Part-Time Groundhopper

Groundhopping, and embracing my inner geekiness

Some people watch a lot of live football, and I mean a lot. One lad, who I’m sure many of you who are on Twitter will know of, has recently visited his 1000^th ground. He goes to football games at least 4 days a week, and quite often, it’s more like 5 or 6 days. He will think nothing of travelling 200 miles to watch a pre-season friendly just to get a new tick (a tick is groundhopper slang for visiting a new ground). And there are many others similar, who will go to multiple games a week, whose whole life revolves around watching football.

There is a little bit of jealousy there for me, although it is only a little bit – I am quite happy to switch off from football at times, and were my circumstances at home different to what they are now (young child, wife who hates football), I still don’t think I’d be driving around the north west to a different game every Tuesday and Wednesday night.

But there is something massively appealing to me about ticking off new grounds, as those who know me well will attest to. Having some OCD tendencies, I love a good list, and being able to cross things off it. My wife will be giving it the biggest eye roll as she reads this, but ‘for better or for worse’ and all that malarkey that she signed up for 8 years ago.

My Futbology profile - feel free to add me as a friend

My absolute favourite apps on my phone are Futbology (more on that very shortly), and Untappd, which is for ticking off beers that you’ve had, and rating them. I always seek out a beer I’ve not had before, and I’m only a little ashamed to say that at the time of writing, I’ve checked in 2,547 different ones. I got a mate onto Untappd a few years ago after he told me that he and his best mate had a spreadsheet to do likewise. He got on the app and still uses it to this day, but being so set in their ways, the pair of them still keep up the spreadsheet as well!

Untappd profile…I’ll get far fewer friend requests here I’m sure

I’ve got apps as well for keeping track of where I’m up to in a TV boxset, and which books I’ve read and how much I’ve read of them. Arguably these two are more to assist with my fading memory, but it definitely opens a window into my world.

Futbology then, for those unaware, is for ‘checking in’ at football games and grounds you attend. It is the handy companion to many a fan, with the ability to search ‘games near me’, at all levels of the football pyramid, all over the world. For example, I go to Rome in a few weeks, and I can see there are 2 Serie D games within a 30km radius the day of arrival. Fat chance though, the trip is my wife’s birthday present. But I’m on a 2 day training course in the West Midlands in November, and I’ve already got my eye on a Southern League game or 2 (Steps 7 and 8).

The app tells me that I’ve checked in at 607 games, that I’ve visited 97 stadiums, and that I’m the 136^th ‘best’ United fan on there. “You’ll never sing that.”

But my actual number of games will be considerably higher; there are so many United and Rochdale games that I just can’t remember whether I was there or not. And of course I can’t check in to a game if I’m not absolutely certain I attended. So there are probably a good couple of hundred games that should be on my list. Yes, it’s a massive bugbear of mine, and yes, it bothers me regularly. Every now and then I’ll see a highlight of a past game on social media, a particular goal, or a sending off perhaps, which will jog my memory. So I’ll go straight to Futbology…and find it’s already on my list. Damn. But on the odd occasion it won’t be, and I’ll move up a place or two in the United rankings.

To this end, my 2 year old son already has a Futbology profile, and he has done 19 matches at 16 grounds. He’s Prestwich Heys’ 112^th best fan. I know you’re all thinking it, Dad of the Year award incoming.

I’m yet to complete a league, annoyingly. I’ve been as high as 18/20 in the Premier League before, but currently sit on a measly 15 due to a couple of new grounds, and the current difficulties in getting United away tickets. I’d say I’ll likely complete the North West Counties Premier first, but that will mean a trip over to the Isle of Man at some point. Maybe that should have been my wife’s birthday present.

My first priority though is to complete ‘the 31’. Everyone will know what I’m talking about here of course – the 31 non-league grounds in Greater Manchester at Steps 1-6. I’d done 8 of them at the point of starting my Twitter page, but I’m now up to 24, and there’s a hope I’ll get the remaining 7 done this season. One lad I’ve got to know through my page has recently obtained the ‘GM Non-League badge’, and another lad has it as a goal as well. Maybe I should ask Futbology to actually create it as a badge!

But what comes after I’ve got that badge? Do I focus solely on the NWC Premier? Do I look more generally at the leagues that the GM sides play in? Or maybe I focus on the 92 (the 92 Premier League and Football League grounds – I’m on 42 currently). These are the burning questions!

My Futbology check in map - from New England to Bucharest, and plenty in between

I’ve not made much progress with the 92 in recent years, largely because of my non-league affiliation, but it’s still definitely on my radar. I was desperate therefore to get a ticket for United’s recent ill-fated trip to Grimsby – another tick in a place I’m not otherwise likely to visit. And it’s not like United play there regularly, it being 77 years since they last visited Blundell Park. I was unsuccessful in the ballot, as I am most of the time, but fortunately a mate offered me his ticket the day before the game, as something had come up for him. Through the turnstile then on that Wednesday night, I made sure to check in on Futbology straight away, and well, I don’t need to tell you how the rest of the night went.

Will I ever complete the 92? Maybe, one day. But there’s all the local leagues too as I say. And because I’m showing on Futbology as having done 20% of La Liga, 6.25% of the Serbian Superliga, 6.66% of the Welsh Ardal North West Division, there’s those to do as well. Obviously. And...love, where are you going? What’s that suitcase for? Staying with your parents? Love...love...