Before the 92...

Like most football fans from the south of the country I support...yes, you've guessed it - Manchester United.

Now I'm not one of those glory hunters who have never even seen the inside of Old Trafford. I have spent thousands of pounds of my own money in accumulating over 50 visits to 'The Theatre of Dreams.'

At one point I was even the very proud owner of a season ticket whilst I was still at university just a short train hop away in Huddersfield.

My reason for supporting Manchester United is simple - it's a stupid story, but it's my story and I'm sticking to it!

When I was six I knew diddly-squat about football. Nothing! Then my best friend at the time, Bradley Steptoe, pointed at one of those free Panini stickers you got in the paper that was stuck to my wardrobe and said "you should support them. They're the best." And so I did.

So since that very tender age I've followed and supported Manchester United and learnt about the beautiful game. Living so close to Southend United's Roots Hall ground has also allowed me to see the other end of the footballing spectrum as The Shrimpers have yo-yoed up and down the divisions.

Roots Hall was where I got my first taste of professional football, and what a game it was. On Saturday the 21st of March 1998 my Sunday League manager took our team to see Southend United vs Bournemouth in what was Division 2 (League 1 nowadays).

I don't remember the particulars of the game like who scored or how they scored or when they scored, all I know is that the match ended 5-3 after being 0-0 at half time. Eight goals scored in an action packed game of football. I was hooked - football then became almost my entire life.

Roots Hall was therefore #1 on the quest to 'do the 92', although I didn't know it yet.

Before my first ever 'ground-hop' I had visited six of the football league's 92 clubs so before I get into the nitty-gritty of my ground hopping adventures, here's what happened at those six grounds before it all kicked off.

#1 - Southend United - Roots Hall
March 21st 1998 - Division Two
Southend United 5 vs 3 Bournemouth
...we've been through this one already. NEXT!

#2 - Manchester United - Old Trafford
October 23rd 2001 - Champions League
Manchester United 3 vs 0 Olympiakos

Going to Old Trafford was, to me anyway, nothing but a pipe-dream. I never thought in my wildest dreams that I'd get to go and see United - I mean Manchester is so far away...especially when you're 14.

Not to worry, the mother was on the case and she spotted an ad in the local rag offering coach trips to a Champions League game at Old Trafford plus a one night stay in a hotel and tour of the ground the day after.

There were two matches on offer; one against Deportivo La Coruna and one two weeks later against Olympiakos. I instantly said Olympiakos solely based on the fact I thought we might lose to Deportivo (we did, 3-2!) so me, my Mum Anne, Dad Ian and my brother Ben all went up there for what my Mum had sold to me as a 'once in a lifetime opportunity.'

When we got there Jesus the place looked huge. We were sat right at the back of the East Stand which my Dad wasn't best pleased about - he didn't even like football anyway, if anything he hated it, but was there as the family man that he is...hmm.

Anyway, United won comfortably 3-0 and I went back to the hotel one happy 14 year old boy.

#3 Huddersfield Town - The Galpharm
October 20th 2007 - League One
Huddersfield Town 1 vs 1 Oldham Athletic

Six years on from visiting Old Trafford, I've left school, college had been and gone and I was now at University up in that there Yorkshire, Huddersfield.

The majority of Huddersfield is concentrated in their city centre. If you venture outside of that there's lots of fields and hills and more fields and hills. But on the horizon of the main city centre you can see what was then know as the Galpharm Stadium.

Students at the university were able to get tickets to any home Huddersfield Town or Huddersfield Giants rugby league game for £5 from the student union. So a few of us thought whilst we had nothing better to do on a Saturday afternoon between all the drinking and eating and sleeping and drinking, drinking, drinking, we'd pop down.

The game itself was pretty poor quality but what you'd expect from League One, and the ground is far too big for a League one side but it was a decent day out with the two sides sharing the points.

I'd end up going a few times to watch Town play over the three years at uni, including a Yorkshire derby against Leeds United. Huddersfield won that one 1-0 and what a cracking atmosphere.

#4 - Everton - Goodison Park
January 30th 2008 - Premier League
Everton 0 vs 0 Tottenham Hotspur

A couple of my mates from my first year at uni, Dan Lyne and Dave Hambidge, were huge Spurs fans. Muggings here was one of very few people at Uni who took their car so I taxied people around A LOT, but Dan and Dave said that if I took them to Goodison they'd pay for my ticket. Deal!

What can I say about the game...? Not a lot - it was pretty toilet but the Spurs fans to their credit sung away to their hearts content and although I didn't see a goal at my first ever Premier League game I was happy that I'd gone.

The away end at Goodison is a dive to be fair and (as I'll explain later in this blog) as I didn't see a goal I suppose I've got to go back. I'll probably try the home end next time.

#5 - Manchester City - The City of Manchester Stadium
October 2nd 2008 - Europa League
Manchester City 3 vs 0 Omonia Nicosia

This was a difficult one for me as a United fan, but at the time City had only just got their billions and had just signed Robinho on transfer deadline day. 

They also weren't quite the threat then as they are now to my beloved Reds, and one of my best mates at uni was a City fan so when City were offering cheap tickets for their Europa League group games Danny was desperate for a few of us to go.

Again, I drove but I used the game to help me with some uni work as I'd happened to have been given an assignment of watching a live football match and doing a match report on it earlier in the week.

So I took my pad and pen with me (I looked like a massive twat for the majority of the game - more than I normally do anyway) and scribbled away as City comfortably beat a poor Nicosia side.

I got to see Robinho play up close and personal and remember saying to myself "that guy is worth £34 million"...shame he never really lived up to that price tag at the club. Better than Fernando Torres though.

#6 - Burnley - Turf Moor
January 21st 2009 - League Cup
Burnley 3 vs 2 Tottenham Hotspur (AET)(Agg 4-6)

Another Spurs away game and another one for old muggings here to drive, and what a drive it was. The snow had hit the area pretty hard over the previous few days but was starting to clear, but then I took my low riding Peugeot up a sodding mountain because I missed the turn on my sat-nav, and UP THERE of all places is where it sent me next.

Anyway, after somehow surviving the mountainous terrain we found ourselves at Turf Moor for this Carling Cup Semi Final second leg which for a neutral, like myself and Blackpool fan Nathan who joined us, was a cracker.

Spurs had won the first leg 4-1 so they were pretty much home and hosed. Burnley had other ideas and after having knocked out Chelsea at Stamford Bridge as well as Arsenal at home in the previous rounds Burnley went for it.

The hosts won 3-0 in the 90 minutes and were fully deserving of their winning margin as Spurs were atrocious. The atmosphere was electric, but in extra time the Premier League side's superior quality and fitness told as two late goals from Roman Pavlyuchenko and Jermaine Defoe sent Spurs through to the final where they were to face Manchester United (and lose on penalties).

So, that was the before part. 

Between second and third years at Uni I worked at First Data in a job very similar to what I did before I left for uni when I worked for Lloyds TSB. There I met my mate, Richard Serowka, an Arsenal season ticket holder.

After leaving to go back to uni I kept in touch with a lot of the guys and girls I met during my three month stint there and one fateful night in August 2010, having returned from Uni and working back First Data, Richard said "do you fancy going Leyton Orient tonight?" To which I replied with, "yeah, why not?"

And that's where it all began...