100 BRITISH FOOTBALL GROUNDS TO VISIT BEFORE YOU DIE
Nantwich Town are one of several thousand clubs in Great Britain who, given the opportunity, I could choose to visit in order to experience the sights and sounds of a new football ground. But on paper at least, the choice is as arbitrary as hundreds of others. As a committee member and slavish follower of Wingate & Finchley FC in the Isthmian League, opportunities to indulge in random ground visits are rare.
Recently, I read an article about Nantwich Town of the Northern Premier League. A photo of their neat main stand drew me in, to the point where I found myself thinking, “I wouldn’t mind going there to watch a match”. In itself, this is a fairly unspectacular anecdote, were it not for the epiphany it inadvertently gave me.
Even if I were a dedicated
traveller, there would never be enough time to visit the several thousand
grounds that constitute our football landscape. As such, one sometimes has to
be more selective. And here is where the epiphany kicked in. What if there
were a bucket list, a holy grail if you like, of the top 100 British grounds to
visit before you die? Who would be on it? Why would they be on it? And then it
occurred to me: why not find out and write a book about it?Hopefully, this wide ranging passion for the game will provide a wide ranging selection of responses; whilst there is much to be said for grand old stadiums with electrically charged atmospheres, there is equal merit in the tumbledown ground set at the foot of a mountain range.
It is this eclectic mix of venues
that makes our football heritage so rich and rewarding, something the book
will ultimately aim to capture in all its glory. So this is very much where I
hand over to you, the person reading this article. In an attempt to try and
bring this altogether, I am asking fans to nominate up to five of
their favourite British grounds visited. They do not need to be submitted in
order of preference, as each ground submitted will receive one vote. However,
each vote should be accompanied by a brief explanation. Not only does
this give the nomination credibility, but it allows the book to reference those
who have actually visited the grounds.
You can nominate any existing
ground at any level of the football pyramid in England, Wales or Scotland.
In terms of individual selection criteria, this is fairly open. It could be
anything from architecture, location, atmosphere, historical significance, the
warmth of welcome or quality of food. Selections that are too partisan should
probably be avoided. For example, ‘because they’re my club’ or ‘because we won
the league there’ don’t really constitute solid enough justification for entry.
After this point, I will
tally up the entries, and then set about visiting the top 100 grounds with
my camera and notebook as nominated by you good people. The final
format of the book is yet to be decided, but I will aim to provide colour
photos, directions, a brief history and a personal review for each ground
that makes the final cut.
As a footnote, I should
stress that no such list will ever be definitive.
Votes can be submitted by emailing 100groundsproject@gmail.com
Closing date for entries will be December 1st 2013 (though this may
be pushed back depending on work commitments nearer the time).
If you poll two different sample
pools at two different points in time you are likely to get two different
outcomes. But then this isn’t a referendum on the laws of the game or a thesis
on financial governance. First and foremost, this is supposed to be a bit of
fun. And if it introduces fans to grounds or clubs they were hitherto unaware
of, it can only be a good thing.
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