Football Fans Who Have Visited All 92 Football League Grounds

Age: 48

Team Supported: Preston North End

First League Ground Visited & When:
Highbury on Saturday 6 April 1974, standing on the North Bank to see a 0-0 draw with West Ham United in the old 1st Division in front of 37,868. I was so transfixed from the moment I left the underground station that I cannot recall the atmosphere, the standard of the game or even the strip West Ham United played in. What I do recall is that I only gazed in trance and admiration at Charlie George, wherever he went.

Last Ground Visited to complete the 92:
Boundary Park, Oldham, to see the home side beat Chesterfield 4-0 in front of 6,885 in the company of three Dutch friends and Duncan, the webmaster of this site, who had all already completed the 92. The first time I set my eyes on Boundary Park, April 1992, I knew I wanted to finish there, just hoping the ground wouldn't change over the years. Fortunately, it didn't.

Date Completed: Saturday 19 April 2003 at Boundary Park, Oldham Athletic

How Long Has It Taken You To Visit All 92?
Twenty nine years. I seriously started the quest in 1992, only having visited Highbury, White Hart Lane and Loftus Road between 1974 and 1992 on a couple of occasions.

Best Ground visited (& why).
It has got to be Deepdale before redevelopment because it encapsulated everything I love about British football grounds. Terracing on all four sides, barrel roofs, a main stand with a wooden interior and a paddock, pillars obstructing the view, mural paintings summing up the club's history in the Pavillion Stand, tasteless pies, the smell of oxo, a pre-match pitch meeting with the legendary Sir Tom Finney and Whitney Houston's 'I will always love you' over the tannoy when leaving the ground. Very, very impressive.

Poorest Ground Visited:
The old Wembley, an oval concrete dump, overrated by sentiments after a fluke appearance in 1966. And Anfield, because it didn't live up to the expectation. A plain, ordinary and dull ground without character.

Best experience on your travels:
There is no specific experience that tops the rest. Some experiences may have been the best in their own category. Meeting Sir Tom Finney on the pitch and the atmosphere at Ibrox for the old firm were impressive. Preston North End walking out at Wembley, a minute silence at Anfield to commemorate Hillsborough and Brighton's last home game at The Goldstone were emotional.

Some were funny, and some were frightening. The first images of English football of a continental brought up in the Sixties and Seventies are black and white footages of The Kop or any other huge terrace. As an adolescent one could only try to imagine the thrill of what it must have been like on a absolutely jam-packed terrace, your feet not touching the ground, people pushing up to the front with every goalmouth action and having to pee through a paper. I had always craved to be part of it one day. On Boxing Day 1992 I visited Derby County-Portsmouth and stood in the mid-section of the Co-Op stand at the Baseball Ground. One hour before kick-off little did I realise what was in store for me. By 3pm my dream had turned into a nightmare. Thousands were boxed and cramped in to what looked like a cage to me. I do not have to tell you about Hillsborough but the scene felt the same to me. So there I was, hardly able to move or breath, my feet barely touching the terrace, swaying up and down to the back and the front. But the worst was yet to come. When Derby County scored the section I was in literally exploded. After the celebrations I found myself twelve steps lower, in the process losing the scarf and even the gloves I was wearing. To be quite honest, I was absolutely petrified. At halftime I managed to squeeze out and was transferred to a seat opposite main stand. Looking back, how horrifying it may have been, strangely enough I now consider it to be one of the best experiences on my travels.

Worst experience on your travels:
You know about English stereotypes. There's only puffters in Brighton, cider is for sissies, Burnley are inbred, Welshmen live in a caravan, the Glossop area is were men are men and sheep are frightened and Liverpudlians are pickpockets. None of these stereotypes are true of course, except for one. My wallet, including passport, driver's licence, money and a match ticket, were stolen outside Goodison Park in Liverpool before a game in 2000. Since I had a visa-voucher confirming my booking I could point out to the police were I should have been sat. The guy in my seat was arrested for buying my ticket on the black market.

Funniest experience on your travels:
I was the only person sat in the front row, opposite main stand, at Moss Rose for Macclesfield Town-Rochdale on 14 April 2001. I wasn't exactly expecting Brazil vs Argentina so I had comfortably installed myself with a match programme, a sports paper, my ears phoned to the radio on the seat to my left, some ham sandwiches and a flask on the seat to my right. Some twenty minutes into the first half, two players got involved in a fiercesome tackle, the ball as a result hitting the concealed valve of the sprinkler system near the touchline and thus unintentionally activating it. Within a flash of a second I was completely drenched. My friends behind me on the second row not even felt a drop as of the beam of water was aimed exclusively at me!

Another funny experience was the hostile encounter on the pitch at half time at The Vetch Field between Cyril the Swan and Millwall's lion on 11 February 2001. The crowd went into raptures!

Most Goals Seen In One Match:
Eight on three occasions. Nottingham Forest beat Doncaster Rovers 0-8 at Belle Vue in the League Cup, 1st round, first leg on 11 August 1997, Brighton & Hove Albion demolished Torquay United 6-2 at The Withdean on 2 September 2000 and finally Everton were on the receiving end of a 6-2 defeat at St James' Park on 29 March 2002.

Best Match Seen:
Not the best but the most exciting match has got to be Carlisle United vs Plymouth Argyle on 8 May 1999 when goalkeeper Jimmy Glass scored a 95th minute winner to keep Carlisle United in the League.

Best Goal Seen:

Sean Gregan for Preston North End at Carrow Road on 17 March 2001, scoring from his own half with a brilliant lob in the second half.

Best Player Seen: Ginola.

Stupidest Chant Heard:
Stupid but very funny: 'Robin Hood is gay, ol�, ol�'. Sung by Feyenoord supporters at Nottingham Forest during a pre-season friendly.

Any tips for those attempting to visit the 92?
Although travelling from the continent, completing the 92 these days isn't is hard as it must have been during the non-television days with 3pm kick-offs on Saturday afternoons. The shuttle leaves Calais for Folkestone every twenty minutes, the one-day trip fares are cheap, the motorway network is excellent and kick-offs are no longer restricted to afternoons or one weekday only.

One-day triples are favourite among travellers from the continent. One example is Preston North End-Manchester City at noon, Bury-Bradford at 3pm and Newcastle-Spurs at 7.45pm. All played on 5 April 1999.