What is groundhopping and how to get started
Groundhopping is visiting different football stadiums to watch a match in each. How to start, how to pick your first grounds and what to note down.
Groundhopping means visiting lots of different football stadiums to watch a match in each. You don’t have to travel far or see the most famous teams: what counts is adding different grounds and keeping the memory of each one.
Where to start
- Close to home. Start with the stadiums in your city and the nearby ones. They’re cheap trips and show you what a matchday away from home is like.
- Smaller leagues. Lower-division matches tend to have cheaper tickets and less hassle than top-flight games.
- A new ground each time. Going back to the same stadium is fine, but what you collect is the ground, not the match.
How to choose the match
- Check the club’s fixture list and confirm the date and time, which can change.
- Buy your ticket through the official channels of the club or the competition.
- Work out how to get there and when the last transport home leaves.
What to note down from each visit
Write down the stadium, the date, the match and the score, and take a photo. Over time that list becomes your history as a fan: countries, kilometres and new grounds.
Do it with Awaystamp
Awaystamp turns every visit into a stamp in your passport, with the match date, your photo and the score. It also adds up the kilometres of the trip and lets you measure yourself against your friends on the leaderboard.