The Football League Grounds of Greater London Tube Challenge
Posted: 21 May 2011, 19:18
With the incredible rise of AFC Wimbledon that today has seen a fan's owned club return to the Football League and secure the crowning glory of 5 promotions in just 9 seasons, can I propose that the London Football Grounds Challenge of old be re-invented?
Before I had become involved in Tube Challenging, this forum held a one off charity fund raiser to use public transport to visit each of the 14 Football League grounds in a single day, and to raise money for Sport Relief by performing some "keep uppys" outside each ground, the full details of which can be found here: http://www.tubeforum.co.uk/forum/index. ... =viewtopic
On one of my first challenges I heard about this event and loved the sounds of it, and on returning home I searched the forum to find out more with a view to one day completing it myself. On discovering that it was a one off charity event that had never been replicated it didn't seem within the original spirit of the idea to try and better the time of those who had previously undertaken it, and thus I've never attempted this challenge. However, with today's promotion of AFC Wimbledon a new challenge can be created, and thus I propose one now, with a view to hearing the opinion of others.
Here's the thoughts I've collected thus far about the new Football League Grounds of Greater London Tube Challenge.
1) While I understand why Soupy included Watford in the challenge despite Watford actually not being in London, I suggest that they should be replaced by the newly promoted AFC Wimbledon, however as the creator of the original challenge, if he does not approve then this may be dropped.
2) Whilst not visited on the original challenge by anyone other than Andi, Wembley should also not be visited as it doesn't ordinarily host regular League Games.
3) The challenge needs to have clearly defined rules of having 'visited' a ground if it is to become a challenge where individuals compete against each other, and this is where I am open to suggestions. Whilst having a photo pitch side or playing keepy uppy outside the ground would be in the spirit of the original, both are somewhat impractical. My original reaction had therefore been that one most pass round all four sides of the ground on the stadium concourse or an adjacent road, but this could prove difficult or just plain tedious at various grounds especially to those of us who aren't too keen on running exceptionally long distances! For example: Fulham's Craven Cottage lies beside the Thames; Dagenham & Redbridge's Victoria Road backs onto a factory and AFC Wimbledon's Fans' Stadium backs onto a water treatment works, all of which would take a great deal of time to pass round! I therefore thought that the successful Parks Challenge could be replicated, rather than taking a photo of the exterior of the 'Park' station, instead one must photograph the exterior of the stadium. Having participated in the Parks challenge twice, I know this makes for a fun variant.
This leads to the issue of what to photograph. Clearly a shot of stadium from a passing train is not in the spirit of the competition as you haven't actually visited the ground, so I suggest that the photo be of the participant stood beside the main entrance to each ground. Evidently this would vary but a single location should be defined for each ground, however as I don't really know them too well, I'll let others decide what this is for each ground. To give you some ideas, I'll give you an image of what be my suggestion for the shot at Hillsborough, would it be in some sort of similar variation. http://tims92.webs.com/Sheffield%20Wedn ... gh%201.jpg
Hopefully I've effectively shared my original thoughts with you, so please do add your own thoughts below!
Before I had become involved in Tube Challenging, this forum held a one off charity fund raiser to use public transport to visit each of the 14 Football League grounds in a single day, and to raise money for Sport Relief by performing some "keep uppys" outside each ground, the full details of which can be found here: http://www.tubeforum.co.uk/forum/index. ... =viewtopic
On one of my first challenges I heard about this event and loved the sounds of it, and on returning home I searched the forum to find out more with a view to one day completing it myself. On discovering that it was a one off charity event that had never been replicated it didn't seem within the original spirit of the idea to try and better the time of those who had previously undertaken it, and thus I've never attempted this challenge. However, with today's promotion of AFC Wimbledon a new challenge can be created, and thus I propose one now, with a view to hearing the opinion of others.
Here's the thoughts I've collected thus far about the new Football League Grounds of Greater London Tube Challenge.
1) While I understand why Soupy included Watford in the challenge despite Watford actually not being in London, I suggest that they should be replaced by the newly promoted AFC Wimbledon, however as the creator of the original challenge, if he does not approve then this may be dropped.
2) Whilst not visited on the original challenge by anyone other than Andi, Wembley should also not be visited as it doesn't ordinarily host regular League Games.
3) The challenge needs to have clearly defined rules of having 'visited' a ground if it is to become a challenge where individuals compete against each other, and this is where I am open to suggestions. Whilst having a photo pitch side or playing keepy uppy outside the ground would be in the spirit of the original, both are somewhat impractical. My original reaction had therefore been that one most pass round all four sides of the ground on the stadium concourse or an adjacent road, but this could prove difficult or just plain tedious at various grounds especially to those of us who aren't too keen on running exceptionally long distances! For example: Fulham's Craven Cottage lies beside the Thames; Dagenham & Redbridge's Victoria Road backs onto a factory and AFC Wimbledon's Fans' Stadium backs onto a water treatment works, all of which would take a great deal of time to pass round! I therefore thought that the successful Parks Challenge could be replicated, rather than taking a photo of the exterior of the 'Park' station, instead one must photograph the exterior of the stadium. Having participated in the Parks challenge twice, I know this makes for a fun variant.
This leads to the issue of what to photograph. Clearly a shot of stadium from a passing train is not in the spirit of the competition as you haven't actually visited the ground, so I suggest that the photo be of the participant stood beside the main entrance to each ground. Evidently this would vary but a single location should be defined for each ground, however as I don't really know them too well, I'll let others decide what this is for each ground. To give you some ideas, I'll give you an image of what be my suggestion for the shot at Hillsborough, would it be in some sort of similar variation. http://tims92.webs.com/Sheffield%20Wedn ... gh%201.jpg
Hopefully I've effectively shared my original thoughts with you, so please do add your own thoughts below!
Another link for you....
