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93 Grounds World Record Attempt - Starts at BP

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opinions4u Andy Ritchie

opinions4u

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A guy called Ed Wood. He held the record a quarter of a century ago and wants it back.

 

235 days (I think) is the target timeframe and he's hoping to do it in under 200 days.

 

Aiming to raise £50k for Prostate cancer charity. Please chuck a couple of quid his way.

 

https://t.co/P8nhQikLBM

 

Berwick Rangers just makes it a little bit different and, while not needed for the record, is a bit of fun.

 

It's a mammoth planning effort and great to see him start at boundary park. Hopefully the club will give him a mention on Saturday.

 

Follow @edwoodchallenge on Twitter

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Latics and England Earl Barrett

Latics and England

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Ah ! All league grounds in England and Wales

 

Feels like it is stretching it a bit. Plenty of other league grounds in Wales unless we are refusing to acknowledge the Welsh League.

 

As O4U won't tell us what this is yet, it only seems fair to try and pull it apart without any details to back up our own arguments :coffee1:

 

I am also going to presume it is by helicopter and ask whether he is forced to take off between Goodison and Anfield or if he can run between the two.

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opinions4u Andy Ritchie

opinions4u

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A guy called Ed Wood. He held the record a quarter of a century ago and wants it back.

 

235 days (I think) is the target timeframe and he's hoping to do it in under 200 days.

 

Aiming to raise £50k for Prostate cancer charity. Please chuck a couple of quid his way.

 

https://t.co/P8nhQikLBM

 

Berwick Rangers just makes it a little bit different and, while not needed for the record, is a bit of fun.

 

It's a mammoth planning effort and great to see him start at boundary park. Hopefully the club will give him a mention on Saturday.

 

Follow @edwoodchallenge on Twitter.

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opinions4u Andy Ritchie

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An article

---

 

IT wasnt very long ago that I was bemoaning the lack of eccentrics in modern society.

 

Then I was introduced to a genuine, cast iron, rock solid, 24 carat one.

 

At 3 oclock tomorrow afternoon Ed Wood will be watching the kick-off of Oldham against Walsall in Division One.

 

Nothing unusual in that, hundreds of thousands of football fans will attend a match this weekend.

 

But by this time next week Ed will be going to his seventh match of the season, this time Crawley v Barnet.

 

And for the next six months he will spend the majority of his time travelling to and attending matches the length and breadth of England and Wales.

 

You see Ed is setting out on a quest to regain the world record he set 25 years ago for watching a league game at every one of the football league grounds in the shortest time.

 

Having hit the age of 50, Ed Wood is taking four months off work on a sabbatical, funding himself on the challenge and risking his girlfriend leaving him as he pursues his obsession to reclaim the record he set a quarter of a century ago and raise £50,000 for Prostate Cancer UK on the way.

 

Derby County fan Ed, who lives in Leeds, held the Guinness World Record after visiting all 92 football league grounds in England and Wales plus Berwick Rangers, who play in the Scottish league, in 243 days during the 1991/2 season.

 

But his record was broken by Ken Ferris three years later and still stands at 237 days.

 

Now bank worker Ed is launching his challenge to regain his record at Oldham Athletic tomorrow and needs to watch league matches at all 93 grounds by April 6th next year to do it.

 

As part of his charity fundraising, he is also being set challenges at every ground he visits ranging from being the first in the stadium, working as a turnstile operator, getting a selfie with a club chairman and arriving by various modes of transport, including on horseback.

 

Ed says his obsession with the record started when he was given a Guinness Book of World Records for Christmas when he was seven years-old.

 

I still remember waking up on Christmas Day 1973 and Santa had brought me a Guinness Book of World Records. When I read about the record for visiting all the football league grounds in the fastest time I was fascinated and dreamt of emulating it.

 

Then when I was 25 I broke the record but only held it for a few years. Now I want to reclaim it and raise as much money as I can for a great charity.

 

When I broke the record I was learning to drive at the time and crashed a couple of times and Im hoping that this time around I will have some great experiences and meet some fantastic people along the way.

 

But Ed does have one worry.

 

My girlfriend doesnt like football and has told me that she wont come to any of the matches with me. Im going to be doing so much travelling over the next few months that I wont be seeing much of her, so I hope she sticks with me!

 

Its a great story and one that deserves support, Im sure as word spreads of Eds quest, companies will want to back him in exchange for plenty of profile from an expedition that is going to make headlines.

 

The Guinness World Record record for the Most Peripatetic Fan was first set in 1969 when Michael Jones and Bob Wilson of Shrewsbury watched a league match at all 93 grounds in the country [92 + Berwick Rangers] in the shortest amount of time, 264 days.

 

Ed broke the record during the 1991/2 season when he achieved the feat in 243 days, watching two matches on the same day four times, all while holding down a full-time job.

 

It was recorded in the 1993 & 1994 Guinness Book of World Records.

 

I first met Ed last year. He trained at KPMG with corporate financier, Steve Roberts, a valued adviser during my time at TheBusinessDesk.com and now Im fortunate to have him as my business partner.

 

Steve pointed out that the inordinately intelligent Ed Wood and I would at least have one thing in common supporting Derby County.

 

Charming.

 

But then it turned out we both grew up in the leafy Derbyshire village of Quarndon, probably best known as it was where football legend (well a legend in every place in Britain except Leeds), Brian Clough lived for many years.

 

It turned out our parents knew each other and they lived just a few hundred yards apart.

 

When I read in Eds background information that his favourite Derby County player of all time is Ted McMinn, I called a friend who works for the BBC and knows Ted.

 

My BBC contact said that it wouldnt be a problem to get the former winger, who also played for Rangers and Sevilla and who was known as The Tin Man for his big shouldered marauding runs down the touchline, to go to a match with Ed.

 

When I told Ed the good news, that wed helped fulfil his dream (thank God it was a simple dream), he replied: Im not sure what Im going to say to him?

 

So we wish eccentric Ed well on his quest. He even admits hes not normal, but if he regains his record and raises a tremendous amount of cash for a fantastic charity then that will be more than not normal, itll be extraordinary.

 

If you want to support Eds challenge then you can donate to the Edwood93challenge at www.Justgiving.com/fundraising/edwood93challenge

 

Follow his progress on Twitter @edwoodchallenge and on Instagram: Edwood93challenge

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Stagger Lee Earl Barrett

Stagger Lee

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An article

---

 

IT wasnt very long ago that I was bemoaning the lack of eccentrics in modern society.

 

Then I was introduced to a genuine, cast iron, rock solid, 24 carat one.

 

 

This does seem the sort of quirky thing the English are renowned for.

 

I wish him well, if he goes in the Jimmy Frizzell stand he would have started his new record in the newest named stand :OASISscarf:

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opinions4u Andy Ritchie

opinions4u

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Well he's delighted with the welcome Latics gave him.

 

Thanks to Gordon Lawton, Simon Brooke and the new SLO bloke.

 

He thinks Fane was MOTM.

 

He was also chuffed to get on the pitch at half time, help the ground staff and give the interview even if I couldn't hear it in the RRE.

 

He's off to Brizzle Rovers tomorrow and Chelsea on Monday.

 

Chuck him a couple of quid for his charity (Prostrate Cancer) - he's taken six months unpaid off work to do this.

 

https://t.co/P8nhQikLBM

 

Cheers.

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opinions4u Andy Ritchie

opinions4u

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93 challenges included:

 

Match day challenges

1. Be first into the ground

2. Get on local radio on matchday - DONE - Radio Derby ahead of Burton

3. Get in the local paper before or after matchday

4. Raise £100 in cash on match day – in local pubs, wearing an away shirt

5. Selfie with the chairman

6. Stay in ground as long as possible – post match

7. Make contact with the Twang and involve them ( somehow )

8. Get on the pitch before or after the game - DONE - Oldham Athletic

9. Get on TV, before or after the game - DONE - East Midlands Today

10. Get a mention in the matchday programme - DONE - Chelsea & Ipswich

11. Get a piece of player’s kit used during the game

12. Enter using a ticket from a tout ( cash )

13. Go corporate

14. Get a massage from a team physio – before or after the game

15. Watch a game from the press box

16. Watch a game from the directors’ box

17. Be involved in the on-pitch half timeentertainment

18. Obtain a full team’s autographs

19. Get a photo wearing the mascot outfit

20. Make a tannoy announcement

21. Have your name called out on the tannoy

22. Play a proper musical instrument during the game ( trumpet, drum or even ring a bell )

23. Take a football rattle and get told to be quiet

24. Get a photo with a match official

25. Meet the oldest fan at the game (easily researched via a club PR office)

26. Meet the club’s best fan (ie longest unbroken run of attended fixtures – again easily researched)

27. Get in the players bar

28. Get in the changing rooms - DONE at Colchester

29. Get a football used at the match

30. Get into the post-match press conference

31. Get a selfie with a policeman

32. Use a vuvuzela

33. Buy a ticket from a reselling site - DONE for Chelsea - but didn't use as Peter Ford got me in on his season ticket

34. Get a photo in the directors’ lounge/boardroom holding any previous trophy ( no matter how insignificant )

35. Recreate an event from the first record attempt in 1993

36. Work for the club ( in any capacity ) on matchday

37. Walk around the entire ground – inside the stadium, but not on the pitch

 

Modes of transport for getting to ( or from ) a game

38. Horse ( includes horse & cart )

39. Removal Lorry (Mike McCarthy offered here)

40. Haulage Lorry

41. Hitchhike

42. Pick up a hitchhiker

43. Genuine car share

44. Cycle

45. Taxi

46. Stretch limo

47. Walk

48. Motorbike

49. Motorbike sidecar

50. Vintage car

51. Bus

52. Supporters club bus – for the away team

53. Train - DONE - Got the Train with Neil Thomas to Man United

54. Boat ( of any description )

55. Tube

56. Chauffeur

57. Travel by air ( plane/balloon/parachute/helicopter – you choose )

58. Camp in a tent or motor home before or after the game

 

Attend a game with

59. A relative

60. Sam - this will be tough

61. A member of the “committee”

62. Someone whose birthday it is on matchday

63. A minor ( < 18 )

64. A previous record holder ( or failing that any current or past Guinness World Record holder – or GWR presenter )

65. An ex-pro footballer

66. A current pro footballer

67. Someone from Prostate Cancer UK – either a researcher or administrator

68. Another Prostate Cancer UK fundraiser

69. A member of the cloth

70. Attend as a disabled carer

71. Two sisters

72. Two brothers

73. A person called Smith and a person called Jones

74. Someone who has never been to a football match

75. Someone with a title

76. Someone > 70

77. A member of the armed forces

78. Someone who has recovered from prostate cancer and benefited from Prostate Cancer UK research

79. Someone else called Ed Wood ( failing that at least E Wood )

80. Someone from school or uni who you’ve lost contact with

81. Someone from the old 5 a side team who you’ve lost contact with

 

Attend a game wearing

82. A Forest shirt ( at Forest )

83. A kilt

84. Full kit of the home team ( exc boots and shin pads )

85. Dressed as a local celebrity relevant to the venue

86. Dressed as Elvis

87. Dressed as Father Christmas

88. Dressed as a skinhead

89. Hi-vis stewards outfit

90. A top hat

91. A professionally fitted wig

92. Dressed as a superhero

93. Dressed as a tourist ( ie “I love London” t-shirt, camera etc ) – preferably a London venue

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underdog David Eyres

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I've stuck it on my facebook page asking fellow footy fans to spread the word and try and get him in heir grounds for free. I don't know many opposition fans but hopefully between some contacts we can at least raise his profile and get him into some grounds.

 

Well done Ed

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