
Deepdale. The name has a romantic ring to it. Somehow reminiscent of Rivendell from Lord of the Rings. Home of Preston North End since 1875 (although admittedly the first years as a cricket and after that a rugby club), the…
On Tuesday 10th May, West Ham United played their last ever league match at the Boleyn Ground by Upton Park. Next season they will move to the Olympic Stadium. I didn’t go to that match. But I went four weeks…
I must admit that I didn’t really have any great expectations, when I made the trip to Kent’s only football league club, Gillingham. But being in London on work, I found out that there were two matches on this Tuesday…
I went to my first match at Ewood Park the day after visiting Carlisle United’s Brunton Park. Comparing the two grounds, you really get a sense of how dramatically English football was transformed around 1990 in the aftermath of Hillsborough.…
When I started following English football, West Bromwich Albion were in the second division. Although they were promoted to the top-tier of English football in 1976, there have been a few ups and downs since then, and they have somehow…
In his book on English football grounds, Simon Inglis describes Brunton Park in Carlisle as “A frontier post guarded only by sheep”. From the main stand, I can, indeed, to my left see sheep grassing on the other side of…
Having visited Bristol Rovers, a “homeless” team on the Tuesday, I moved on to something almost just as extraordinary. Exeter City, a club saved, owned and run by a supporters’ trust. The story of the supporters’ take-over is quite remarkable.…
Telling people of my groundhopping project, many have adviced me to go to Boundary Park in Oldham. So being in Manchester on Good Friday, it was the obvious choice. Although some of the gloss was taken off my trip, as…
The magic roundabout. One roundabout consisting of five roundabouts. That was what swayed me to prefer the longer trip to Swindon rather than the shorter one to Reading on a dark November evening. And to get the roundabout out of…
Saturday morning in London. I come across hundreds of Arsenal supporters in their red “Emirates” shirts, on their way to an early kick-off against Manchester City. Finally, at Sct. Pancras, I also spot an orange “Easy Jet” Luton shirt. And…