Welcome back to another TTTONLF meets Ian the founder of the incredible and my personal favourite football blog ‘Hoppers Guide’.
Now this is an exciting one for me personally as I am a huge fan of Ian’s work and regularly sit down to read through his incredible features, the level of detail and overall quality is something which actually motivates me. If you haven’t heard of ‘The Hoppers Guide’ before now, then buckle up as I think you may have just found yourself a brand new website to add to your favourite list.
Name – Ian
Age – Entering the Grim Reaper’s waiting room.
Favourite team – Stoke City, though they often drive me even closer to death.
Occupation – Mrs Hopper and I have our own business, making handmade-to-order luxury journals
that ship globally. For all your journal needs, please visit http://www.citrusbookbindery.com 😉
Things I love about football – It’s a release from the mundane humdrum of everyday depressing life.
When standing on a terrace, or a field in the middle of nowhere, watching 22 blokes kick a pig’s
bladder around for 90 minutes, all of that disappears.
Meeting fellow football enthusiasts and chatting about their club.
Visiting new towns and cities and just loving the entire experience, wherever I go.
My football pet hate – Where do I start with this one?
Football violence – we are all there to support our club, and while I love a bit of banter, those who
take it to the next level can get in the bin.
Passing it out from the back… I prefer the old mantra of “If in doubt, kick it out” How many goals do
you see scored from playing out from the back, as opposed to goals conceded from mistakes while
trying to play out from the back? Not every club is prime Barcelona, and not every player is Andrés
Iniesta, so stop trying to be. It also makes the game incredibly boring to watch when teams are
passing the ball around purely for possession’s sake.
On top of those two, I would add:
VAR.
Ludicrous amounts of money are being thrown around while fans are struggling to eat and stay
warm.
Clubs that are taken over by people with the only intention of milking them dry, while the EFL allow
this to happen and then punishes the fans by allowing clubs to fold.
I could go on, but I’ve now realised I have enough pet hates to start a pet hate zoo…
Q) How did the whole website come about, what was the inspiration?
When I started ground hopping, I used to write a small piece about the day on my personal Facebook page. One of my old schoolmates said he loved reading about them and suggested I start blogging about them properly. Okay, why not?
Q) The groundhopping community is a very passionate one, this website is a treasure trove for not only groundhoppers but for visiting fans. How much time did it take to build for you?
Thank you, I appreciate you saying so.
Originally, it took me a few weeks to add all the content, and you will notice that Hopper Tales #08 to #22 are missing. This would be the period when I was building the website and adding content. None of which I could have done without Mrs Hopper’s computer skills. I have since revisited some of those places, specifically to write a blog piece about them. Unfortunately, I will probably never get to visit Oslo again, where we attended the Norway v Sweden UEFA Nations League game at the Ullevaal Stadion.
Q) Your groundhopper tales are a thing of beauty, the level of detail is incredible. How long do these take to make, and how much do you enjoy putting them together?
Again, thank you for the kind words!
Usually, I spend all of Sunday writing and finish it on Monday before posting. Weirdly, I take a morbid pleasure in doing them! Researching a club increases my overall knowledge of the game in general, and I have found out some fascinating little snippets while writing these articles.
Q) Knowing you are going to be writing in such detail on your visit, does it put extra pressure on you and detract at all from the enjoyment of the game?
Yes, and no.
Mostly, it’s self-imposed pressure because I don’t believe there are that many people who read the whole thing anyway, and I often refer to my ‘regular reader’ as a jest about this.
I sometimes feel like I have to capture the goals on my phone, especially if it’s at a game where there aren’t likely to be official highlights, but again, I have started to realise that it isn’t that important. It’s just a bonus if I capture the goals.
Mostly, the pressure comes from needing to get it done by my self-imposed deadline of 5 pm on a Monday. There is a significant decline in people visiting the website if I post it on a Tuesday, for example, because it has now become ‘old news’ in a fast-moving world.
Q) Have there been any games you have attended where you have felt let down/ disappointed by the stadium?
I really don’t like to talk negatively about clubs or their grounds. However, I do write with honesty and integrity. Not working for money gives me this luxury. If I had to highlight one place I probably wouldn’t return to, it would be FC Edinburgh’s Meadowbank Stadium. We visited for the stadium’s opening game against Arbroath, and it was definitely not a great experience. There is a rail blocking the view of people on the front row of the stand (which only has three rows anyway!) Even the players were heard muttering about the place as they went into the dressing rooms at half-time.
That said, I believe things have changed a little since our visit, with fans now allowed to stand behind the goals on the running track. Also, there are always positives to be taken. For instance, who wouldn’t enjoy a day in Edinburgh? Genuinely my favourite city in the UK alongside York.
Q) What has been your favourite trip to date and why?
This is another tough question to answer!
‘Favourite’ has to incorporate the day (or stay) as a whole, which means factoring in the town/city, the ground, the pubs, the friendliness of the locals, facilities, etc. If I could take the best parts of all my trips and build some kind of ‘Frankenstadion’ experience…
I would take the Hearts (or possibly Arbroath, for the terrace lover in me) stadium, plonk it in the city of Stirling and mix in the ‘community-feels’ that flow around Goodison Park, or maybe Elland Road pre-game.
We will add Hebburn Town’s clubhouse, which, despite being in the 7th tier of English football, is easily the best I have visited (with an honourable mention to Accrington Stanley).
I’d take the Johnny Foxes pub from Inverness, but with Ashington prices and throw in the people of the Northeast or Scotland, who are both welcoming and friendly with curious strangers.
Project Frankenstadion aside, I would probably say my favourite trips have been to Arbroath, Hearts, Aberdeen and Everton. As you can probably tell, I really like Scotland.
Q) You have an interactive map on your website showing where you have and haven’t yet visited – are there 2/3 stadiums you are especially keen to visit?
Yes, all the ones that I haven’t yet visited!
More realistically, my immediate goals are to finish the 42 league grounds of Scotland (though some are ground-sharing), and on top of that, I’d love to slowly visit all the new grounds where I have previously visited their old ones. As a completely new place to visit, I’d probably choose Villa Park or The Valley.
Q) All of this site/content you do for free, what is the main motivation to continue the work you do?
Good question!
I originally had adverts on the website, but they annoy me so badly on other websites, that I turned them off. Google has been shouting at me ever since, but they won’t be back! There is a widget that allows people to donate if they feel they have enjoyed the work enough to do so, though it’s been a while…
My main motivation is as a digital scrapbook of my adventures. As you get older, memories can fade and I truly wish I had been doing this when I visited so many grounds that are no longer here. Where is my Hoppers Tale of the Victoria Ground, the Baseball Ground, White Hart Lane, Maine Road and many others?
That would be a real treasure hoard, right there!
If other people enjoy what I do and get some pleasure out of reading my work, then that’s a lovely bonus for me.
Q) Would you ever consider setting up a Patreon site to offer exclusive content and behind the
scenes snippets to just members, allowing you to fund more of your trips?
I will be honest, I haven’t even thought about doing so. I know Patreon is popular for vlogs but I don’t know if anyone would pay for the kind of stuff I do?
I’m always looking to grow what I do and funding would be lovely, I’m just not convinced the audience is there for that, at least, not yet.
What I would love to do, is extend the scope of my website and get more people doing their own stuff on there. I have a guest write who is slowly growing his own following and reputation by doing articles on Hoppers Guide and I’m always open to doing the same for other people. If anyone reads this and would like to have a go, send a sample of your writing, or vlogging, and who knows, it could be the start of something. I’d also love to host a podcast on the website, although I don’t have the time to do it myself, I’m happy to host one on HG if anyone fancies it.
Q) What does the next 6 months look like for you?
Who knows?
Money is tight at the moment for most people, including Hoppers Guide HQ. I have seen out this season in style, with a few longer trips to places like Rotherham, Rochdale and St. Johnstone.
Next season, we will see.
During the summer, I will be hiding from pollen like a vampire at midday, while striving to keep our little book company alive. If that fails, HG will have to be put to one side while we sort something else out.
Q) If someone is reading this who has never been to a Non-League game/ground ever before –
where is the first place you would send them?
Another tough question!
It depends on what that person looks for in a ground, to be honest. Workington’s Borough Park is a tremendous old-school bowl of terracing that I enjoyed. Blyth Spartans’ Croft Park is also a great place to visit. For those with a little more wanderlust, Cowdenbeath is, how shall I phrase this… unique? If you like your football standing on a terrace, on a pitch surrounded by monster truck tyres and a safety fence all around the perimeter, then this is the place for you! Gala Fairydean Rovers, in Scotland’s Lowland League, have one of the most fantastic stands I’ve seen.
I think one of my favourite places, and the one I would probably answer with, is Hartlepool United. It was the location of our very first Hoppers Tale, and I’ve been back twice, once to watch Stoke City play in the FA Cup. The people are friendly, we have found an excellent pub, and there is always a
decent atmosphere.
In the lower leagues, Hebburn Town is an excellent choice!
Q) And finally…What does football mean to you?
I’ve grown up with football and loved it since I first kicked a ball. I remember watching my first World Cup, in Argentina in 1978 and being amazed at the passion of the home fans.
I remember the feeling of walking into my first-ever live game at Derby County’s Baseball Ground under the lights against Ipswich Town in 1976/77 and loving it.
My sister took me to my first game at Stoke City in 1980, and my life was changed. I had grown up supporting Liverpool, but when I sat in the Victoria Ground, I knew this was my real team. Why was I supporting a team so far away when this passion and noise exist on my doorstep?
I’ve followed them around the country ever since, though, since moving up to the Northeast, I have embraced ground hopping as a neutral. I have found that my passion for top-flight football has waned over the years, and while I will still visit new grounds, my love of football is now in the non-
league scene.
Non-league is like football used to be, before money ruined the game and made cheating an integral part of it. You are a welcome member of the family, rather than a cash cow for a faceless corporation.
Viva la non-league!
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Massive thank you to Ian for his time in answering these questions but also a personal thank you from me for all of the content in which he produces, it is genuinely my favourite out there and I implore you all to check him out!
If you like it, like i do – why not buy him a coffee or two!
Supporting those out there that are promoting the scene in such a positive way is the backbone of everything that Non-league football stands for and in a time where there is so much division, let us all come together and build each other up!
Until next time guys!
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