and get a lift. Dirtiest toilets I’ve ever seen.  

 

Ground 28: Meadow Park (Gloucester City). Seat was in the rain and people kept standing in front of us. Got very wet and finished the game standing at the back of the stand. Very poor stewarding here. 

 

Ground 29: New Meadow (Shrewsbury). We were in a car park and no one else parked there. We went and got a Subway beforehand. The whole thing is way out of town. Shrewsbury have two areas for ultras.  

 

Ground 30: London Road (Peterborough). Peter Burrow swinging his carrot. Pre-match Thai food on a barge.  

 

Ground 31: Tannadice Park (Dundee United). Eddie Sideburns suffering through a Dundee Utd disasterclass that they somehow won. Great pre-match nosh at Anstruther. Very wet. Watching birds flying around the floodlights at Dens Park.  

 

Ground 32: The Valley (Charlton). Doncaster fan getting his arse out during a penalty and being ejected from the ground. Charlton won 4-0. Taking an actual bag to a league ground traumatised me but ended up ok. Some of the steepest steps in London. Great old ground. 

 

Ground 33: St Andrews (Birmingham City). One of the most decrepit, run down dumps in the country. Broken tannoy. Rude stewards. Massive queues despite there being hardly any fans in. Being moved out of my seat because the away subs wanted to sit there. Worst ground, ever. They were right about Jude Bellingham though. 

 

Ground 34: Edgar Street (Hereford). Pub crawl pre-match with Josh. Poor Josh being bullied on his way to the toilets by children in the home end. That huge, curved home end.  

 

Ground 35: Loftus Road (QPR). In the away end. Disgusting experience. So much vile behaviour all around us. Some poor bastard got knocked out by a beer bottle and put in a coma. The cramped exit from the ground. The riot police on horses charging around, trying to do…something. A totally weird experience, like something out of a movie. 

 

Ground 36: Hayes Lane (Bromley). They had a cat!  

 

Ground 37: Twerton Park (Bath City). The coldest I’ve ever been. Like the dude Samuel L Jackson tortures in Hateful Eight. Beautiful ground, overlooking the area. Old fashioned fences and toilets and stuff. Holding a hot chocolate to keep warm.  

 

Ground 38: Field Mill (Mansfield). SIT DAAAHHHN! Great bunch of lads in the stands. The entire one side of Mansfield having no seating at all and it’s just advertising boards.  

 

Ground 39: Pirelli Stadium (Burton). Sandy patches on the pitch. Billy Brewer mocking the subs warm up routines.  

 

Ground 40: The Beehive (Studley). Due to an injury an outfield player went in goal second half. Studley only won 3-0. Maria constantly attempting to kick the ball. “Now’s my chance”.  

 

Ground 41: Fratton Park (Portsmouth). Restricted view. Great comeback win. Good sausage roll. Rowdy atmosphere. 

 

Ground 42: Turf Moor (Burnley). A personal favourite. A nice mix of historical looks and modern LED boards slapped over them. Plus a view across the moors in the background. Saw Chelsea win 4-0. Their fans chanted for Roman Abramovich. This was just after the Ukraine invasion.  

 

Ground 43: Mill Road (Arundel). There’s a whopping great big castle behind the ground. Delightful pre-match beers. Banter with lino. Exposed as being from somewhere else as we accidentally asked an away fan where the bar was. A very fun non-league experience. 

 

Ground 44: St Marys (Southampton). The band marching down the line playing “When the Saints Go Marching In”. Mike hating it because Watford won.  

 

Ground 45: Coles Lane (Sutton Coldfield/West Brom Women). Shannon Stamps scored a worldy. We spent a good chunk of the game in the bar talking to someone who worked at Aston Villa’s club shop. 

 

Ground 46: Meadow Lane (Notts Co). Just a feeling of belonging. The old fella behind me getting his walking stick caught and me apologising for trapping his leg. Maria attempting to sneak an entire plate of mango into the ground under a hat.  

 

Ground 47: Hillsborough (Sheff Weds). The wonderful old ground. The big pointed side drawing my attention away from the game at times. Quality performance by Barry Bannan.  

 

Ground 48: Keys Park (Hednesford). Actual crowd segregation! At tier 7. Because Wolves and West Brom fans might turn up and fight each other. Leroy Lita scoring a hattrick.  

 

Ground 49: London Stadium (West Ham). Maria’s favourite stadium. Presumably because it was both big and comfortable. Aaron Cresswell scoring an incredible free kick. Of course Everton lost. 

 

Ground 50: The Den (Millwall). Getting the idea to do the Bermonsey Beer Mile here. Guy on our row getting incredibly upset about a double-barrelled surname. “FAKKIN TWO NAMES?” Last time I saw Josh at a game and he left early because he was supposed to go to a party.  

 

Ground 51: The Coppice (Highgate United). I walked there! It’s about 13 miles. 

 

Ground 52: Champion Hill (Dulwich Hamlet). End of season piss up. We did the beer mile afterwards. Loads of rail strikes. We saw about 12 dogs at this game. “Next year” Mike supports Hemel. 

 

Ground 53: Liberty Way (Nuneaton Borough). Done because our flight to Stockholm was cancelled. Was annoyed all game by a child throwing a plastic cup down steps next to us.  

 

Ground 54: Old Trafford (Man Utd/England Women). The opening game of the women’s euros. Lots of fireworks and stuff. Accidentally bought hospitality tickets. Hospitality is crap.  

 

Ground 55: Stadium MK (MK Dons/Euros). Watched Finland vs. Spain here. In with the Viking supporters. Hot as hell. So hot. Could see entire pitch from concourse. Finland scored a couple of minutes in. Thought we might get an upset! 

 

Ground 56: New York Stadium (Rotherham/Euros). Watched France decimate Italy in the women’s Euros. Delphine Cascarino and her magic feet. Lots of sad Italians around us.  

 

Ground 57: Gander Green Lane (Sutton). Pre-season friendly. Hot as hell. Mike buys a Sutton bucket hat.  

 

Ground 58: Brentford Community Stadium (Brentford/Euros). Behind a very loud Danish woman with a megaphone. Took a crowd photo and later found one of my friends (Carsmile Steve) in it!  

 

Ground 59: Hayden Road (Rushden & Diamonds). Got drunk on an afternoon pub crawl of Northampton. Spent the game arguing with the Rushden keeper to the point where he admitted all his defenders were bad at football so he wouldn’t pass to them.  

 

Ground 60: Emirates (Arsenal). Inept queuing system. Never seen anything like it. An early Mikkel Arteta masterclass on the field though as visiting Sevilla were blown away. Fantastic “Arsenalisation”. 

 

Ground 61: Kassam Stadium (Oxford United). The one end is just a car park. Amazing late comeback win here for the home team vs. Swansea in the cup.  

 

Ground 62: Butts Park (Coventry United Women). I missed the only goal because I was taking a wizz. Had a great half time natter with people in the bar. Due to a lack of decent photos, here’s a shot of Tom being surprised by a dog. 

 

Ground 63: Home Park (Plymouth). Was wearing an Ireland shirt so an Irish fella came over to greet me. Mayflower references. Pilgrim Pete! Incredible atmosphere. Last trip for the little magenta fizz Aygo. That did some miles. 

 

Ground 64: Wembley (England). Nation’s League. England vs. Germany. England come back from 0-2 down to win, only Nick Pope gives away a stupid late equaliser. Incredible atmosphere again. If you’re not a football fan after a game like this then you never will be.  

 

Ground 65: Abbey Stadium (Cambridge). The city is worse for traffic than anywhere I’ve ever been. Barely got in our seats for kick off.  

 

Ground 66: Spotland (Rochdale). Went on a pub crawl afterwards with the Ogdens and Big Chris Linay. Rochdale were staring relegation in the face.  

 

Ground 67: Trevor Brown Memorial Ground (Boldmere St Michaels). Went with Tom and Shaz and Tom had to leave to go to a show, or something, halfway through. Girl in front of us was listening in on the conversation we had and called Bruno Fernandes a twat when we were talking about him. She was lovely, I wish we’d involved her in our conversation more. 

 

Ground 68: Etihad (Man City). So many tourists. I’ve never seen so many half and half scarves. The whole blue moon thing pre-match feels forced. There was a nail sticking out of the wall next to us. Can’t afford basic repairs lads? I get that money is tight.  

 

Ground 69: The Rock (Cefn Druids). Football in a quarry. Cefn blow a 3-2 lead in stoppage time to lose 3-4. The Welsh Cup is a joy to behold.  

 

Ground 70: Cadbury Recreation Ground (Cadbury Athletic). The place has a bunch of groundhoppers. Like it was pre-planned on a secret forum. To date one of only two games I’ve been to on my own. Referee missed a nailed on pen. The changing rooms were in this old cricket pavilion.  

 

Ground 71: Villa Park (Aston Villa). Stevenage caused a huge cup upset with two late goals. One a short corner. This was just after Unai Emery took over. I’ve been back since and regret not going more when I was younger. It’s easy enough to get to. Same with Wolves.  

 

Ground 72: Luigi Ferraris (Genoa). Wild pigs outside the ground. Tribute to recently deceased Gianluca Vialli outside. Atmosphere unreal. Like nothing I’ve ever seen. The coordinated scarf raising, the drums, the smoke, the chanting. Brilliant.  

 

Ground 73: San Siro (Milan). We thought they were going to tear this down, so we made an Italian trip especially. The ground is elite from the camp of food stalls and merch outside to the atmosphere to the incredible game we got. Sassuolo in town won 5-2. To date my favourite footballing experience.  

 

Ground 74: Q2 (Austin FC). My brothers live in Austin, so I suggested we go and see some MLS. They have an entire fucking band in the home end. Lines of drums with neon on the sides. A brass section. The game we saw was the first in franchise history for St Louis.  

 

Ground 75: County Ground (Swindon). Back to earth with a bang after the last six grounds. Swindon get a red card after 30 seconds.  

 

Ground 76: Selhurst Park (Crystal Palace). The European Youth Cup final. Palace vs. Yong PSV. To my delight the Palace fans were out in force to support their youth team and it was loud and raucous until Palace lost 3-1. My first ever cup final, although Futbology doesn’t seem to recognise it.  

 

Ground 77: Dalymount Park (Bohemian). The Northside derby with Bohs vs. Shelbourne. Great atmosphere, although the weird segregation means I couldn’t even go and chat to my mate Johnny at the fence between the two stands. They’re all home fans! Ground has an entire stand being demolished and a lovely church in the corner.  

 

Ground 78: Tolka Park (Shelbourne Women). Wonderful sunny afternoon in Dublin. Very relaxed atmosphere. Exciting game that finished 0-1. One stand completely empty, apparently condemned? It looks brand new. 

 

Ground 79: Langland Stadium (Malvern Town). Redditch lost, so I was happy. View of the Malvern Hills behind the stand. Actual stand had a hole in the floor. Kid was playing football next to the pitch and the ball ended up interrupting play. Referee gave the poor little bugger a hard, hard stare.  

 

Ground 80: Spiers and Hartwell Jubilee Stadium (Evesham United). Outdoor bar! I love watching Bromsgrove away because they play in old Bromsgrove Rovers colours.  

 

Ground 81: The Grove (Halesowen). The steps up to the ground are amazing. Watching the ground slowly come into complete view as you reach the crest! Wonderful old terracing too.  

 

Ground 82: Paul Janes Stadion (Fortuna Dusseldorf). In the old Fortuna ground, under the watchful eye of a power station. Cracking scran here. Have a hot dog in Germany, obviously.  

 

Ground 83: Veltins Arena (Schalke). Another club with great fans and atmosphere, even in pre-season. Went with STRIGGA and he guided us around. Lots of beers. Veltins, obviously.  

 

Ground 84: Jean Loring Sportspark (Fortuna Koln II). Essentially stat padding. We were in Koln, this was going on. No charge to get in. We went and bought some beers and crisps from the local offy. Pretty sure Mike fell asleep second half.  

 

Ground 85: Tottenham Stadium (Spurs). Harry Kane’s last game for Tottenham. He scored four goals.  

 

Ground 86: Wetherby Road (Harrogate). Smallest league ground. Tiny stands. Left end had nothing at all. Beer tent in lieu of a concourse. One of the stewards took our photo outside. A lovely all around experience. 

 

Ground 87: Elland Road (Leeds Utd). A beast of a stadium. Loads of murals and such. You can feel the history. Got to meet up with Robbie Radford pre-match and snap a photo by the Billy Bremner statue.  

 

Ground 88: Stade Yves Lemaire (FC Arlon). The madest game ever. 4-1 to the home team with 10 mins left, ends 4-5. Bonus penalty shoot out. Kids setting off flares during a minute’s silence. Overgrown end. Dude doing a kneeslide celebration towards a shrub. The bit of tape between barriers. The UFO. The dog on the pitch during the shoot out. Elite entertainment.  

 

Ground 89: Stade Emile Mayrisch (CS Fola Esch). Fola upset last year’s second placed team in Dudelange with a dramatic late winner. Proceed to lose every game for months afterwards. I asked for the ticket in French but everyone spoke German. The next game, everyone spoke German. Sort your shit out Luxembourg.  

 

Ground 90: Stade Jos Haupert (Progres Niedercorn). Another amazing game in the Benelux weekend. Late drama, goals galore, an entire band like right behind us in the stand.  

 

Ground 91: Valley Stadium (Redditch/West Brom Women). My least favourite ground of all time.  

 

Ground 92: Gresty Road (Crewe Alexandra). Visiting MK Dons were top of the league but got battered 3-1. Minimal attendance but fans were rowdy. Had a great time. Had to buy something from Homebase after a security guard spotted us parking and trying to walk over to the ground. Bought some bog roll.  

 

Ground 93: Stamford Bridge (Chelsea). I got to see Guro Reiten taking corners up close, I was happy. Also, went with Alex putting her 1+ from Wabz on my list of co-conspirators.  

 

Ground 94: Edgeley Park (Stockport). Was blown away by the crowd. Almost constant noise throughout. Wasn’t even a good game but the fans are unreal. They should have a better reputation than they do. Original chants too!  

 

Ground 95: Liberty Stadium (Swansea). Nowhere near the city centre. Swansea were crap. Morecambe fans were good though.  

 

Ground 96: Creasey Park (AFC Dunstable). A nearby alternative after Stevenage game was cancelled very, very late for a frozen pitch. Club deservedly getting pelters on Twitter. Dunstable? It was cold. The referee was late and then refused to take the line, because he wanted to referee. He was predictably awful in the second half. Little bald wanker.  

 

Ground 97: Jobserve Community Stadium (Colchester United). Definitely a football stadium in the football league.  

 

Ground 98: Salford (Moor Lane). Also a football stadium in the football league. 

 

Ground 99: Gayfield Park (Arbroath). Smokie Joe! The North Sea is like right next to the ground. 3 balls went into the sea in the first half. Arbroath stage great 3-2 comeback win over Raith.

 

Ground 100: Easter Road (Hibernian). Much bigger than I thought it was. Almost got vertigo going up to the seats. Not far from the royal palace in Edinburgh at Holyroodhouse.  

 

And we made it! Here’s to the next 100. Some grounds I’d like to knock off in the next 100: 

 

Newcastle, Brighton, Derby, Leicester, Bristol City, Exeter, Norwich, Ajax, PSG, Barcelona, Benfica, Real Sociedad, Aarhus, Anderlecht, Bologna, Roma, Spezia, more Scottish grounds, more grounds around different countries in Europe including San Marino and Gibraltar. Got to keep those goals lofty and keep reaching for the stars. 95 grounds ago I wouldn’t have dreamed that I would have already knocked off some of the crazy grounds I’ve been to. Like Luxembourg, Belgian provincial football, Schalke, AC Milan, Austin FC, Bohs, etc. It’s been a wild ride and I’ve loved almost every single second of it.  

 

Thanks to my collaborators on this journey. My dad, who took me to my first football games and my first away day. My wife Maria, who puts up with this hobby and happily joins in. She’s done 55 grounds with me. Shout out to Mike Kilby for joining in with the concept in lockdown and joining me for 22 grounds. Eddie Sideburns for driving me to games at Dundee United and Arbroath. Big Roguey for his company at the latter. Chris Linay and the Ogdens for the fantastic company at Rochdale and Stockport. Big Dohmi for joining me on a trip to Luxembourg and Belgium. STRIGGA for joining us in Germany. My American family for joining us at Wembley and in Texas. Tom and Shaz for showing me around Sutton Coldfield, repeatedly. Lewis for getting tickets to Wimbledon and then joining me at Charlton as well. Alex and Wabz for the hospitality in Cardiff. All the lads who came to the big Dulwich Hamlet get together. And my son Josh for joining me on the adventure until he moved down south. It wouldn’t have been the same without you all. Much love.