As I go around visiting clubs and taking photos of those grounds one thought keeps coming back; most clubs just don't care about the image their grounds present to the world. Look at my club, Nottingham Forest. There is just one picture of the ground that is always used, admittedly an iconic image, that of the Trent End from Trent Bridge. Even that bit of the ground needs a good wash and brush-up. However, when I started this quest, I rolled up at the main gates and looked at the ground from that angle, a jumble of buildings looking rather scruffy with no discernible heart, hardly the home of a team hoping to invade the multi-million pound Premier League.
And this theme carried on at Notts County across the river. A nice pair of gates, but a bland brick façade with a plastic badge being the only other signal that one is near the oldest football club in the world.
A visit to an actual Premier League club confirmed my suspicion that clubs are more concerned with their internal affairs than proclaiming their existence to the non-footballing world. Norwich City also have nice gates, but also several hundred yards of bland brickwork, unbroken by anything likely to attract the outside world. Actually, it seems very important these days for Premier League clubs to incorporate a hotel into their ground.
I recently had occasion to visit London. It was a special occasion, seeing old friends and visiting a site I had long wished to see. London is not one of my special places, not even on the list of places I would visit without a good reason. I had forgotten how stuffy and scruffy it is and how hideously overcrowded it seems, people rushing about like ants almost completely unaware of anybody except themselves. I was in West London and just had enough time to visit Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and Fulham at Craven Cottage.
I walked to Chelsea and spent time walking around the ground looking for the best photo opportunity. Admittedly, I am no photographer so it takes me time to try and find the best shot I took one of the old concrete wall which marks the Shed End, as was, and the one of the back of the West Stand with the statue of Peter Osgood in front of it. The rest of the ground is a jumble of hotels and entertainment venues seemingly unrelated to football.
So long was spent at Chelsea that I decided to visit Fulham's ground later in the season. To try to fit these two grounds in before the season started was a spur of the moment decision anyway, so I will just put Fulham back on the original schedule.
Another fun activity of fans during the close season is the release of some players and the signing of others. This provides endless opportunities for discussion and disagreement.
I join in the debates, more as a spectator to the fevered speculation and rumour than as an active participant, preferring to wait and see how the manager eventually fashions his team. Also, perhaps it is better to wait and see how the team he has conjured up actually performs than to condemn or praise before a ball is kicked.
