How do you choose what game you go to?

[Jumbo McGinnis]

I’m at the stage of boredom where I’m looking at the fixtures and seeing where I wouldn’t have minded going on a particular day under normal circumstances and if money wasn’t as much of an object that it is.

It got me thinking about how I pick what games I go to and how others did the same. I understand that most go and watch their club but for the groundhoppers, how do you pick? Is it purely a new ground? Does opposition, league tables and form come into it?

[Southport Zeb]

For Saturdays I tend to look to do a new ground. I enjoy cup games between sides who wouldn't normally meet - the FA Vase is particularly good for this - and tend to look for those games first. Unusual kickoffs, offering opportunities to do multiple games in one day, also appeal - this can be either just football or can also involve other sports. I like to try and vary the direction I'll be travelling from week to week, and tend to try and get a balance between weekends when I travel further and those when I stay more local to do a non-floodlit ground.

As I've done pretty much all the floodlit grounds I'm able to get to after work, midweek games are almost always revisits. In this case match ups/ league tables/ form become more important, although I also try to get some variety and so might avoid a club if I've already been there that season (although there are some local clubs who play on less commonly used nights that I end up going to a bit more often - e.g. Lower Breck/ St Helens on Thursdays).

[Third rate Leszno]

So, my planning goes something like this.

Europa and Champions league qualifiers drawn in June, I'll pick one or two out in North Wales and see if I can fit them in around work. By then the league fixtures are out, so I've gone through them and decided which Carlisle aways I'm going to do. New grounds come first, then local games, then re-visits to the further flung places or where I can combine them with a visit to mates who are scattered around the country. Home games are less well planned and often depend on how well we're doing, when cheap rail tickets are available and there's a chance of having a few beers with WFD and others.

Then I look at my three preferred local non-league clubs, Bootle, Marine and Southport. I'll mark up games against teams I've never seen before and overlay those against my Carlisle games to fill in some blanks. Then as we get into August I'll be working out the possible draws that Liverpool could get in Europe and plotting flight and rail routes and prices. When the draw is made and home/away fixtures confirmed, I'll plot them against the league/non-league games (and Mrs TrL will book the travel and hotels for the Euro aways - I'm good at planning but I'll leave the actual booking to someone who can concentrate).

I don't do too many randoms a season, but often pop into one of the other Merseyside/West Lancs teams if there's nowt else catches my fancy - I've also got an idea in my head of the other relatively nearby grounds that I'd like to tick off and will try to pick a handful off each season too. I don't usually decide on those 'til the week of the match though.

All this has to fit in around any car rallies I've planned at the start of the year too - they take priority over anything bar a new ground with Carlisle. I only do about 10 rallies, but some are multi-day and can wipe out a month's football money in one go - or restrict the duration of Euro away trips.