25 Years of International Groundhopping: My Highlights and Observations

The Futbology App kindly reminded me recently that it was 25 years since I was sitting in the gods at the Estadio Bernabéu watching Real Madrid thrash Celta de Vigo 4-0 in early 1997. The third-tier seat had cost me just 2,000 pesetas (£10 / €12) and the first goal that day – scored at my end – was a Roberto Carlos freekick from 30 metres out. I was spoiled.

The old boy next to me grabbed my arm with quite a firm grip and shouted in my ear: “¡Es el mejor en el mundo, El MEJOR EN EL MUNDO!” (He’s the best in the world, the best in the world). As a student in Madrid at the time, it was the start of a long love affair with Spanish football, so wildly different from the comparatively muted experience at grounds in England that I frequented, such as Loftus Road, or the old Goldstone in Brighton.

It was exotic, exciting, exuberant. I loved the different noises fans made in Spain – the ‘uuuyyyy’ sound as the ball whistled past the post, or the deep guttural ‘¡goooooool!’ as the ultras in the fondos (stands behind the goals) rushed to the front after their team scored. I loved the crackle of pipas (sunflower seeds) on the floor under my feet as we left the ground, even the smell of cigar smoke blustering around on the wind.

So, a quarter of a century on from that first international groundhopping experience (although I had been attending matches across England for ten years before that), here are some highlights and observations.

Personal groundhopping highlights

Aside from seeing a trademark Roberto Carlos freekick live at my end, other standouts include:

100,000 crowd at the Bernabéu? 

I don’t know if I quite imagined this attendance, but a Saturday night (22:00 kick-off!) Madrid-Betis game was packed for this ’96-97 title run-in crunch match. I can’t find the attendance online, but it cost me 1,000ptas (£5/€6.50) to stand on the only (then) uncovered part of the ground. The concrete shook as the crowd jumped up and down. It was slightly disconcerting, as was the horse-back police charge on the ultras post-match, but an incredible experience. The match finished 2-2. 

Madrid won the league that year and we went to Plaza de Cibeles, the square where Madridistas gather to celebrate their trophies, to witness proceedings. The Metro was jumping, and I remember the faces on the shocked (presumed American) students’ faces on the platform. Epic.

Near-empty Centenario

Back in the pre-decent internet era (2000), I headed to South America for a couple of weeks to ‘get it out of my system’. I pretty much lived on a bus and managed to time my run so badly that I was in Buenos Aires when there were no games on. Luckily, by the time I got to Montevideo, Uruguay, there was. And not just any old stadium; I was off to Nacional verses Corinthians in a Copa Mercosur match at the Estadio Centenario, built for the first World Cup in 1930. I am a big fan of an art deco stadium, and the Centenario is right up there. 

I thought to myself “this is a huge fixture with two of South America’s biggest sides – I had better get to the ground early to guarantee my spot and savour the build-up.” I got there an hour before kick-off, heard the same ads on loop about 30 times, and then by the time the match got going there were maybe 10,000 in the ground? It was freezing, but largely empty apart from a pocket of Nacional fans. I sat under the famous tower but – pre-camera phone era – I have no photos. The match finished 1-1.

Brescia tifo

Football under the lights is always better, in my opinion. Friday night in Serie B on a temporary stand in Brescia, I got to witness one of the best pre-match tifos I have seen. It was like a hellscape. Good town too, Brescia. 

Last minute winner… 

As a lapsed Queens Park Rangers supporter, my standout memory will always be Bobby Zamora’s injury-time winner for Rs against Derby County in the 2013-14 season Championship play-off final at Wembley. Derby had been on top all game and were very unlucky. One defensive error opened to door for Zamora’s volley and – being in the same line of sight as the TV camera – I remember it exactly as you’ll see it here. Cue pandemonium!

Chilean fans are the best national team fans

I went to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and based myself in Rio de Janeiro for ten days. I caught three matches at the Maracanã, the second of which saw Chile eliminated then-champions Spain at the group stage. Being relatively close to Chile, thousands of Chileans had travelled to Rio de Janeiro and more or less occupied Ipanema and Copacabana beaches in the days leading up to the game.

They were friendly and in high spirits throughout and a few desperate ticketless fans tried to break into the ground, I recall. I was sat among them all and, stupidly, had worn my bright yellow bull t-shirt indicating my support for Spain. To a man and woman, they belted out their national anthem, some bursting into tears as they did. I’ve never known national fans so friendly and patriotic – in a good way. ¡Chi-Chi-Chi, Le-Le-Le, Viva Chile!

Personal groundhopping lowlights…

A quarter-full San Siro in the rain

I did a little weekend groundhop in north-west Italy in 2015, taking in Genoa-Lazio on the Saturday and Milan-Udinese on the Sunday. However, Milan in February was very cold and very wet. I was drenched by the time I got to San Siro. It was my first time at the iconic ground, so it was a huge comedown to see just around 24,000 people in an 80,000-plus-capacity stadium. On the plus side, I did take my favourite stadium shot of all time…(see top of post)

Hungarian ultras at Euro 2016

Off the pitch, Euro 2016 in France was pretty awful. Some England fans reverted to type and behaved like utter morons…again. Meanwhile, some organised ultras from Eastern Europe also managed to announce themselves in a negative way. So it was when a fellow groundhopper and I went to Stade de Lyon for what turned out to be game of the tournament between Portugal and Hungary. We were at one end with a mixed group of the public, mostly local, I recall, when the Hungarian ultras all streamed in en masse shortly before kick-off with their black t-shirts on, tore down other people’s flags and just stood in front of us all as we sat. We did what I guess they wanted us to do, which was to move on. 

We went over to the Portuguese end and hung there instead. For me, the Portuguese are the best people in Europe, in my experience. So friendly and helpful. On the plus side, we saw Cristiano Ronaldo’s backheeled goal and a 3-3 classic.

Pre-match trouble in Hamburg

As someone who naturally gravitates towards warmer climes, I was a relative latecomer to German football. But once I was in, I was hooked! However, it didn’t start so well. My first Bundesliga match was a Nordderby (North Derby) between Hamburger SV and Werder Bremen. As soon as I entered the ground these kids in hoodies started chucking stuff at the visiting fans and were chased off by the Polizei. Willkommen! 

It’s interesting, having watched hundreds of matches in England since 1986-87 season, that I’ve always been told abroad that the English are ‘hooligans’, and while I don’t deny that trouble exists, I have only ever seen one punch thrown (and miss) at a football match in England. And that was in 1993. I have witnessed full-on clashes in Germany, Spain and even Australia, where second-generation Italians and Croatians had a set-to when those national teams met at the 2002 World Cup.

The Stadio Delle Alpi

My first match in Italy back in 2003 was a huge disappointment. The Stadio Delle Alpi was built for the 1990 World Cup, but only stood for around 16 years. I hated it so much I blogged about the experience for The Gentleman Ultra. One standout from that game was that I saw Beppe Signori score one of his famous one-step penalty for Bologna. I didn’t go to another game in Italy for a decade.

Other standouts from 25 years of international groundhopping

Most surreal moment…

Probably meeting Ramon Vega at Glasgow Airport. I congratulated him on his performance for Celtic and he thanked me and asked if I enjoyed the game (an Old Firm match). True gent. Also, seeing Alessandro Del Piero play and score for Sydney FC just felt a bit weird. He was so much better than everyone else on the pitch, deep into his thirties.

Best player live…

I’ve seen both Cristiano Ronaldo (see above) and Messi score blinders for their respective national sides but being a regular in the top tier at the Bernabéu made me truly appreciate Clarence Seedorf. That guy could spray the ball around a park at will. 

Presence-wise, Thierry Henry seemed superhuman, seeing him up close from the touchline.

Best old grounds

I’m glad that Fulham’s Craven Cottage is here to stay. It’s the first ground I recommend groundhoppers visiting London go to. England and Scotland are both great for old school grounds. Yes, we’ve lost Griffin Park recently and others further back, but get along to Fratton Park, Portsmouth, or Villa Park, for example, where you can still feel the olden days.

Scenic grounds

I was blown away by the setting at Belenenses, west of Lisbon. The club has split in two since I went, but O Restelo, Belém, is still the home of the original club. It’s a modern athletics stadium but set on a hill looking over the Tagus estuary and a monastery that’s a World Heritage site.

The famous Maksimir Stadium, home of Dinamo Zagreb, is also opposite a lovely park.

Nicest trophy room

All of Parma’s major trophies were won over the space of 12 years in the 1990s and early 2000s, and there’s a lovely little room dedicated to the club’s success at the Ennio Tardini. A good way to spend 20 minutes pre-match.

Best club museum

As a Fiorentina fan, it hurts me to praise Juventus, but I must admit that La Vecchia Signora has a wonderful club museum. It lives and breathes the history and success.

Further down the peninsula, Perugia has a quaint little museum. 

Divisive opinion

Old Wembley was overrated. I went a few times in the 90s for internationals, play-offs, an FA Cup semi-final and even Arsenal’s ill-fated Champions League stint there. The lovely towers aside, I have zero nostalgia for it. Your view was often impeded by stanchions, the toilets were awful, getting to the Tube was a nightmare unless you left early. I didn’t like it. The new one is perfectly functional but will need time to build its own legend.

Big derbies

I’ve not really been to many of the big derbies. I have been to one Old Firm clash and a Nordderby (see above), one North London derby, a Klassiker (Ajax v Feyenoord), Brighton v Palace, QPR v Chelsea…but no others, yet.

Great goals live

I’ve seen Messi score a great solo effort at the Maracanã versus Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Ronaldo’s backheel I mentioned earlier, but the one that really stands out for me and actually got out of my seat was Renato Sanches, then 18, for Benfica against Académica de Coimbra. It was this stunning 25-yard screamer. 

Highest-scoring game

I went to a ludicrous 4-4 between Tonbridge Angels and Leatherhead a few years back. It was a terrible night for goalkeeping.

Bucket list

Covid-19 has stolen the last couple of years from international groundhopping plus I have been busy with the day job and my second book, but from season 2022/23 I want to get back into it. I still want to do the following:

• Catch a game in Japan
• See both Rosario Central and Newell’s
• Groundhop Buenos Aires
• Visit Goodison Park before Everton move
• Still not done the Yellow Wall…
• Experience Red Star Belgrade 

Some general thoughts on groundhopping

Germany is the best all-round destination

Nothing surprising here. I just think Germany does it best. Not just because football is so democratic and accessible (i.e. comparatively cheap), but there are an incredible array of stadium designs on show. From the futuristic Olympiastadion in Munich, that still holds up 50 years on, to the art deco marvel of the Poststadion in Berlin. The Olympiastadion in Berlin, despite its tarnished early history, is still an imposing and historically significant arena that should be on any groundhopper’s bucket list.

Germany also has those edgy clubs – the original activists’ club, FC St Pauli of Hamburg; 1.FC Union Berlin; Babelsberg – along with the remnants of the former DDR with their retro names – Lokomotive Leipzig or Dynamo Dresden.

Fan ownership, beer in your seat, biggest crowds in European top-flights, got to be Germany for me. I just wish the top league was a bit more open. 

Italy is the perfect multi-trip destination

Italian football fixtures are so staggered that, if you’re flexible, you can catch a lot of football in a few days. Not quite the city-break multi-hop that you may get in Madrid, London or Berlin, but you can visit a lot of wonderful different places on Italy’s fantastic rail network. On my last multi-hop there, I caught five games in five days – Torino v Samp, Atalanta v Bologna, Brescia v Venezia, Parma v Torino (again) and Fiorentina v Frosinone. But it could have been seven in seven, had the fixtures been announced before I booked my flights.

Italy also has some iconic stadiums, including yet more art deco marvels – the Artemio Franchi in Florence, the Renato Dall’Ara in Bologna, Livorno’s Armando Picchi…these are stadiums with history. And catch San Siro while you can!

You meet good people groundhopping

The groundhopping community is incredible. The Futbology App helps you discover what matches are on in your vicinity, while social media groups make it easy to connect with fans and get a deeper sense of the club, its fans, and its history. I’ve made good friends groundhopping, hung with the Empoli ultras, and even taken others along to Loftus Road and my nearest ground, Maidstone United.

Here’s to the next 25 years of groundhopping. I’m grateful to have seen some of the old grounds before they disappeared – the Calderón, Goldstone, Highfield Road, Griffin Park, Upton Park, Filbert Street…and while it’s harder to find those ‘authentic’ experiences at the highest level, there are plenty of unique experiences to discover.

Please make sure you check out the back catalogue of podcasts on groundhopping around the world, we’ve got most countries covered, from Germany to Paraguay! And if you’re interested in football history, please check out my first book, Origin Stories: The Pioneers Who Took Football to the World, a country-by-country guide on how the game got started. My second book is out in October, stay tuned for more on that…