Name: Jon Stredwick
Age:
53
Team Supported:
Southampton,
although I started with Tottenham Hotspur from 1960-1969, plus Bristol City and
Bristol Rovers while at University there from 1966-1969.
First League Ground Visited & When:
White Hart
Lane, December 31, 1960. Tottenham 5 (Smith 42 73, Allen 56 68, Blanchflower 58)
Blackburn Rovers 2 (Douglas 13, Dobing 75).
Last Ground Visited to complete
the 92:
Brunton
Park, Carlisle United
Date Completed:
February 3rd 2001
How Long Has It Taken You
To Visit All 92?
41 years. This is mainly
because I never intended to do it, but having had the opportunity to visit a
number of grounds while travelling on business, I finally put my mind to
completing the 92 about 3 years ago, when I had done over 60.
Best Ground visited (& why).
I suppose St
Mary's is right up there. Otherwise the Stadium of Light and Parkhead are pretty
impressive (or the Nou Camp if you count foreign grounds). Actually I still like
the "old style grounds" rather than the new stadia, and White Hart
Lane of the 60's still holds many good memories, along with standing on the
Stamford Bridge terraces in a crowd of 70,123 for a Cup replay with Spurs in
1964.
Poorest Ground Visited:
I don't know how to choose between Bloomfield Road (pity because I quite like Blackpool) and Bootham Crescent, which were both falling apart on my visits.
Best experience on your travels:
In terms of the 92 grounds, either Hillsborough on April 29, 1967 when Tottenham beat Forest 2-1 to get to the Cup Final, or Brisbane Road on April 25, 1978 when Southampton drew 1-1 with Orient to gain promotion to the 1st (i.e. top) division (still clinging on after 23 years). However, without doubt the best experience was Wembley, May 1st 1976, Southampton 1 (Stokes 82) Manchester United 0.
Worst experience on your travels:
Getting to Valley Parade to see Bradford City v Huddersfield Town, only to find it was all ticket. Watched a few minutes from a nearby hill, then went to Halifax for the second half of their match with Cardiff. Don't worry, I have actually seen a complete match at the Shay - last season against York! Nearly repeated this at Sixfields for Northampton v Reading, but managed to scrounge a ticket from a fan whose mate didn't turn up. The other thing which always causes me a problem is if I can't get a programme at the time due to them being sold out - or not having enough money as once happened at Anfield when I was an impoverished student in 1967. I always manage to get one in the end (I have one for each of the 950 or so matches I have seen), but find it hard to concentrate on the match if I don't have one at the time.
Funniest experience on your travels:
Some people might find my worst experiences funny, but I can't think of anything that particularly cracked me up. Although I do remember standing (those were the days) on Arsenal's North Bank, as a Tottenham supporter, wearing my Spurs scarf, and cheering the opposition (it was Bolton Wanderers) on to victory. Seemed funny at the time (1962), but seems suicidal now.
Most Goals Seen In One Match:
11 Tottenham 7 Wolves 4 - March 27, 1965. It still bugs me though that I never went to see Tottenham 13 Crewe 2 in a Cup replay in 1962.
Best Goal Seen:
Jimmy
Greaves in Tottenham's 5-1 annihilation of Manchester United on October 16,
1965. However, I have to admit that several from Matthew Le Tissier for
Southampton have come close, none more so that one of his two against Newcastle
on October 24, 1993. I guess that in my 40+ years of watching football, I have
been very lucky in being able to watch the best goal scorer (Greaves) and the
most skillful player (Le Tissier). Both have been cast, understandably, as lazy,
not team players, etc., but those two have given me more enjoyment than all the
other players put together.
Stupidest Chant
Heard:
"We're
going to score in a minute" - Southampton never do! Closely followed by
"You couldn't score in a brothel" - they always do! As I've learned
over the years of watching Southampton, it's best never to shout about how
you're going to win unless either you are 4 goals to the good (even they haven't
thrown that big a lead away) or the final whistle has just gone.
Any
tips for those attending to visit the 92?
Get a company car along with free petrol. It helped me!
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