It may come as a surprise to learn that the editor of Football in Berkshire has not a been to every senior ground in the county.
Worse still, there are some grounds that have been rebuilt from the ground up since my last visit.
I put the blame for this squarely at the door of my 5-year-old daughter Ellie. As much as she’s enjoyed the concrete at Reading City for the purposes of scooting and cycling, or Reading YMCA and Burghfield for adjacent play parks, it’s time to re-broaden the horizons with an attempt to watch a game at all the senior football grounds in the county.
If you don’t include groundshares and do take into account Football in Berkshire’s loose acknowledgement of the county borders, I make that 18 grounds to visit. Not insurmountable for a seasoned Groundhopper, but me? My numbers of matches attended since 20/21 according to Futbology number 14, 8, 9, 17, 19 and last season, 12.
And though those numbers include two FA Vase Finals at Wembley Stadium, Le Mans in France and Borussia Dortmund in Germany, for the editor of Football in Berkshire, it feels pitiful.
So that’s it then. The challenge. And if I get a good start, maybe it includes a few Step 7 sides I really want to get to – Newbury Town and Henley Town, plus returns to YMCA, Mortimer and Burghfield.
Maybe it includes watching EVERY senior men’s and women’s side in the County (and I’m not counting them up but it’s probably around 35 teams?) – which will naturally involve multiple visits in some cases to the same venue. For example, if I watched Ascot United, Ascot United Women and Berks County at home, that’s three trips to the Racecourse Ground.
Reality? It’s probably going to be a mix of all of that and whatever takes my fancy. But let’s go at least for 20.
Oh and I’m going to write about them all..
Here’s a few more resolutions from some of the Football in Berkshire team:
I want to play competitive football again because I saw the joy of last season with groups of lads enjoying a saturday together.
I want to make a return before I can’t anymore! Dan Walkley, Tadley Calleva supporter
I have the mygrounds app. I have 5 grounds to complete in the combined counties premier division north and I have 5 grounds to complete in the Isthmian league south central which is going to be hard with jersey on the list! Paul Smithson, Windsor & Eton supporter
My resolution is to try to get to as many local women’s games as I can over the season to give them some extra coverage. Not doing reports on psf so my first game planned is Maidenhead United on the 16th. Dave Read aka Wandering Tractor
To enjoy the football I watch for what it is, not what it’s presented as e.g. great, vital, must win, iconic, legendary, important, worldie etc. Steve Jinman, Maidenhead United supporter
Got a resolution of your own, or feeling inspired? Drop yours into the comments below.
