Knowledge gained from being a football fan-No 1

[Tuerto]

Geography. Anyone else's geographical prowess improved since being a football fan from a young age? I was always fascinated at to where certain places were, all of those exotic names i heard on the classified results...Bury, Port Vale, Halifax... I know it sounds a bit sad, but i had a detailed map of the UK when i was a kid and would look up where the football grounds were situated, paying particular attention to the Cities where there were more than one club, trying to fathom how any city could have more than one football club,

Later in life, driving to away games, a great education in my opinion. I still say that if you can drive from Cardiff to selhurst park, through London(no m25) and without a sat nav, you've cracked it

[Armitage Shanks]

Definitely agree with geography.

[MOZZER2]

i got B in O level geography so was and still is my strong point !

[xsnaggle]

Geography. Anyone else's geographical prowess improved since being a football fan from a young age? I was always fascinated at to where certain places were, all of those exotic names i heard on the classified results...Bury, Port Vale, Halifax... I know it sounds a bit sad, but i had a detailed map of the UK when i was a kid and would look up where the football grounds were situated, paying particular attention to the Cities where there were more than one club, trying to fathom how any city could have more than one football club,

Later in life, driving to away games, a great education in my opinion. I still say that if you can drive from Cardiff to selhurst park, through London(no m25) and without a sat nav, you've cracked it

I did that and specially with the more 'exotic' scottish team names. "Queen of the South" "Hamilton Academicals. (That always made me think of a grand hospital and a place full of very clever people. (Sadly not )
Some names in England like Accrington Stanley, I'd wonder who Stanley was, and Preston North End. I'd wonder if the south and had a team.
It sounds silly now but sitting at home in front of the coal fire on a saturday evening, when the results started we'd try to guess the score by the way the announcer said the first part, the inflection in his voice. And the scottish results normally meant home made rice pudding wasn't far away.

[Former Labour leader]

Agree 100% that it improves your geography.
I have enjoyed looking up where Queen of South play, where Tashkent and Baku are. Helped me no end when doing crosswords.

[NYCBlue]

We used to go to away games in a car. I was the map reader. I used to have a map book with all the routes marked with a highlighter pen. I loved it. And it's the reason I've been to many cities all over the UK. (why else would you go to Scunthorpe?) I always chose the town we'd stop off for a drink and a curry on the way home too. Droitwich was popular.

[rich munn]

i got B in O level geography so was and still is my strong point !

Surely a B means that you sometimes get lost.

[MOZZER2]

got C in everything else

port vale was a tricky one mind !

[Tuerto]

Surely a B means that you sometimes get lost.

[Tuerto]

We used to go to away games in a car. I was the map reader. I used to have a map book with all the routes marked with a highlighter pen. I loved it. And it's the reason I've been to many cities all over the UK. (why else would you go to Scunthorpe?) I always chose the town we'd stop off for a drink and a curry on the way home too. Droitwich was popular.

Yup, i really enjoy the travelling, although i'm not a huge fan of driving if that makes any sense. Sat navs have killed the art of map reading, ****ing up and having a massive argument

[blue lewj]

Geography definitely.

Making sweeping judgements on places based solely on spending a few hours eating and drinking there pre game for a few hours. Sometimes this lasts for decades.

I'm also not that bad at guessing accents from having watched City around the country although there are a few places where it gets a bit messed up like around the Nottingham, Derby area. Awful accent.

[MacAdder]

Yup, i really enjoy the travelling, although i'm not a huge fan of driving if that makes any sense. Sat navs have killed the art of map reading, ****ing up and having a massive argument

I've always enjoyed map reading and for some reason I have found I get lost a lot more with a sat nav than I used to with a map

You are right about the away games and new places.
Who the hell would ever go to Mansfield if the city hadn't been playing them?

[StraightOuttaCanton]

I’ve not lived in the UK for 10 years now but I still know the entire country like the back of my hand. I travelled it so extensively because of the work I did in the pub business that if you told me any address today to drive to I still think I could get within a quarter of a mile of it from just
about anywhere. I may get a little confused in centra London to be fair but that apart nothing would daunt me

[lardy]

Geography. Anyone else's geographical prowess improved since being a football fan from a young age? I was always fascinated at to where certain places were, all of those exotic names i heard on the classified results...Bury, Port Vale, Halifax... I know it sounds a bit sad, but i had a detailed map of the UK when i was a kid and would look up where the football grounds were situated, paying particular attention to the Cities where there were more than one club, trying to fathom how any city could have more than one football club,

Later in life, driving to away games, a great education in my opinion. I still say that if you can drive from Cardiff to selhurst park, through London(no m25) and without a sat nav, you've cracked it

To be fair, knowing where Port Vale is won't help you with geography

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Plymouth Argyle , great name for a club

[splott parker]

The geography thing, definitely. It’s shocking that many women have no clue where places are located in the UK and the world but on reflection our football knowledge is an advantage. The break up of old Europe presented a new challenge to us with new names being thrown into the mix.

[the other bob wilson]

I can remember a primary school teacher of mine being absolutely amazed at my knowledge of UK towns and cities. i was about eleven at the time and it was entirely down to football - I don't think it's a subject I've improved much in during the intervening fifty three years .

[Enoch Mort]

Traditional industries of particular areas based on club nicknames - shoes in Northampton, hats in Luton, cutlery in Sheffield, glove making in Yeovil etc.

[AfricanBluebird]

Geography. Anyone else's geographical prowess improved since being a football fan from a young age? I was always fascinated at to where certain places were, all of those exotic names i heard on the classified results...Bury, Port Vale, Halifax... I know it sounds a bit sad, but i had a detailed map of the UK when i was a kid and would look up where the football grounds were situated, paying particular attention to the Cities where there were more than one club, trying to fathom how any city could have more than one football club,

Later in life, driving to away games, a great education in my opinion. I still say that if you can drive from Cardiff to selhurst park, through London(no m25) and without a sat nav, you've cracked it

Great post.

Yes geography is definitely something that has been improved dramatically due to so many away trips, especially to the more unfashionable places like Rochdale, Northampton, Walsall, Orient etc. Meeting people from around the UK, they are often amazed that I know so much about their town, landmarks and local beers.

Also, service stations, I have an unhealthy knowledge of different urinals across the country.

[Rock_Flock_of_Five]

Traditional industries of particular areas based on club nicknames - shoes in Northampton, hats in Luton, cutlery in Sheffield, glove making in Yeovil etc.

Yup, that's a good observation. What others can people think of along this line?

Stoke - pottery (The Potters)
Crewe - trains (The Railwaymen)
Hereford - cattle (The Bulls)
Macclesfield - silk production (The Silkmen)
Burton Albion - beer brewing (The Brewers)

[the other bob wilson]

Luton, and Stockport (the Hatters)
Everton (the Toffees - not quite the same I admit)
Newport County (the Ironsides)
Sheffield United (the Blades - steelmen)
Rotherham (the Millers)
Reading (the Biscuitmen)
Grimsby (the Mariners)
Scunthorpe (the Iron)

[lardy]

Yup, that's a good observation. What others can people think of along this line?

Stoke - pottery (The Potters)
Crewe - trains (The Railwaymen)
Hereford - cattle (The Bulls)
Macclesfield - silk production (The Silkmen)
Burton Albion - beer brewing (The Brewers)

Reading - biscuitmen (not used so much now)
Wycombe - chairboys for furniture industry

[bobh]

Geography. Anyone else's geographical prowess improved since being a football fan from a young age? I was always fascinated at to where certain places were, all of those exotic names i heard on the classified results...Bury, Port Vale, Halifax... I know it sounds a bit sad, but i had a detailed map of the UK when i was a kid and would look up where the football grounds were situated, paying particular attention to the Cities where there were more than one club, trying to fathom how any city could have more than one football club,

Later in life, driving to away games, a great education in my opinion. I still say that if you can drive from Cardiff to selhurst park, through London(no m25) and without a sat nav, you've cracked it

Interesting that you mentioned Port Vale, which, apart from a football club, doesn't exist on any map.

[Taunton Blue Genie]

Interesting that you mentioned Port Vale, which, apart from a football club, doesn't exist on any map.

The same goes for Raith Rovers (a ground I have visited): Raith is not a place and the team plays in Kirkcaldy.

[bobh]

The same goes for Raith Rovers (a ground I have visited): Raith is not a place and the team plays in Kirkcaldy.

And Grimsby play in Cleethorpes!