BUCKET LIST - STAPENHILL OR BUST (PART ONE)

Eagle-eyed observers among you may have noticed that this: long-winded, self-indulgent, bullshit blog, with added football content; has a sidebar (over to the right of the page) that contains a 'Forthcoming Fixtures 2019-20' column, where I would usually be plotting my future travel plans (you don't say... Captain Obvious!) for the remainder of the currently furloughed campaign.

It's a feature that was rendered null, void and surplus to requirements, when the multiplicity of the options therein, that encompassed international matches and domestic games alike, covering a vastly-ranging and far-reaching spectrum, that weaved and dribbled in a maze-like fashion through a deep through of options and a plethora of incarnations of the beautiful game, that spanned from the top flight through to grassroots County Senior League games; were all postponed until further notice, when the game of Association Football, in keeping with the rest of the majority population of planet earth, was thrust headlong into limbo-land.

Sadly we'd already had to cancel planned 'sightseeing' trips to Austria (AKA: FK Austria Wien), Belgium (AKA: both Royal Antwerp and KV Mechelen), Poland (AKA: RTS Widzew Łódź) and Wembley Stadium twice (England v Italy and Denmark) this season, along with the Scottish Groundhop event that was scheduled for a few weeks ago, in the Lothian and Borders region, but mostly in the satellite towns and villages that are potted around the fringes of Edinburgh; because of my wife's serious ongoing medical condition and the lengthy treatment that it has entailed.

There have inevitably, under the circumstances, been far greater worries and burdens to concern ourselves about than merely missing a few games of football and forgoing our previously booked jaunts across an array of European cities... besides, who needs to experience that kind of of culture anyway, when we've got a massive sofa, Netflix, a complete set of Father Ted DVDs and a music library that would even make the late, great John Peel, blush enviously at the immense proportions, quality of content and girth thereof?

Mrs W is most definitely on the very long and very slow road back to recovery now, but while we were already having to resort to going into isolation (ever the trendsetters, eh!?) even before it became fashionable and mandatory for the rest of you to all join in with the lock-down, the multitude of games that those plans encompassed, without exception, were subject to cancellation anyway... as was the concept of travelling very far any time soon, apart from our regular 'days out' to attend various hospital facilities in Doncaster, Sheffield and Worksop for hours on end... for the record, those aforementioned medical facilities are presently like Fort Knox security wise on the wards treating vulnerable and high risk patients... and so they bloody well should be.

Incidentally, FYI: as the regards the aforementioned extremely popular Anglo/Scottish annual cross-border raiding party into Caledonian territories, the organisers are hoping that the event will still be going ahead in due course, at a later date... and you should check the Groundhop UK website for further details, once they have been confirmed.
If you wish to book with them, say that THE66POW blog pointed you in their direction and you might get a pound or two off of the cost of your first booking with them, or something.
And I know how much an 'owt for nowt' deal would appeal to a great many of you.

As regards blogging about football (or the ongoing lack of any) in the current climate; I hope that rabbiting on at length about the beautiful game, doesn't come across in any way as me trivialising or being blasé about more pertinent and serious topics of discussion. But, suffice to say, if the politicians (of all persuasions) are all merely speculating and second-guessing about the spread of Covid-19, then I'm certainly in no position to make any informed or enlightened comment on such matters, or offer any rational solutions. Plenty of other people have attempted to inflict their polemic and hideously biased narrative upon us all, via social media channels, but, for the most part, they have merely come across as displaying narcissist tendencies and attention seeking character weaknesses... while spouting a right load of old toss too.

In the main, THE66POW is a football blog... and to that end I know my own limitations regarding my lack of knowledge pertaining to my chosen subject matter, and as a consequence, I stick to espousing about the things that I know (a bit) about, while side-stepping anything I don't.
I'm an enthusiast, supporter and to a far greater extent an obsessive fanatic, but I'm not an expert... not by any stretch of the imagination.
Anyway, moving swiftly on: to quote Dame Vera Lynn, who is still going strong at a ripe-old 103 years of age (so she obviously knows a bit about this longevity stuff): "We'll meet again, don't know where don't know when".

Although nobody actually knows when football is going to resume, either as a spectator sport, or as a behind closed doors variant of the game, of which the latter option, to my way of thinking, would be highly dangerous for the participants anyway, namely: players, coaching and medical staff and the all important match officials, when you've got two teams tearing about a field, not adhering to social distancing measures and guidelines. Unless of course they're going to mark a grid of squares out on the pitch for individual players to stand in and stay inside, while banning tackling and giving everyone their own individual sanitised ball to play with too. 

But, notwithstanding all of the above: I'm still going to have a stab at planning ahead/guesstimating a rough draft towards pencilling in a bucket list, of teams/grounds that I intend to visit, whenever the earliest possible opportunity presents itself, in preparation for when life ever gets back to normal, whatever that particular word might entail.
I am of course only assuming that things will get better and return to some resembling what we knew before, in the long run, while taking on board the irrefutable fact, that we are probably on course for a much lengthier wait towards a solution than a lot of people seem to be predicting.
But, even though we're still all flummoxed and in the dark as to when we'll all be out and about again, I've got at least a vague idea as to where I'm most likely going to be venturing when we reach a suitable time to hatch an exit strategy... eventually.

And besides, writing reams and reams of pointless crap prose, that barely a few thousand people (on a good week) will ever read anyway, pertaining to hypothetical scenarios; represents a healthy form of catharticism and distraction.for me personally and an insomnia busting solution for my regular reader base, because surely to God, you're all stupefied with terminal boredom and beginning to nod off by now. I do have my uses after all.
But, leaving all of that psych-babble stuff aside (for now), without further ado...

MY BUCKET LIST:

Part one of my list covers English Premier League and Football League teams grounds.

If truth be told, nobody really knows how many clubs will fall by the wayside during the interim, or what kind of reorganisation will be required over yonder on t'other side of the worldwide pandemic to offset any casualties, or even how many competitions or divisions there are still likely to be at any given level of the game.

A fairly morbid projection you might think, but sadly, it is also a very realistic one.

There are already teams who were teetering on the brink, before the chaos ensued. 

My favourite Anglo/Polish team: United Worksop, disbanded only last week, I wouldn't have thought that by any stretch of the imagination that they'll be the only team that vanishes from the football landscape forever any time soon.

Number-crunching and ticking all of the boxes was never my thing, but it is a bridge that I'm going to have to cross when I get around to visiting the first three destination on my list.

Brighton & Hove Albion:
Amex Stadium
I'd arranged to go here in April of this year, which would've meant that I'd visited every ground in the top four divisions (again) and by virtue of watching Birmingham City's 'away' game at St. Andrew's against Coventry City in the FA Cup back in January, I would also have seen all of the top 91 clubs in this country play at their current home (or shared) ground.
I wonder if the number of clubs competing within the upper echelons of football will be restored to 92 whenever, or however the game resumes and if they'll still be divided into four divisions.
Who knows? Maybe there is a genuine opportunity for some forward-thinking restructuring amidst all of the ensuing chaos, that could prove beneficial to clubs at all levels of the game. Just saying.

Slade (away) at the Goldstone Ground

Previously I've seen Brighton play at the Goldstone Ground, Gillingham FC's Priestfield Stadium (where the 'Seagulls' ground-shared for two seasons, despite the fact that it is in Kent and approximately 70 miles away from their home city) and the Withdean Stadium, that was in actual fact an athletics ground and to my way of thinking, wasn't really very suitable as a football venue, but needs must.
As for the Seagulls current ground, even though it is hardly a new one, having been opened a whole decade ago, I've just never got around to going there yet... so it's my own daft fault that I am going to have to bite the bullet as regards Premier League ticketing prices when I tick this one off.

AFC Wimbledon
New Plough Lane (opening?)
As of the beginning of March, AFC Wimbledon announced on their website: "Our new home is really taking shape and we're well on course for our emotional return to Plough Lane next season".
Having hit financial snags, the Dons have implemented a bond scheme whereby supporters are investing money to finish the development project, whereby the new facility is being built on the site of the defunct former Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium, which stands just over 200 yards away from the old Wimbledon FC ground on Plough Lane.

22.4.11 AFC Wimbledon v Mqansfield Town

Previously I have watched AFC Wimbledon in action at at Kingsmeadow, which they were sharing with Kingstonian FC at the time... I've also seen Kingstonian play there too... they don't anymore, but that is another story for another time..
I saw the original Wimbledon FC play home games at Plough Lane and Selhurst Park. In actual fact, the morning I got married on, was a Friday... so that me and the missus could travel to Wimbledon for an away game the following day... she knew what she was letting herself in for!

Brentford
Brentford Community Stadium (opening 2020)
Griffin Park was a delightful old ground, I've been there numerous times, going right back to the days when the away end was an open terrace without a roof.
Whilst visiting Queens Park Rangers at the end of February, I made a diversion en route to Loftus Road, to check out the Bees new 'work in progress' ground, that they will be sharing with the London Irish Rugby Club. It stands very close to Kew Bridge Railway Station (South Western Railway) on Lionel Road.
Note* Kew Gardens station (District Line underground, North London Railways overground) is approximately two miles to the south of the Stadium and on t'other side of the River Thames.

The new ground is approximately a mile to the east of Griffin Park.

On the day that I called by, the project looked to be running on schedule for the anticpated official opening at the start of the 1920-21 season. But obviously circumstances beyond everyone's control, may have disrupted building work in the meantime and it's anybodies guess when football will be played in Brentford again... so the outcome to that particular conundrum still remains to be seen.
If any of the EFL suits are tuning in to this broadcast, might I suggest that you arrange fixtures at these two new London grounds to be played at staggered kick-off times on the same day, or on consecutive dates, so that sad anoraks like me can take advantage of such a sensible arrangement. Hmm, I doubt it will happen, but it does no harm to ask.

That's my shortlist of Premier League and Football League grounds covered... unless there are some interesting new additions drafted into the top four divisions any time soon.
Part two of this blog entry, that will encompass my bucket list of Non League grounds. will appear presently.
But hey! What the hell!?
Deadlines and editorial time limitations are things that proper writers adhere to... and nobody has ever accuse me of being even anything like one of those.
To be continued, in due course.